North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey believes he can finish season stronger after early-season absence It's been a long wait for Kangaroos veteran Brent Harvey, but he's back this week against the Western Bulldogs. NORTH Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey admits to guilt and frustration at missing the first six AFL rounds but believes he can finish the season stronger as a result. Harvey's six-match ban - stemming from two striking offences in last year's elimination final loss to West Coast - has meant enduring some agonisingly close defeats from the sidelines, including a four-point loss to Geelong in round two and three-point loss to Hawthorn in round five. "Obviously I do feel guilty because I should be out there helping my teammates," Harvey told reporters on Wednesday. But I think it was more frustration knowing how good we're playing but we couldn't get the result on the board. The Kangaroos are 2-4 heading into Harvey's comeback match against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday. But Harvey, who turns 35 next Tuesday, believes the club is still firmly in the finals hunt. And he says one positive from his ban is that he has never felt fresher at this stage of a season and expects to be hitting peak form as other players are starting to fatigue. "It's a long pre-season now, then you play three or four NAB Cup games, then you play the season," Harvey said. Come rounds 13, 14, 15 the boys start hitting a little bit of a brick wall. Hopefully I'm still going well. He's also thankful his return coincides with a milestone game for two close mates, North defenders Michael Firrito, who will play his 200th match on Saturday, and Scott Thompson, who plays his 100th. "I would have been a little bit spewing if I wasn't out there for that," he said. Harvey said both players had everything you could want in a teammate, particularly their willingness to do whatever they could to help the club win. His time spent in the coaches box during his suspension has helped fuel a desire to explore that avenue once his playing days are over. But the veteran of a club record 346 games hopes that is not for some time, indicating he will play on next season if he can.