Analysis Random NORTH thoughts not worthy of a thread

Aug 16, 2009
10,261
20,872
North Caulfield
AFL Club
North Melbourne
- (search The Merge if the link doesn’t work for some
reason)

Just watched the doco. Had forgotten what a flog Noel Gordon was.

Typical AFL though huh ....stuff the supporters, what’s in it for us? Majority of Fitzroy supporters wanted to merge with North. Jonathan Brown was also excited to play for North Fitzroy as a father son.
Ross Oakley still being as revisionist as ever.
 

sruss

Club Legend
Feb 12, 2016
1,777
6,007
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Just watched the doco. Had forgotten what a flog Noel Gordon was.

Typical AFL though huh ....stuff the supporters, what’s in it for us? Majority of Fitzroy supporters wanted to merge with North. Jonathan Brown was also excited to play for North Fitzroy as a father son.
Ross Oakley still being as revisionist as ever.
Yeah, that Gordon came off as a smug w***er on The Footy Show. Instant dislike after watching that
 

Orange Peanut

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 6, 2013
7,151
33,962
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I was *ing furious, and definitely wasn't the only one who rang the club the morning the proposal was revealed by the HSun. We were in the midst of our most promising season in a generation, and we were going to give up half of the club.
When it got scuppered we got sent a letter from Greg Miller telling us how awful it was that the AFL had blocked this wonderful opportunity for our club. I think I set fire to it.
 
Looking back we wouldn’t have been North Melbourne and I’m not too sure I could accept that today. Something about the name hey.
On the other hand we would have been set up financially with a larger supporter base and had just won a flag and would have picked up genuine guns. We would have romped it in for sure. No relocation bullshit that lingers today.

Natural of Richmond to sook immediately after spending nearly 20 years doing * all. What a s**t club honestly. Geelong had a sook too.
And it all came back in their faces as Brisbane became the juggernaut they feared we would be and went back to back to back.
The big clubs and the AFL are absolute scum and nothing has changed 25 years later.

In an alternate universe Buckley is a North champion and an ageing Carey is replaced by Jonathon Brown who we build the team around post 99.

Jesus history hasn’t been kind to us. We are a story of nearly there’s and just a tads aren’t we.
 

big_e

Existential crisis management consultant
Apr 28, 2008
12,558
38,503
Back Pocket
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Looking back we wouldn’t have been North Melbourne and I’m not too sure I could accept that today. Something about the name hey.
On the other hand we would have been set up financially with a larger supporter base and had just won a flag and would have picked up genuine guns. We would have romped it in for sure. No relocation bullshit that lingers today.

Natural of Richmond to sook immediately after spending nearly 20 years doing fu** all. What a s**t club honestly. Geelong had a sook too.
And it all came back in their faces as Brisbane became the juggernaut they feared we would be and went back to back to back.
The big clubs and the AFL are absolute scum and nothing has changed 25 years later.

In an alternate universe Buckley is a North champion and an ageing Carey is replaced by Jonathon Brown who we build the team around post 99.

Jesus history hasn’t been kind to us. We are a story of nearly there’s and just a tads aren’t we.
I'm not so sure about that. There would have been heaps of discord from both Fitzroy and North people, and there is every chance it would have degenerated into a shitshow. And bringing two struggling businesses together and expecting the new entity to become a success is fanciful. The new club would have been under the same pressures again five years down the track. We dodged a bullet, IMO.
 

Bowski

Club Legend
May 14, 2007
2,872
1,582
Shenanigan
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Saw that David King was giving praise to North on account of arranging for Shinboners of the past to call current players during Covid just for a chat, he was comparing it to Andrew Mcleod's recent statements about the Crows and not feeling welcome. Essentially said we have had a great shift in attitude towards past greats recently.
 
I'm not so sure about that. There would have been heaps of discord from both Fitzroy and North people, and there is every chance it would have degenerated into a shitshow. And bringing two struggling businesses together and expecting the new entity to become a success is fanciful. The new club would have been under the same pressures again five years down the track. We dodged a bullet, IMO.
On field success may have played a part though

Everyone loves a winner and we would have been a juggernaut
 

Cyber_punk

Doomer
Feb 16, 2020
4,232
10,560
AFL Club
North Melbourne
For anyone interested I saw a couple of old games uploaded recently. Back when footy was far more unpredictable, free flowing and fun, imo. We'll probably never see such ridiculous goal fests again. Calthorpe was quite good in his first few games for us. Harvey looking about 12 years old.



 
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goalieboy82

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 28, 2007
7,450
14,509
USA
AFL Club
North Melbourne
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North Fairfax Kangaroos
a few minutes ago (its just after noon here in the Washington DC area) i went by my work to get some Starbucks Coffee (we have on where i work in my store) and i wore my North Jumper i got in 2006 (and the beanie too) that i got in LA. a co-worker said something about Aussie Rules and i said he should support, in fact i order you to, barrack for North Melbourne.
 
Does anyone here have living memory of the time North almost took over Fitzroy? Watching the doco in Fox Sports right now, scary how close it actually came to going though. Apparently it was well received amongst fans? Cannot imagine that

Hi, sruss. Apologies for coming late to the party on this one.

As it happens, my (now ex) mother-in-law was Vice President of Fitzroy when they went under. I'm lucky enough to have been privy to a whole bunch of fascinating inside stories from that time, particularly regarding the boardroom merger negotiations that took place between the respective clubs. It's fair to say that some North execs and key players left a really positive impression upon her, and some did not. Unfortunately, when it comes to that stuff I'm too hamstrung by promises of confidentiality to share what I know on a public forum.

Re the overarching history, the versions you've heard from a few posters (LB2Snake, gokangas, shimaburnsgrieg) are close enough to the mark. Regardless of whether or not their concerns were well-founded, the main argument against the merger from the other clubs was definitely a fear that we would become a powerhouse, both on - and off - the field.

In terms of identity, the proposed merger made sure that there was fair recognition of both clubs, but we definitely held the whip hand. Had the merger have gone ahead, the Frankenstein's monster that emerged would have been discernibly more North than Fitzroy. That's straight from the Fitzroy VP's mouth. In simple terms, somewhere around the 60/40 or 65/35 mark.

While there were pockets of supporters from both clubs that were opposed to the merger, there weren't nearly as many opposing voices as you'd expect. Certainly nothing like what we saw in '07. There were quite a few North supporters who were behind the move, possibly sold on the idea by the altruistic aspect of throwing Fitzroy a lifeline and the very probable prospect of instant on-field success that would come with that. Saying that, maybe the voices of dissent were just taking a while to get warmed up.

When all is said and done, as much respect as I have for Fitzroy and as sad as I am that they were forcibly removed from AFL existence, and as much as I agree with the theory that we would have reaped the on-field rewards in the short term, it wouldn't have been the 'we' that we all know and love, and that we fought so hard to save in '07. So yeah, I'm extremely glad that the merger never went ahead.

Keep North North....while keeping them South....but not too far South.
 

goalieboy82

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 28, 2007
7,450
14,509
USA
AFL Club
North Melbourne
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North Fairfax Kangaroos
when we win another Premiership (this year i hope*) i expect nothing less then a whole chapter on Scamper along:
10984.jpeg

the chapter should be called, The Legend of the Little Geelong Cat.
*since since is 14 years old and that is old for a barn cat (plus he has some new "friends" around the barn).
 
Jun 30, 2014
29,143
34,097
The Winchester
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Adelaide
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Tottenham Hotspur, East Side Hawks
when we win another Premiership (this year i hope*) i expect nothing less then a whole chapter on Scamper along:
View attachment 899069
the chapter should be called, The Legend of the Little Geelong Cat.
*since since is 14 years old and that is old for a barn cat (plus he has some new "friends" around the barn).
I love animal pics. I’ve got a ten yr old golden retriever that would throw out his hip chasing that mofo. X
 
Hey giantroo remember the 2002 game against the Dogs on a Saturday night, where we got jumped early and Nathan Brown gave the cheer squad the finger? Then in the second half Byron went dippy and got us over the line.
We never could find copies of this match for years.

Well, it’s on Kayo. Name-a-game said channel 10 never kept the recording of the game yet it’s been uploaded now. Miracle.
 
Hey giantroo remember the 2002 game against the Dogs on a Saturday night, where we got jumped early and Nathan Brown gave the cheer squad the finger? Then in the second half Byron went dippy and got us over the line.
We never could find copies of this match for years.

Well, it’s on Kayo. Name-a-game said channel 10 never kept the recording of the game yet it’s been uploaded now. Miracle.
I now have a copy. I'll see if I can upload it anywhere.
 
Hey giantroo remember the 2002 game against the Dogs on a Saturday night, where we got jumped early and Nathan Brown gave the cheer squad the finger? Then in the second half Byron went dippy and got us over the line.
We never could find copies of this match for years.

Well, it’s on Kayo. Name-a-game said channel 10 never kept the recording of the game yet it’s been uploaded now. Miracle.

Interesting as it was shown on Fox Footy again a couple of months ago so a copy was indeed kept. Name a game is FOS.
 
Interesting as it was shown on Fox Footy again a couple of months ago so a copy was indeed kept. Name a game is FOS.
I enquired back in 2006-07 and they sent me a copy of the Hawks extra time final instead. No wonder they went under. What was the point of naming a game?

This one is a beauty. Choppy plays the best half I can remember. Kills a bloke early on and then slots our first five of the match.
It’s got Boomer on the run, Kingy dashing out of defence and Sav up and about.
 
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I enquired back in 2006-07 and they sent me a copy of the Hawks extra tome final instead. No wonder they went a under. What was the point of naming a game?

This one is a beauty. Choppy plays the best half I can remember. Kills a bloke early on and then slots our first five of the match.
It’s got Boomer on the run, Kingy dashing out of defence and Sav up and about.

I’ll always remember it as I had friends from Edmonton Canada staying with us and that’s the game I took them to. Byron was on fire and his long running goal and the subsequent comeback it inspired were the highlights.
 
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