Let's face it, it's not a very flattering term no matter how it's used. It was never an official moniker for the club. It's origins are obscure but the two most popular theories are: 1. Many of the club's players were at one time employed by the local abbatoir as boners, stripping meat off bones, or 2. North players had a habit of hacking their opponents in the shins. Neither applies to our players today.
Two of our past presidents--Frank Trainor and Phonse Tobin--did their best to get rid of the unflattering term. Trainor banned the use of the word anywhere in the club's premises during his term as president. He hated it. Tobin went further and created the new name "Kangaroos" in 1950. Many stubborn fans were slow to accept it, so in 1954 he obtained a giant papiermache kangaroo from a shop window which had been used for a display for the royal visit. It was placed in the clubroom and was pushed around the ground on home match days to take up collections. In spite of this "Age" cartoonist Wells persisted in depicting North as a shinbone throughout the 1950s. It looked ridiculous.
This is a name the club should be trying to live down, yet it is continually revived. Our players are given "Shinboner" numbers.The term "Shinboner spirit" is now so overused, and the word does not mean someone who never gives up. Hawthorn's early VFL history is similar to North's. Can you imagine them using the term "Maybloom"spirit? Or Melbourne the "Fuchsia" spirit? No, rather they adopted better, more appropriate symbols and the previous ones were consigned to history as "Shinboner" should be.
Two of our past presidents--Frank Trainor and Phonse Tobin--did their best to get rid of the unflattering term. Trainor banned the use of the word anywhere in the club's premises during his term as president. He hated it. Tobin went further and created the new name "Kangaroos" in 1950. Many stubborn fans were slow to accept it, so in 1954 he obtained a giant papiermache kangaroo from a shop window which had been used for a display for the royal visit. It was placed in the clubroom and was pushed around the ground on home match days to take up collections. In spite of this "Age" cartoonist Wells persisted in depicting North as a shinbone throughout the 1950s. It looked ridiculous.
This is a name the club should be trying to live down, yet it is continually revived. Our players are given "Shinboner" numbers.The term "Shinboner spirit" is now so overused, and the word does not mean someone who never gives up. Hawthorn's early VFL history is similar to North's. Can you imagine them using the term "Maybloom"spirit? Or Melbourne the "Fuchsia" spirit? No, rather they adopted better, more appropriate symbols and the previous ones were consigned to history as "Shinboner" should be.