North Melbourne have declared Essendon’s supplements scandal is not an acceptable topic of conversation during Friday’s AFL round-one clash at Etihad Stadium.

North’s key forward Drew Petrie, who will captain the side in the absence of injured skipper Andrew Swallow, says his players won’t be sledging the Bombers on the topic of drugs.

“It’s not in the spirit of the game at all and our players won’t be engaging in any kind of sledging around the ASADA stuff,” Petrie told reporters on Thursday.

“But all other sledging is open season,” he added with a grin.

Essendon are still under ASADA investigation for their 2012 supplements program.

It’s not known when ASADA will decide whether they will issue infraction notices against players.

Essendon coach James Hird is serving a 12-month AFL suspension because of the supplements scandal. Hird’s ban expires in August and his assistant Mark Thompson is coaching the side in 2014.

The Bombers were banned in August 2013 from that year’s finals series as part of the AFL’s penalties handed down over the club’s use of supplements.