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North Melbourne interim AFL coach Rhyce Shaw says it will be a challenge to get his players focused after Brad Scott's emotional departure.

North Melbourne caretaker Rhyce Shaw wants to be a senior AFL coach but insists his immediate focus is on helping the Kangaroos move on from Brad Scott's emotional departure.

Shaw will coach the Roos on an interim basis following Scott's resignation, starting with Friday night's clash with Richmond at Marvel Stadium.

The 37-year-old's rise through the coaching ranks - initially at Sydney, then North - has been rapid since his playing retirement in 2015.

In leading the club for the next three months, he has a golden opportunity to audition for the vacant head role.

But having witnessed the raw emotion of Kangaroos players left stunned by Scott's sudden exit, Shaw has more immediate concerns.

"No doubt, I want to be a senior coach," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"The opportunity is there but I'm not even thinking that far ahead. I want to focus on the boys and what we do this week.

"Being here for the last seven months and just knowing the group, how tight they are and how much Brad means to them ... that was all I really cared about."

The Roos have won just three of their first 10 games but Shaw doesn't expect major changes to their style or use of younger players.

Known for building strong relationships, he quickly gathered his players together to help them re-focus.

"We went out yesterday, we got off-site and had a kick-around and then went out for lunch and just chewed the fat really, making sure everyone was comfortable and able to talk about what they were feeling," Shaw said.

"They've come in this morning and we've had our meeting and the boys seem really good. They're really focused on this week.

"It could take one day, it could take a week, it could take two weeks for them to get over it. We've just got to be there to support them and that's my number-one priority throughout this whole process."

Shaw began his 237-game AFL career at Collingwood then spent the final seven seasons at Sydney, where he won a premiership before shifting into a coaching role under long-serving boss John Longmire.

Longmire - who has also been linked to the vacant Kangaroos role - spoke to him on Sunday night and told him to simply keep being himself.

"I'm not Brad Scott. The boys know that," Shaw said.

"I'm a little bit different, a little bit quirky at times.

"I've had so much time over the last two days to really think about it and I've been getting a lot of messages from everyone around the league in their support, and all the messages have just been about me being me. That's all I can do."