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North Melbourne: The Lesson WE MUST Learn

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jj1978

jj1978

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts
May 11, 2006
16,792
28,141
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
Undoubtedly like most of you I feel really gutted about the North Melbourne Relocation issue and the possibility down the track that the AFL may target another club to re-locate...eg NSW, TAS.

We must not get to the situation again where it was only recently we had major financial issues that helped us get to record membership numbers... we cannot rely on our rich members and Lord Pratt to salvage us on our times of future need.

All of you Blue bloods keep renewing your memberships every year... even if it's the cheapest membership possible just do it!

We can't expect our history or our name to keep us a Melbourne based side forever, only memberships and financial stability can do that!

Also don't sign up only when we have a Judd on our list, do it regardless!

To all you fellow members during our bleakest period, you're all legends! :thumbsu:
 
jj1978 said:
Undoubtedly like most of you I feel really gutted about the North Melbourne Relocation issue and the possibility down the track that the AFL may target another club to re-locate...eg NSW, TAS.

We must not get to the situation again where it was only recently we had major financial issues that helped us get to record membership numbers... we cannot rely on our rich members and Lord Pratt to salvage us on our times of future need.

All of you Blue bloods keep renewing your memberships every year... even if it's the cheapest membership possible just do it!

We can't expect our history or our name to keep us a Melbourne based side forever, only memberships and financial stability can do that!

Also don't sign up only when we have a Judd on our list, do it regardless!

To all you fellow members during our bleakest period, you're all legends! :thumbsu:
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It was my first time being a member in 2007 due to being a single mum, finances wouldn't allow me to do it previously. But I will keep renewing my membership as well as buying my daughter one. I am happy to be supporting the greatest club in AUS!!!!!!

Go Blue Boys :thumbsu::thumbsu:
 

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blues4flag said:
I wouldn't call Smorgan mad - more so inept.
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I think he was both!

Anyone who argued his ineptitude was sat on the other side of the boardroom. How did he expect things to go forward with a split board? Sacking people he had no authority to sack, people voted in by us, the members!
 
There are 4 teams that I think are 100% safe really from being forced to relocate.

Carlton - One of the victorian marque clubs... plus if it wasnt for us, there wouldnt be an AFL or even a VFL or VFA.

Collingwood - Mainly to counter Carlton :D

Essendon - Despite being down on their luck... they are jointly the most successful club in the history of the game.

Melbourne - You cannot move the club that started the whole shebang really

Teams that I feel wont be forced into moving are:

Richmond and St Kilda

Unfortunately, I think that Hawthorn are the next in line to be relocated out of Victoria as I think that the tasmanian experiment is working for them and they now have a huge fan base down there.

Sorry to say, but North might as well start packing up their bags and head north as they say. If they stay in Melbourne, they might end up being the second club to be forced into merging...
 
Excellent thread. I also was worried that at one time, we would sink to the unsinkable and be dropped from the AFL, now the only questioning I have is 'how far can we go?' I was a first time member in '07, and I intend on continuing down the same path, one that 30-40 thousand people will also walk along. GO BLUE BAGGERS!
 
Not sure about the last three there mate.

Dees supporters nearly lost their club once, and during this season were making HUGE losses during the losing streak by only pulling crowds of sub 20,000 to the "G".

They wouldn't want to have a bad few years, as their supporter base is not much better than the Roos.

The Tiges and Saints, tragic as they are, have strong and loyal supporter bases who will steal and sell drugs to buy memberships.........or rattle tins.......they will survive like a good little street urchin.

IMO the Roos should look at Tassie full time.
Their fans wouldn't drop off the same way as they wouold going to the GC, they would still have a number of games in Vic, and be close enough for players to regulalry attend Vic based functions for fans etc.
GC will be the end of the Roos.

This would be sad for footy, so much so that aside from my blues membership I will be looking into a cheap Roos assciate membership next year as well (depending on outcomes with the AFL).
 
I'll probably be hated for saying this but I don't actually have a 'gut' sadness for the north thing....I can't put my finger on why though.
I cried watching Fitzroy's last game, was saddened by the Richmond drama years and years ago and put money in the tin for the Doggies when they were down...and would do the same for everybody - even the arch enemies.
I do feel for the supporters when I put myself in their predicament but, particularly since their 90's glory days, I've had no inclination towards them. I suppose their marketing has let them down and don't really have an appeal to others...maybe...
I feel bad that these are my thoughts!
 

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We all have to admit we need to reduce the number of Vic teams to prob about 6.

As said..

Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon are prob safe... and Richmond.

I don't see why we need a north melbourne and a melbourne.. why not merge both north and melb into one team named melbourne kangaroos that way the two supporter groups combined will do great.

Hawthorn I feel will be a Vic/Tas club with 50% games played Vic and 50% in Tas.

StKilda and Bulldogs are a tough one for what joy do they bring supporters.. in fact I think the next NSW team will be a formed by one of these teams (prob StKilda).

And the Western Bulldogs will be asked to truly become a Western Team as the next WA franchise is created.
 
The Melbourne Kangaroos partnership seems so logical at the moment doesn't it? I hope the Kangaroos wake up to themselves and start discussions because they will be relocated or relocated (Fitzroy style) by the AFL otherwise.

Merge now before it's too late!

ps. Bulldogs to West Sydney will be the next move if not careful!
 
SurreyBlue said:
The Melbourne Kangaroos partnership seems so logical at the moment doesn't it? I hope the Kangaroos wake up to themselves and start discussions because they will be relocated or relocated (Fitzroy style) by the AFL otherwise.

Merge now before it's too late!

ps. Bulldogs to West Sydney will be the next move if not careful!
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Personally, I'd rather a relocation than a merger. Might see them significantly less, but a merged club is practically a dead club, as far as I'm concerned. I believe the best thing for the Roos would be to relocate to the GC, but negotiate say a minimum of 7 away games in Victoria.
 
blues4flag said:
Personally, I'd rather a relocation than a merger. Might see them significantly less, but a merged club is practically a dead club, as far as I'm concerned. I believe the best thing for the Roos would be to relocate to the GC, but negotiate say a minimum of 7 away games in Victoria.
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If the spokespeople from the GC are to be believed, they will kill the Roos anyway. GC board members to run a GC club. It has to be a change in identity rather than a Melbourne "relocation". Otherwise the local won't go for it.

Take em to Tassie i say.:thumbsu:
 
Bluebear said:
If the spokespeople from the GC are to be believed, they will kill the Roos anyway. GC board members to run a GC club. It has to be a change in identity rather than a Melbourne "relocation". Otherwise the local won't go for it.

Take em to Tassie i say.:thumbsu:
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Reserved for the Hawks. :D

Seriously though, while a relocated Roos will have to embrace the Coast and not look as if they're being pushed their against their will, ensuring a minimum number of away games (while playing all 11, or at worst 10 home games in Carrara) would be the best move for the club, IMO. It'll minimize the number of disgruntled Vic Roos.

The worst case scenario for the club, I believe, would have been playing 8 games on the GC out of Melbourne as the club proposed to the AFL.
 
jj1978 said:
Undoubtedly like most of you I feel really gutted about the North Melbourne Relocation issue and the possibility down the track that the AFL may target another club to re-locate...eg NSW, TAS.

We must not get to the situation again where it was only recently we had major financial issues that helped us get to record membership numbers... we cannot rely on our rich members and Lord Pratt to salvage us on our times of future need.

All of you Blue bloods keep renewing your memberships every year... even if it's the cheapest membership possible just do it!

We can't expect our history or our name to keep us a Melbourne based side forever, only memberships and financial stability can do that!

Also don't sign up only when we have a Judd on our list, do it regardless!

To all you fellow members during our bleakest period, you're all legends! :thumbsu:
Click to expand...


AFL are determain to have less Victorian clubs they will do everything to make sure it happens saying North Will die if they stay in Melbourne wonder if thats true or just saying it to pressure North into saying we'll move
lets hope If We faced same thing is To say no to the Face of AFL doubt supporters would give rats about AFL if there club moves or mergers with another club wouldn't be the same as having ya own club on there own.
 

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jj1978 said:
We all have to admit we need to reduce the number of Vic teams to prob about 6.

As said..

Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon are prob safe... and Richmond.

I don't see why we need a north melbourne and a melbourne.. why not merge both north and melb into one team named melbourne kangaroos that way the two supporter groups combined will do great.

Hawthorn I feel will be a Vic/Tas club with 50% games played Vic and 50% in Tas.

StKilda and Bulldogs are a tough one for what joy do they bring supporters.. in fact I think the next NSW team will be a formed by one of these teams (prob StKilda).

And the Western Bulldogs will be asked to truly become a Western Team as the next WA franchise is created.
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Ummm... I dont think that they would be able to touch Melbourne at all...

Considering that it is the founding team of the whole shooting match. If there was no Melbourne football club way back when, there wouldnt have been the Melbourne Rules League of which Carlton was a part.

Personally, I think that losing Hawthorn to tassie is the next step in the development of the national game. Eventually, they will be a fully tasmanian team with just the heritage links to Hawthorn and Glenferrie Oval (shit hole that it always was)

North gone, Hawthorn gone... Geelong isnt a Melbourne club so they are safe. It will be 5 inner city clubs and 2 suburban clubs left. I think that the AFL is going to be happy with that.

Actually, just had a thought. If they really want to, they can shift the filth to New Zealand if they like... I'll chip in for that :D
 
The AFL has shown that history and prestige means little (something, but not a great deal).

Fitroy Football Club

8 premierships (7 in their first 25 years), 8 brownlows, Second highest score ever kicked in a game.

Fitzroy were THE powerhouse of the start of the competition, simply they were the market leaders and they hold a glorious place in the history of the game. I had to explain to my sons who they were and what happened to them.

Melbourne were one meeting away from a merger. Hawthorn at the stage were ready to deal, Melbourne kicked. Hawthorn also then decided to fight and the rest is history, but the AFL was happy to let the merger go ahead.

Melbourne can disappear, they are probably 4th on the list of "most likely clubs" at the moment.

To suggest that Melbourne cannot field 9 teams is a joke, the AFL is pulling record crowds all the time. The AFL wants teams to merge/relocate so they do not have to expand the competition to move into untried areas. They also want to take a known brand to areas, but the number of teams here can be supported.

Teams that will not leave Victoria, in order

Geelong - Simply has one of the hugest supporter bases out there, the whole Western Districts of Victoria is about 85% Geelong. Even when they were up to their necks in debt, The Geelong City Council underwrote the debt. More secure than even Collingwoos

Collingwood - As secure as a team can be. Remember mis-management can force even the strongest into debt and Collingwood have been there. However they will always have the following to pull them out of their misery, should they ever fall back into such a situation

Carlton - Still up to their eyeballs in debt, but not for second is their a though that Carlton will no get out of it. Had the 2nd highest membership of Victorian teams in 2007 despite no finals appearances since 2001. The signing of Judd/Ratten could push it above 40,000 and above Collingwood as the highest membership base in Victoria. Carlton have some of the most influential supporters of all clubs. In these supporters hands Carlton will never move.

Essendon - People use the term "the big 4", it does not exist in Melbourne, but a "big 3" does and Essendon is clearly part of that. They are the last of the Victorian sides that I would consider "untouchable" and have a high enough supporter base that they could just as easily be considered as the most untouchable Victorian club. Can bring regular 80,000+ crowds when performing, which gets FTA TV and sponsors $$.

Richmond - The "4th" cog of the non-existent big 4. I say non existent because the members have jumped off so many times, that you can never guarantee they will stick around. They nearly lost their club about 15 years ago, but I still do not think they will ever relocate, simply because there are other options more likely. If there were only 6 teams in Victoria then the Tigers would be the team most likely to move

St.Kilda - Putting St.Kilda ahead of the 5 below is not an indication that they have a stronger supporter base than the following (though it is true in some situations), more than there are reasons that currently put the club above others. They could very well slip down this list, with poor performances on the field. They also have run well financially recently, but that is recently. A few years of that not being the case and they are vulnerable again.

Melbourne - They are a team that is probably as unviable as North and WB, yet the one thing that has them up here is there background. As discussed this is not enough to stop them being relocated or merged though and any of the bottom four teams has every chance of being involved in a merger. Melbourne have already sold games (like all of the bottom 5 clubs) and will be praying for one of the other clubs to relocate first and therefore remove the chances that they will relocate.

Hawthorn - Not in the bottom three because they are not viable, but here because they may choose to relocate. They have had a couple of Presidents with a lot of nous and Ian Dicker should be revered to almost god-like status within this club. If Hawthorn do not want to relocate, then they are probably less likely to move than Richmond. Waverly was a massive coup for them as well

Western Bulldogs
Are probably further advances than Melbourne at the moment in regards to resources etc, but they are forever the runt of the AFL's fleet and the AFl almost appear embarrassed by them at times. DS has done a wonderful job for them, but whilst there are 10 teams in Victoria they will always be fighting for survival and even with 9 teams, they are no guarantee of staying long term.
Like the kangas they know what it is like to have their backs to the wall and need to constantly fight for survival. They have become more viable as they have pushed harder in the suburbs West of Footscray (similar to what Geelong do) and this should ensure they can build a strong enough supporter base.

North Melbourne
Shimma slept with Oakley's wife, Carey with Jackson's and Archer with Demetriou's. They must have because the AFL seems to have hadan agenda against this club for a long time. In the 90's when they were strong and offered Fitzroy and alternative the AFL knocked it on the head. They have pioneered night games and they have been one of the most successful teams in the last 14-15 seasons with 8 prelims in that time, yet they are a team the AFL simply does not want to survive. This puts them number 1 on the teams most likely, but even for North it is not lost. They seem to have a lack of financial nous within the club and DeRouge seemed to confirm this during the week. But with an Ian DIcker style board, this club could take on and beat the AFL, for football's sake I hope they do.
 

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North Melbourne: The Lesson WE MUST Learn

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