A 50m guard of honour made up of young Kangaroos fans greeted Harvey as he ran onto the ground before the game, and his midfield made it clear from the opening bounce they intended to honour their skipper in similar fashion.
The likes of Andrew Swallow, Leigh Adams, Jack Ziebell and Daniel Wells attacked the ball and man so ferociously and the Crows barely got their hands on the ball in the first quarter. In that term, North won the clearances 22-3 and the contested and uncontested possession counts 48-29 and 71-39 respectively.
No one was more dominant than Swallow, who had a remarkable 17 possessions in the first quarter. While he could not maintain that astonishing pace, he still finished with a career-best 39 possessions and 18 clearances to be clearly best on ground. Drew Petrie (four goals) provided a strong focal point for North in attack.
Importantly, the skill errors that have dogged the Kangaroos for much of this season were largely nowhere to be seen, as they kicked the first five goals of the game without a miss. The hosts finished the afternoon with a deadly accurate tally of 18.7 (115).
The Crows fought their way back into the game in the second quarter, edging the Kangaroos in clearances (8-6) and hurting them in space as play started to open up for them around the ground.
Ironically, inaccuracy in front of goal prevented the Crows from making real inroads into North's lead, with Sam Jacobs, Kurt Tippett and Rory Sloane all missing gettable shots. In the end, both sides kicked just two goals each for the quarter as the Kangaroos went into half-time with a 23-point lead.
Tippett took a number of strong contested marks on the Crows' forward line, but his return of 3.5 meant his impact was not what it could have been. Defender Graham Johncock was the Crows' best player, while Richard Douglas at least managed to reduce Swallow's impact somewhat in the second half.
The second half descended into a victory parade for Harvey and his side as the Kangaroos piled on 10 goals to the Crows' six. Harvey, himself, was solid rather than brilliant (17 possessions and two goals). But given the amount of times he has won games for his side off his own boot, it was fitting his teammates were able to deliver him a win on his special occasion.
FIRST QUARTER
The Kangaroos had two goals on the board before Adelaide had ventured inside forward 50 with Andrew Swallow the driving force behind his team's brilliant start with 17 possessions for the term. The Roos' momentum was halted, as Jamie Macmillan was stretchered off after a collision with Richard Douglas, but it was only a brief respite for the Crows who conceded another three goals before Rory Sloane got his team on the board.
Drew Petrie sent North into the first break with a 24-point lead after a superb goal from a tight angle after the siren. Macmillan was subbed off after suffering a concussion with Ben Speight taking his place.
SECOND QUARTER
The Crows were at least able to stem the flow of North Melbourne goals in the second quarter, but wasted opportunities to close the gap with Kurt Tippett, Sam Jacobs and Rory Sloane all missing set shots on goal.
Petrie continued to prove a handful for Ben Rutten and booted his third goal, but Tippett redeemed himself with a strong contested mark on the goal line, which he duly converted.
Lachie Hansen made the margin 23 points at half-time with a nice set shot from just inside 50. Adelaide's work at the stoppages continued to pose a problem for Neil Craig with the Crows trailing by 23 contested possessions after one half of footy.
THIRD QUARTER
Petrie banged through his fourth inside the first minute of the third quarter, but the contest deteriorated into a scrappy stalemate until Ricky Henderson goaled after receiving a 50m penalty in the 12th minute.
Jack Gunston did the same after the Roos' Scott Thompson threw the ball back to the umpire after a free kick was paid against him, but they were the only goals Adelaide was able to score for the term.
Tippett hit the post twice from set shots and it proved costly as the Kangaroos kicked the last three goals of the quarter to set up an imposing 40-point lead at three-quarter time. Jared Petrenko was handed the red vest when substitute Brad Symes was sent on halfway through the term.
FOURTH QUARTER
Gunston and Tippett gave Adelaide the slightest of chances with back-to-back goals early in the final term, but Jack Ziebell answered immediately to set up a big finish for the Roos.
Swallow was again the architect of Adelaide's demise, adding another 11 touches in the last quarter to take his tally to a career-high 39.
The Kangaroos' youngsters were outstanding for the most part with Ben Speight, Kieran Harper and Liam Anthony all hitting the scoreboard as North Melbourne recorded its third win of the season by 47 points
North Melbourne 6.1 8.3 13.5 18.7 (115)
Adelaide 2.1 4.4 6.7 10.8 (68)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Petrie 4, Adams 2, Swallow 2, Harvey 2, Anthony 2, Edwards, Goldstein, Hansen, Ziebell, Speight, Harper
Adelaide: Tippett 3, Dangerfield 2, Gunston 2, Henderson, Sloane, Thompson
BEST
North Melbourne: Swallow, Petrie, Wells, Ziebell, Goldstein, Anthony, Speight
Adelaide: Johncock, Tippett, Jaensch, van Berlo, Vince, Thompson
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Macmillan (fractured cheekbone), Adams (knee)
Adelaide: None
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Jamie Macmillan (fractured cheekbone) replaced by Ben Speight in the first quarter
Adelaide: Jared Petrenko replaced by Brad Symes in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Armstrong, Jeffery, Farmer
Official crowd: 18,185 at Etihad Stadium
