Opinion "SHINBONER" Do we really want to keep using this word? (Verdict: YES)

kangaroo7

Club Legend
Mar 17, 2002
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Of course the term is part of our history and always will be. You can't change or erase history. But there are parts of history it's best not to wallow in. The "Shinboners" era was by and large a very dark era for the club, you could say the Dark Ages. Many people used the term in a derogatory way when referring to North. Their image was much improved when they became the Kangaroos. You may not think so at the moment, but in the Shinboner days North were the laughing stock of the competition and struggled to avoid the wooden spoon each season let alone win a game, sometimes one a year. Their name did not improve their performance.
Other clubs have abandoned names in the past as no longer appropriate. Melbourne the Fuchsias and Redlegs, StKilda the Penguins, Seasiders and Panthers, Fitzroy the Gorillas, Hawthorn the Mayblooms, Mustardpots. They're still part of their history, but have been left there where they belong.
I certainly didn't post this to upset or offend anyone--I've followed the club for over sixty years. But perhaps it's time to let some things stay in the past--not erased but filed in the archives. Many younger ones today wouldn't know what a shinboner is. The concept of the "spirit" is fine but call it something else.
 
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hotham

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Jan 12, 2001
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I preferred it when shinboner was a term used by supporters etc, which reflected the never say die attitude of the players. I have never liked 'the club' using shinboner as a marketing tool.
 
Dec 18, 2014
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Shinboner is a name unique to our particular football club. Why part ways with it, just because it might stand out amongst the more commercialised/modernist club identities in the league. Look at how clubs like GWS and Gold Coast chose such generic sporting nicknames like ‘The Suns’ or the ‘Giants’. These names are entirely interchangeable, and were chosen because they sound safe and inoffensive. We are the only sporting institution as far as my knowledge, who uses ‘Shinboner’. It defines our clubs culture, tradition.
 
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Hojuman

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May 20, 2012
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I'm not saying get rid of it. That's impossible. But just file it away, it's no longer applicable.


It is a uniquely North Melbourne moniker. I bloody hope when blokes come to the club the get schooled in the clubs history, how hard it has been for us and that the Shinboner " spirit " embodied by people like " Skull, Macca, June and my old pop et al " who never pulled on a boot or played a final but gave literally their life to support and help the club through good times and bad.

Can't buy that stuff. It nourishes us, it sustains us, it makes us who we are.

Wait till this group coming through makes it their own and we are at the top of the tree.
Bet then everyone will proudly display their " Shinboner " tag.
 
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amaz199

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Apr 5, 2015
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I don't think we should get rid of it but I think the club has used it as an excuse rather than a motivation. Especially during the Scott era.

'Shinboner' (in my view) means that we are 'fearless' and we don't settle for 'just enough'. We go the extra step, we extract every bit of confidence and ability from our players and apply that on gameday. We don't shirk a contest, we don't give up, we don't accept average performances.

But apparently, (taking into consideration our past decade) it's about battling and being 'competitive'. No. It is about being considered a different breed, mongrels, animals, being ruthless in the contest. Shaw tried to restore that last season but clearly, the players couldn't sustain it.

The club needs to wash the stain of the battler trait because it is not who we are. We need to be above that. Fearless, and feared by others. The 'just enough is good enough' and being proud of 'a preliminary final finish' is what makes me upset about the Shinboner name being played around with. Being a Shinboner means you have a desire for success no matter how 'bad' people think we are. We make our own history.

Like it was in the 90s and 70s.
 
May 24, 2011
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I have followed North since the mid 70s I have always followed the North Melbourne kangaroos, the “ Shinboner” has always been used by the club in a positive way and by most of the media in a negative way.

i understand in the past it may have been viewed in a negative way by some people, but the shinbones is who North is and I have always been very proud of the moniker North have earned by its history good or bad.
 

amaz199

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Apr 5, 2015
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If you want the meaning of what a Shinboner is, watch Pagan addressing the young players in 2017.

If we took Pagan's advice to heart, we wouldn't have to delist 11 guys. We wouldn't have to shift the club's administration. We wouldn't have to make 'concerning' changes to the club's list and coaches.

Pagan demanded the absolute best out of his players. All the legends (Carey, Stevens, Arch, Boomer) have all come to the same conclusion about Pagan demanding 100%. Boomer's rigorous training standards is indicative of what it will take to get up there again. If he had to do that to get a game, then what are our players waiting for?

You train like you play and it shows. Standards have to be raised for that Shinboner name to become a prominent figure again. Not a 'strugglers' term.
 

MrBlueandWhite

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Nov 2, 2015
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I like it. Would prefer it less as a marketing tool so that it doesn't lose it's value.

Like it as an internal symbol for a standard of application and resilience. The players now have much better facilities and resources than during our success in the 90s. It would be nice if the culture continued the 'no excuses' mentality.
 

amaz199

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 5, 2015
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I think I've milked what I've been saying, but the Shinboner Spirit needs to stand for something different than what people think it is.

A club that bounces back and 'responds' is not what Shinboner Spirit is. It is maintaining an unleveled desire for success through effort and hardness. As well as making the most of your ability on game day to win. To accept winnable losses as 'good enough' is an insult to the name if you didn't give your all.

If the players give their all and come up short, then that's ok because they did all they could and the other team were simply 'classier' or 'better'. That is maintaining that desire but getting unlucky in some factors out of their control.

But to be complacent one match, then rely on a response the next, is not a display of Shinboner Spirit. Of which, I think a lot of media believe it is.
 
Just because a past president instigated a certain policy doesn't mean we need to reapply it today.

Exactly, Aylett (x 2) wanted us shipped off to the GC and what if Duff had things his way and got a buffet at every home game. :)
 
I have a feeling that the main reason why many may feel disinclined towards the use of the word 'shinboner' is because of what we want to aspire to as a club. Of course we should be proud of our history, we must always be tough and uncompromising. Doing the utmost with the least available, against the odds. I love that about our club.

The thing is however, I'm sick of being the underdog, the scrapper, the club that only wins through desperate attack on the ball. That should be a given.
I don't want to lose those things but it's time we became known as an elite organisation in every way. I want footballers who are highly skilled, poised under pressure, can hit a teammate with a precise kick or handball. I don't want second best and I don't want the media saying we won because the other team were down on the day.

For me, the word shinboner, doesn't represent the elite quality we should all be aspiring to which is why I'm uncomfortable with it. Just my own opinion.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Just because a past president instigated a certain policy doesn't mean we need to reapply it today.


My sentiments exactly, I could happily wave goodbye to the "kangaroo" tomorrow and not miss a wink of sleep. I don't relate to it.

I openly admit that K7 easily sits top 3 in my favorite posters who have posted on this board over the last ~15 years of my involvement, but I have never before been more opposed to him about a club representation.

The term "shinboner" is actually a piece of cultural history which emerged from the players & supporters, and not some marketing department. It has a unique historical association that many sporting clubs go out of their way to manufacture. I find the association with "kangaroo" to be far more crass in its evolution, due to its a marketing driven origin, and emergence from what would equate as the NMFC version of the "landed gentry".

Personally, I don't use the term.

AFAIC, we're either North, the shinboners, or just "boners". Of course I have to put my hand up and admit personal association and allegiance to the "shinboner", as my grand father was one of them, and my father worked as a slaughterman in the Newmarket saleyards. Historically, I am about as culturally North Melbourne as it gets.

The shinboner is such a unique and identifiable part of the clubs historical culture that I reckon any attempt to dilute it would be a futile exercise anyway.
 

barnrokn

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It means the required effort
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ROORAGE

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Oct 31, 2007
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This is a farking joke thread. Shinboner is an integral part of our identity. For better or worse, in whichever context you want to use it. Embrace it. Farking nuffies wanna turf it and it's historical significance and what it means to every individual who supports the club with a passion why? Because it's been hijacked by the media? The media have done * all for this club and turn on it whenever they get a chance, are we suggesting pandering to them now? We are Shinboners, always will be.
 
Jun 9, 2001
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I always thought the Wobbegongs would be a sick name for a team

In a similar territory, Gold Coast should've paid Southport and taken the Sharks moniker.

Gold Coast Sharks would've set a much better identity than the friggin suns.

I'm happy they made the choice they did obviously.
 
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