North Melbourne are working towards Alastair Clarkson's return to the club, as interim Kangaroos coach Brett Ratten revealed he has had an extensive catch-up with his long-time friend.
The former Carlton and St Kilda coach has been in charge of the Kangaroos since May 18 after Clarkson stepped away due to the mental toll of the Hawthorn racism saga.
The AFL has since announced no adverse findings against Clarkson, Chris Fagan or Jason Burt over the allegations levelled at the former Hawks trio.
The three men have denied any wrongdoing over the claims, which were raised via an ABC report last September.
Fagan and Burt have both strongly outlined their reaction to being cleared by the AFL, but Clarkson has stayed out of the spotlight.
There were fears the 55-year-old might not be back at Arden St this season, but Ratten said Clarkson seemed in a good frame of mind when the pair touched base.
Discussions are taking place between North's chief executive Jennifer Watt, football boss Todd Viney and Clarkson to decide on the best possible return.
"I did catch up with him the other day for the first time (since Clarkson went on leave) and he was up and about, a smile on the face and really positive," Ratten said on Thursday.
"We were just talking footy, which is good.
"He's the coach of the football club and (it's) for the club to work through when does he come back and in what capacity.
"We spoke for about an hour-and-a-half ... a good chat about everything going on.
"The progress of the kids puts smiles on Clarkson's face but puts smiles on a lot of our fans and a lot of people in the building."
Clarkson's comeback is unlikely to be before North's round-18 game against Hawthorn due to simmering tensions with his former club.
A week before taking leave, Clarkson slammed Hawthorn as "shameful", calling for an investigation into the club's handling of the long-running racism saga, saying reputations had been "scarred".
Hawthorn are now coached by Sam Mitchell, the Hawks' captain for Clarkson's first premiership with the club in 2008.
When being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, Mitchell made no mention during a lengthy speech of his coach of 12 seasons.
One option is for Clarkson to ease back into coaching through a part-time role rather than immediately re-take the reins from Ratten.
"He's been pretty much away and it's been something that we've done, to allow him to stop thinking footy and let him think about footy when it's right for him," Ratten said.
"(Clarkson) has let us do a couple of little different things, but we haven't changed enormously.
"There's just a couple of little tweaks here and there. We're all on the same path and we'll keep communicating that."
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