North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley admits the fall-out from the infamous chicken sex video has had a deeper impact on the AFL club than other recent dramas.

Laidley said the Kangaroos were still mentally drained from the apology they made last week for making the video and the criticism that followed, admitting they could still be feeling the effects in weeks to come.

"They've been a pretty fragile group as late as Monday and Tuesday," he said on Thursday.

"We're still moving forward and it's not going to take a week or two weeks, I imagine it's going to take a while."

Arden Street has endured its share of drama this decade, most notably Wayne Carey's tawdry split in 2002, but also the defection of coach Denis Pagan to Carlton that year, concern over finances and the threat of relocation to the Gold Coast in 2007.

Laidley, now in his seventh season as Pagan's successor, said the video fall-out had affected the club more.

"Yeah, I would have thought, because of the individual scrutiny that the players have been put under, and the club has been put under, and the sponsors have been put under, and the chairman, the coaches and the CEO," he said.

Laidley said it was difficult to quantify how much the incident contributed to North's loss to Hawthorn last Sunday, but the mood at training ahead of Sunday's clash against Essendon appeared sombre.

North fined Adam Simpson and Daniel Pratt $5,000 for their part in making the tasteless video and reprimanded a staff member who put the production on the internet.

The Kangaroos will soon also be addressed by Sue Clark, the AFL's respect and responsibility policy officer, and former footballer Phil Cleary, now a campaigner against domestic violence.

Laidley's comments came as the Kangaroos dropped senior players Daniel Wells and Corey Jones, through injury and frustrating form.

A hip injury will sideline Wells, but Laidley made it clear he was not satisfied with the midfielder's input against the Hawks, when the coach accused his players of not working hard enough.

He also said Jones had reached the crossroads of his career and needed to work hard to reach the heights of 2007, when he topped the club's goal-kicking.

Laidley said Wells, at 24 and a veteran of 126 games, should be producing more as a seasoned player and member of the Kangaroos' leadership group.

Equally damning, he said Wells was not the sort who coped well playing with an injury.

"Once you go across the line and you've flagged yourself as being fit there's no excuses," he said.

"Everyone's entitled to a bad game, but there's certain things that you need to make sure (you're doing), that you're up and about in your body language and you do all the team stuff like chase and tackle."

Jones returned to the North side last Sunday, but was also down and seems a long way from the star of 2007.

Laidley brought up Jones' axing unprompted and said it had nothing to do with the injury problems he experienced last year.

"It is make or break where we're at and where he's at in his career," he said.

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