North Melbourne have started their list shake-up ahead of November's AFL draft with club stalwart Jess Sinclair announcing his retirement.

Leigh Brown and Eddie Sansbury are expected to be dumped by the club while the future of veteran Nathan Thompson remains uncertain.

Midfielder Daniel Harris and Corey Jones, who was dropped three times this year, including missing the North's elimination final against Sydney, would have some currency at trade time.

Sinclair, 30, who played just six games this year because of a serious thumb and ankle injury, made a tearful exit after the club's disappointing 35-point elimination final loss to Sydney last Saturday night.

After meeting with coach Dean Laidley and football manager Donald McDonald, the trio agreed it was best Sinclair did not go on.

"I was always going to make a decision when the season was over but deep down after the siren I just knew that was going to be it and that's probably why I got so emotional," Sinclair said.

"I'd stand up and say I performed pretty poorly on Saturday night in the final and that's where we needed our senior players to stand up and we didn't deliver.

"If you don't perform, you've got to move on and change your list.

"I had a chat to Laids and Donald McDonald yesterday and we decided it was best to pull the pin now and let our youngsters come through and take us in the future."

Sinclair admitted he shed a tear while telling the playing group of his decision to retire and according to McDonald, Sinclair's teammates were genuinely shocked by the announcement.

"They were more disappointed to lose a good mate because he was such a popular person," McDonald said.

After making his debut in 1997, Sinclair played 50 games for Fremantle before being traded to the Kangaroos at the end of the 2000 season, where he went on to play a further 142 games.

But unfortunately for Sinclair, he will be best remembered for his high hit on Hawk Lance Picioane in 2003.

Picioane suffered three fractures around his right eye socket and a black eye while Sinclair was suspended for five weeks by the tribunal.

But Sinclair's memories of playing with the Kangaroos was of a great club culture.

"Once I walked in the door at North, just the players you had to look twice," Sinclair told radio SEN.

"They had a different culture to Freo, they were just starting out and went through some really tough times.

"When I came to North, they just came off a flag the year before (1996) and it was a real winning culture and that's what was instilled into us."

McDonald said the club's review, which started on Monday, would be ongoing but he said no decision had been made on any other player's future.

He said the club "needed to digest" how the Roos had blown a top four chance and gone out in the first week of the finals and said they "would not be going to make any rash decisions".

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