I always though the Roos were just dying a really slow death ever since https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/star-reveals-crushing-impact-of-wayne-careys-affair-with-teammates-wife/news-story/0a238c161f70771805724621dceae07d

 There is a miasma over them that has never really gone away. Anyway I am tipping the Wayne Carey curse will take Jason Horne-Francis unless they do something pretty quickly, a'la Two Aces

 

I feel bad for them. I know how it feels to literally spend every game sitting there just feeling everything is so hopeless. 

But there is the cold reality as well. 

North is not like Narrm, they don't have the tradition we have, nor do they have the link to the very origins of the game that we have. Their name is just ours with a compass direction added on - there is no need for two teams with the name Melbourne in it due to the number of Victorian clubs already in the League. They have very low supporter numbers and could never rally their members like Stynes did with the Foundational Members. 

They need to move to Tasmania, or the NT, and be reborn again. We're just watching a very slow death and it is very sad to see

8 hours ago, djr said:

The AFL will have difficulty doing this as they have no leverage. North are pretty much debt free and have a good balance sheet. They most probably are more financial than us.

What about the sale of our gambling venues (which they never had). I doubt they are better off financially than us.

Edited May 24, 20223 yr by MT64
Reads better.

7 hours ago, bing181 said:

Behind it all it seems that the problem is with Armafio (CEO) if what's floating round the North BigFooty board is correct. Be interesting to see what Paul Roos makes of it all.

Takes me back ...

I only just realised that Armafio is their CEO and he’s the same bloke who was walked out of Cricket Australia.

Why the hell did North hire him?

14 hours ago, Ouch! said:

Just putting this out there.

I know there have been whispers that some @ the AFL have been pushing to still look to relocate Nth to Tasmania,  and a lot of denials etc. Can the AFL, if it actually owns the licenses for all clubs, revoke the Nth license for the AFL and award a new license to Tasmania instead?  Nth could play VFL if they didn't want to exterminate the club entirely. 

In terms of the AFL competition, it's not diluting the talent pool, Tasmania gets a new team with it's own branding etc, the complexity of 19 teams is a non issue. Clubs with loud moth presidents like Tony Cochraine who are mewling at the thought of someone taking the teat from their mouth would have less of an argument about the slice of the pie.

I absolutely get this would be a disaster for Nth, but I doubt any supporters (other than the ones who live in Tas) would come across to support the team as a relocation anyway.

Give me 2 minutes to run for cover and then fire away!!!😁 

That is one of the more sensible solutions to the Tassie team/North dilemma.

Tough on North but can't see the majority of AFL clubs supporting a 19th club.  Especially, when they are financially supporting GWS, GCS and St Kilda.  With North going backwards, adding a Tassie team means 25% of the league will be on financial drip feed.

North need Peter Jackson asap!  If not him, the liquidators.

Edited May 24, 20223 yr by Lucifers Hero

Their list sure is a shambles.  It was when Scott left in 2019.  They decimated it further 2020 (which gave us BBB).  And have hardly set the world on fire with their early draft picks or trades in the last few years.

I don't know anything about the three who have left but with that track record and no semblance of a decent list build it is understandable they are being held accountable. 

However, it is odd timing.

I have no sympathy for the select North supporters who belittled us for 12 years.

But overall this is not a good situation. it doesn't benefit anyone to have one of the 18 clubs fall apart, and it feels like North is falling apart right now.

Moving the club to Tasmania runs a significant risk of leading to the Tasmanian venture failing. Tasmanians want and deserve their own team, not the remnants of a broken Victorian club.

So North needs to be "fixed". If 2013 Melbourne can be fixed, I suspect 2022 North Melbourne can be fixed.

13 hours ago, BAMF said:

Terrible news. What would you do if you were in control at North right now?

If it were me, I would figure out which club had the best recruiting team and target their staff with big offers.

That would be us.

In the interim I'd be offering Todd Viney a 6 month contract to fill the void in list management/recruiting. Then as soon as the season was over I'd be targeting other well know names in recruiting as a long term fix. Stephen Wells just had his roll at Geelong reduced didn't he???

11 hours ago, Nasher said:

Lol, I missed a key line in that post.

Oh well, I’ll leave my post there. Hopefully my failure to read lightens someone’s day 😂

haha Nasher :)  I was wondering where you were going there!
But yeah I was saying take the AFL license from Nth, either give them a chance to go to the VFL or dissolve the club. Players are all effectively free agents, Tassie is granted a 'fresh' licence and none of the baggage, and free to be branded as they wish.

 

39 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I have no sympathy for the select North supporters who belittled us for 12 years.

But overall this is not a good situation. it doesn't benefit anyone to have one of the 18 clubs fall apart, and it feels like North is falling apart right now.

Moving the club to Tasmania runs a significant risk of leading to the Tasmanian venture failing. Tasmanians want and deserve their own team, not the remnants of a broken Victorian club.

So North needs to be "fixed". If 2013 Melbourne can be fixed, I suspect 2022 North Melbourne can be fixed.

North's fix could be be the VFL, and the loss of the AFL licence.

Melbourne's was horrid for several years. But there ended up being an almighty intervention across board, admin and football department. I am not seeing that coming from anywhere with North... and they have had James Brayshaw and others intervene a few times before now. 

15 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Terrible news for a struggling club. I'd suggest that there will be more fallout than just these three. Not because I know anything, but it seems most unlikely that three people leaving like this will resolve whatever the underlying problems are.

Club Stuffed, need to go to Tassie to realign!

12 hours ago, monoccular said:

"....close to the bone OD.."   

tibia??

Shin bone....

24 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Club Stuffed, need to go to Tassie to realign!

riiiiight, and giving Tassie a half arsed club with no morale, poor fanbase,  an unwanted branding and all of the baggage that goes with all of this is going to make it successful?  🙄 

I wonder whether Nth supporters would prefer to be in the VFL rather than be relocated. I seem to recall some of the Fitzroy members indicated (at the time) that they would have preferred moving back down to the VFL or a local comp would have been better than the move to Brisbane. Interested to see what they think now after all this time.

2 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

I only just realised that Armafio is their CEO and he’s the same bloke who was walked out of Cricket Australia.

Why the hell did North hire him?

I don't know anything about his history but that doesn't sound so good.  Theyre discussing this with Hodgy on SEN now

6 minutes ago, Ouch! said:

riiiiight, and giving Tassie a half arsed club with no morale, poor fanbase,  an unwanted branding and all of the baggage that goes with all of this is going to make it successful?  🙄 

I wonder whether Nth supporters would prefer to be in the VFL rather than be relocated. I seem to recall some of the Fitzroy members indicated (at the time) that they would have preferred moving back down to the VFL or a local comp would have been better than the move to Brisbane. Interested to see what they think now after all this time.

I think their is some merit in keeping a link to North in Tassie. 

Fitzroy and South Melb fans have to some extent come back to the fold especially after the Lions and Swans won some Premierships.  They came out in big numbers.  Lions still wear the old 'Roy jumper for Vic games.

There is quite a bit of history and good things to harness from North.  A bit like the Swans reflecting on their history and taking on 'The Bloods' culture. 

Keeping the colours and a reworded club song like the northern clubs will go a long way to keeping those fans on side and eventually may come back to the fold.

Otherwise a totally new Tassie team could be a bit souless and be fanless outside of Tassie.  More empty stadiums around the country.

It all depends on how the AFL sold it to Tassie and to some extent to North.

2 hours ago, Lucifers Hero said:

That is one of the more sensible solutions to the Tassie team/North dilemma.

Tough on North but can't see the majority of AFL clubs supporting a 19th club.  Especially, when they are financially supporting GWS, GCS and St Kilda.  With North going backwards, adding a Tassie team means 25% of the league will be on financial drip feed.

North need Peter Jackson asap!  If not him, the liquidators.

I would much prefer one of GWS or GC go to make way for a Tassie team.

How much has been poured into these two clubs in the last decade and still going in and for what benefit?

Their crowds /supporter base are not exactly growing after about year 2 or 3 of commencing.

What's the term about doing the same thing over and over & getting the same result!!

50 minutes ago, Jontee said:

Shin bone....

Ah yes, the famous shin [censored] spirit !! That will see them back in positive territory again very soon ...    😜

Fold North, saints and footscray (or relegate them to the vfl). 6 flags between them in a competition that spans 3 centuries - won't be missed.  SEPARATELY bring in a genuine Tasmaniam team giving us a more balanced 16 team competition that better distributes teams across the Australian Rules population.

22 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

I think their is some merit in keeping a link to North in Tassie. 

Fitzroy and South Melb fans have to some extent come back to the fold especially after the Lions and Swans won some Premierships.  They came out in big numbers.  Lions still wear the old 'Roy jumper for Vic games.

There is quite a bit of history and good things to harness from North.  A bit like the Swans reflecting on their history and taking on 'The Bloods' culture. 

Keeping the colours and a reworded club song like the northern clubs will go a long way to keeping those fans on side and eventually may come back to the fold.

Otherwise a totally new Tassie team could be a bit souless and be fanless outside of Tassie.  More empty stadiums around the country.

It all depends on how the AFL sold it to Tassie and to some extent to North.

Hey, but you see this is the EXACT issue. The club in Tassie SHOULD be about Tasmania, not about Nth, and especially not about appeasing the fan base of Nth, or keeping Nth Melb history going! The people in Tasmania couldn't give a stuff about the history of North Melbourne...why should we?

The bloods culture was created by the swans, it might have some roots from South Melb, but I can assure you it was created by the Swans largely in the time that Paul Roos was up there.

The Tasmanian team has history of it's own it will harness being a heritage football state, it won't be soulless like the GWS or Gold Coast.  We already draw upon the fact that players like Hudson, Baldock, Richo, the Reiwoldts, Febeys, Gales, Robbo etc came from Tasmania. We are used to punching above our weight and this team would be no different. We can draw upon a similar population base to Geelong. (We'll also take Garry Lyon as one of our own too ;) )
Not only that but we have produced a lot of good administrators in Gale, Rawlings, Fagan, Robert Shaw, Scott Clayton etc...

The AFL isn't selling anything to Tassie in a pitch now, Tasmania wants it's own team, and the whole business case lead by the state, with Clarko etc. I can tell you more Tasmanian people would prefer not to have a team than to have Nth foisted onto them.

We don't want a clapped out Hyundai being sold to us as if it was a shiny new Jaguar thanks (shameless MFC sponsor plug there 😁)

8 hours ago, DEE fence said:

I always though the Roos were just dying a really slow death ever since https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/star-reveals-crushing-impact-of-wayne-careys-affair-with-teammates-wife/news-story/0a238c161f70771805724621dceae07d

 There is a miasma over them that has never really gone away. Anyway I am tipping the Wayne Carey curse will take Jason Horne-Francis unless they do something pretty quickly, a'la Two Aces

 

I've never seen an episode of Ted Lasso. Didn't realise that Jake Lever and Max Gawn were part of it.

2 minutes ago, Ouch! said:

Hey, but you see this is the EXACT issue. The club in Tassie SHOULD be about Tasmania, not about Nth, and especially not about appeasing the fan base of Nth, or keeping Nth Melb history going! The people in Tasmania couldn't give a stuff about the history of North Melbourne...why should we?

The bloods culture was created by the swans, it might have some roots from South Melb, but I can assure you it was created by the Swans largely in the time that Paul Roos was up there.

The Tasmanian team has history of it's own it will harness being a heritage football state, it won't be soulless like the GWS or Gold Coast.  We already draw upon the fact that players like Hudson, Baldock, Richo, the Reiwoldts, Febeys, Gales, Robbo etc came from Tasmania. We are used to punching above our weight and this team would be no different. We can draw upon a similar population base to Geelong. (We'll also take Garry Lyon as one of our own too ;) )
Not only that but we have produced a lot of good administrators in Gale, Rawlings, Fagan, Robert Shaw, Scott Clayton etc...

The AFL isn't selling anything to Tassie in a pitch now, Tasmania wants it's own team, and the whole business case lead by the state, with Clarko etc. I can tell you more Tasmanian people would prefer not to have a team than to have Nth foisted onto them.

We don't want a clapped out Hyundai being sold to us as if it was a shiny new Jaguar thanks (shameless MFC sponsor plug there 😁)

And that is the core of the problem. We don’t need another team (19th) and Tassie don’t want North (Totally understood)

Something will have to give

22 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

And that is the core of the problem. We don’t need another team (19th) and Tassie don’t want North (Totally understood)

Something will have to give

Absolutely.  There just isn't enough talent pool to offer up another club and see the other 18 hold their present shakey competitiveness.

The bottom 6 are playing a bog ordinary standard and mostly unwatchable yet the AFL is hinting at a 19th team?

33 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

And that is the core of the problem. We don’t need another team (19th) and Tassie don’t want North (Totally understood)

Something will have to give

SWYL,

I actually agree with you here, I am not 100% convinced that we want 19 teams either.  That said 20 teams gives us the best chance of an even draw, which is appealing, but the messiness of progressing as 19 teams and then towards 20 teams isn't something I want to see either.
 

Edited May 25, 20223 yr by Ouch!

34 minutes ago, Ouch! said:

Hey, but you see this is the EXACT issue. The club in Tassie SHOULD be about Tasmania, not about Nth, and especially not about appeasing the fan base of Nth, or keeping Nth Melb history going! The people in Tasmania couldn't give a stuff about the history of North Melbourne...why should we?

The bloods culture was created by the swans, it might have some roots from South Melb, but I can assure you it was created by the Swans largely in the time that Paul Roos was up there.

The Tasmanian team has history of it's own it will harness being a heritage football state, it won't be soulless like the GWS or Gold Coast.  We already draw upon the fact that players like Hudson, Baldock, Richo, the Reiwoldts, Febeys, Gales, Robbo etc came from Tasmania. We are used to punching above our weight and this team would be no different. We can draw upon a similar population base to Geelong. (We'll also take Garry Lyon as one of our own too ;) )
Not only that but we have produced a lot of good administrators in Gale, Rawlings, Fagan, Robert Shaw, Scott Clayton etc...

The AFL isn't selling anything to Tassie in a pitch now, Tasmania wants it's own team, and the whole business case lead by the state, with Clarko etc. I can tell you more Tasmanian people would prefer not to have a team than to have Nth foisted onto them.

We don't want a clapped out Hyundai being sold to us as if it was a shiny new Jaguar thanks (shameless MFC sponsor plug there 😁)

I have a lot of support for your cause.  Just trying to figure out ways to make it work.  A Tassie team really wouldn't want to play a dozen interstate teams at empty venues would it, forever? 

It would never get off the AFL financial drip feed and that is what worries other clubs. 

Just for the record, South Melbourne were The Bloods from 1874 to 1933.  Roos resurrected it as part of 'embracing their history', welcomed Bobby Skilton and other ex players back into the fold etc. 

1 minute ago, Ouch! said:

SWYL,

I actually agree with you here, I am not 100% convinced that we want 19 teams either.  That said 20 teams gives us the best chance of an even draw, which is appealing, but the mess of 19 teams isn't something I want to see in the interim.
 

Ouch!! I honestly think we have too many Clubs at 18. The talent pool is getting diluted enough. 
so to go to 20 Teams would be a disaster in my opinion, but I totally get that You want a Pure Tassie Side. 
The only solution i can see is that one of North, GC or GW$ get totally disassembled and moved to Tassie to start again. 
Look at the Crowd numbers now in the heartland. We can’t afford new clubs now. 
we have to fix the backyard first