North Melbourne caretaker boss Darren Crocker has no idea what to expect this weekend but is sure of his AFL coaching future from next week.

After Saturday’s match with crisis-hit Gold Coast, it’s back to assistant duties for Crocker as Brad Scott returns to the senior coaching role.

Scott stood aside during June for back surgery after complaining of crippling pains, but he is on track to return for the round 15 match with Geelong.

“Brad’s come back to work, he’s been coming back to work just a couple of hours a day,” Crocker said on Wednesday.

“He’s said that I’m still in charge this week, running all the meetings and flying and coaching on the weekend.”

Scott addressed North Melbourne players on Monday after their mid-season break, giving them a gee-up ahead of their run-in to September.

Complicating Scott’s full-time return has been his inability to sit down at this stage in his rehabilitation, meaning he’s been commuting to Arden Street on Melbourne’s trains and trams.

“He said the last time he caught public transport he had a school uniform on,” Crocker said.

“But the public has been really good with him, he’s going okay.”

Before Scott’s return, there remains the unpredictable meeting with the Suns on Saturday.

Captain Gary Ablett’s rumoured return is tricky enough to plan for.

But just how Gold Coast, bottom of the ladder with just one win, will respond to explosive allegations of illicit drug use at the club aired this week by former player Karmichael Hunt is anyone’s guess.

“How much motivation they get from backs against the wall type of stuff, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

“We always plan for the best the opposition are going to throw out and that’s what we’ve done.”

Crocker said he didn’t expect any of his players to court controversy with any sledging to Suns players, though the issue won’t be the subject of any pre-game address.

“I wouldn’t be mentioning it and I don’t think I’d need to mention it,” he said.

“I don’t think our players will go down that path.

“We’d like to consider ourselves a well respected club, well respected players and we’d be more inclined to let our football do the talking.”