News Shinboner Spirit is Back

[GarnerSmash]

Shinboner Spirit has always been hard to define or describe but North Melbourne has begun work to make finally make it something tangible.

When Brad Scott arrived at the end of 2009, he felt the term Shinboner had been hijacked and used to describe the club as poor and battling. He felt that it’s true spirit “had been lost”.

“I really felt coming in that we needed a fresh start, that we needed to park the term Shinboner until we could redefine it in the team’s image and redefine it for our supporters so we could once again wear it as a badge of honour,” Scott told the Herald Sun.

After several workshops and surveys involving a cross-section of club employees, players and fans, North Melbourne has pinpointed and identified a set of guiding ideals befitting of Shinboner Spirit.

They are "belonging, being real, being bold and never being beaten".

For James Brayshaw, having Shinboner Spirit is "a way of behaving, the way you carry yourself".

"That’s really the work – OK I’ve got my own version of it, which is different to Brad (Scott’s) which is different to Boomer (Harvey’s) which is different to Keith Greig’s… so we’ve all got to have our input and hopefully at the end of it we have come up with something that is meaningful to everyone,” said Brayshaw.

"I always say the great Glenn Archer is Shinboner of the Century much more for what he did off the field than what he did on it.

"That’s what a lot of people don’t understand - they think he has been voted Shinboner of the Century because he is the club’s best player – that is not the case at all.

"It is because of the way for over 20 years at the club he carried himself, treated people, the respect that he has shown the game, his teammates, our fans and the opposition.

"There is much more to it than just getting a kick – or breaking a leg."

"The Shinboner Sprit is never take your eye off the ball - go as hard as you possibly can at every contest," Archer said.

"Being bold and brave – I think that is something that when you walk into this club, it is a given, you have got to have it."

Brayshaw also used an interaction he had with a loyal supporter a few years back as inspiration.

"We had a lovely chat for about five minutes, and at the end of the discussion, as she was heading off, I said, ‘if you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you love about the club?’ and she sort of looked up and thought for a second and said, ‘oh, I don’t know … Shinboners, never beaten’ and then she just turned away," Brayshaw said.

"And I thought, never has anyone said a sentence that encapsulated what this club means more than this beautiful old lady."

Scott said the club is "taking the Shinboner Spirit, making it tangible, and holding everyone accountable to that".

"We have put the players and staff through a number of workshops and really made it clear to them what is expected of a North Melbourne person and what the Shinboner Spirit means," Scott said.

"Not just something that is spoken about with reverence but is tangible day to day.

"It is our culture and culture is something that you can’t take for granted. It is something you have got to continually nurture."

Jack Ziebell believes the principles can be found in the way the team plays.

"We play our football very boldly – we don’t wait," he said.

"We take the game on pretty aggressively."

Dual premiership coach Denis Pagan is a firm believer in Shinboner Spirit.

"If you didn’t work hard, you wouldn’t be successful," he said.

"If you weren’t prepared to give everything you’ve got, the club wouldn’t be successful."

Off the back of the work done on Shinboner Spirit, the club has launched its 2015 tagline ‘Get Real’.

RELATED: It's time to GET REAL

"I think our membership campaign this year highlights it really well – Get Real – is what we’re about. We are a real football club," Scott added.

http://www.nmfc.com.au/news/2015-03-30/shinboner-spirit-is-back

 

[Gasometer]

....oopss great minds think alike...I just bumped and retitled my post Crows 2013 thread 'Destruction of'...soz.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I really like the way they've gone at this. It's all about embodying yourself as the spirit of the club. They're getting the boys to buy right into what we have.

All about building a culture and believing in it

 

[Archer_11]

All about building a culture and believing in it

...and having a guy with a pony tail and a latte workshop ideas on a whiteboard to capture the true essence of the club.

Jokes!

 

[DJ Dupree]

I understand the need to rid the club of the perceived 'struggling', 'blue collar battler' connotations that came with the Shinboner tag, almost instantly from about 2002 onwards. It was kind of a patronising, 'how cute, look at them punching above their weight' tag, that tied in with the whole relocation, small supporter base thing - the importance of which seemed to escalate at just after the late 90s/early 2000s. And it always frustrated me because we, unlike others, had actual recent achievement to be proud of - not 'record' membership numbers of extended family, dogs, forefathers, ancient Egyptian friends of friends of guinea pigs, that never attend matches, etc. Not that it was ever specifically spoken about, or indeed proven to be the case, but it frustrated me that two or so years after dominating the competition, we were all of a sudden spoken about as minnows and cast to the backburner, to make way for others who, through relentless media pushing, were 'perceived' to be successful - not that they'd actually achieved anything at all. It was as if our achievements, having the best player the game had seen, all amounted to nothing, and as though the smug supporters who latched onto the coat-tails of bigger clubs could proudly speak about their clubs as 'better', because they had wads of cash to play with (even if no actual success had happened).

It bloody annoyed me because it was as if 'Yep, North had their little success. Now we're onto the real stuff with the real footy teams. Oh look, North (oh sorry, the 'Kangaroos') are still trying so hard to be a part of it. How admirable they think they can still compete'. THAT was 'Shinboner spirit' for a few years to so many in the football community.

And **** that. That's not what it's about AT ALL.

I understand Brad wanting to destroy that idea that our wins came from some intangible force that our underpaid, under-resourced downtrodden players drew from, just so they could be paid their pittance, just so they could sup from the barrel of gruel that night before sleeping on a bed of rusty nails in a dilapidated dog box. Our wins came from, and always came from, superior football to the other team on the day. Superior football, sure, made easier through having and demonstrating the right attitude and endeavour time and time again - but superior football all the same.

He wanted us spoken about in the same breath as the well-financed, well-supported, most professional clubs. Forget the tag 'shinboner' for a few years; we're not the 'who brought him?' cousin, trying to have a kick with the other guys. We ****ing deserve to be a part of it, as much as, and in some cases more than, anyone else. Those who smugly moved on from us, who smirked at our resources and support numbers, who more often than not supported a 'big' club without corresponding success - didn't deserve the accolades and attention any more than we did. Less than we do.

So I love what the club has done. Skip forward five years, and the word relocation doesn't come up. The words 'punching above their weight' don't come up. A destination club for so many, and if a player leaves it's the exception, and not the rule. That's a culture that's been there all the time, and even stronger than ever now IMO. If we win, the commentators are excited, would 'pay good money' to see us. Have called it exhilarating plenty of times. I have a lot of people who support other clubs say to me these days 'your guys look awesome, very hard to beat this year, they'll be top 4'.

We're back up where we should be, on the back of our football and nothing else.

The fact that Brad demands players who want to be at the club, and want to buy into the ethos of the club, is as 'Shinboner' as anyone, from any era in my opinion. It has actually made the professionalism and excellence we see now on the field follow seamlessly.

 

[numchuks]

North Melbourne has pinpointed and identified a set of guiding ideals befitting of Shinboner Spirit.

They are "belonging, being real, being bold and never being beaten".

Those ideals all sound a bit abstract to me.

What does being real even mean???

 

[Zondor]

Those ideals all sound a bit abstract to me.

What does being real even mean???

It means we will never see a Ghost play for the NMFC. :stern look

 

[IschenkoUBeauty]

It means we will never see a Ghost play for the NMFC. :stern look

Or Father Christmas

 

[GarnerSmash]

Or Father Christmas

Mate, Sam Gibson will be running down the wings, giving presents to opposition players all year.


I'm here all week. Try the lobster.

 

[Heaps of fun]

Those ideals all sound a bit abstract to me.

What does being real even mean???

Interestingly we share that particular tenet with the Cotton On corporation
http://www.smh.com.au/business/reta...it-real-or-face-the-sack-20150318-1m1t2t.html

 

[niko11]

In my 30 odd years of following North this has been the most impressive Of-Field time at the club and how they are going about things.. Fascilities,Coaches,Membership records etc and i have to give Credit to Brad and James and how they are selling the club i agreed with Brad on this Shinboner thing also... The fact that they are teaching the players what Shinboner means and how they are expected to play and behave when they are employed by the club is another example of this......

 

[Shagga is all Class]

...and having a guy with a pony tail and a latte workshop ideas on a whiteboard to capture the true essence of the club.

Jokes!

So the prerequisite to bring back the shinboner spirit was a cafe all along.

 

[Saintly31]

Shinboner Spirit never left.

 

[coopers pale]

What's wrong with some examples, like "if some squib opposition captain 'chicken wings' your teammate, a Shinboner rushes to his teammates aid, drags the squib off him and beats the living bejesus out of him".

Or is that the "old" Shinboner spirit?

What about "You're at a party and your teammates wife beckons you into a toilet, a Shinboner....ummmm.....errrrr......." No wait, forget that one.

 

[Liam Boy]

I understand the need to rid the club of the perceived 'struggling', 'blue collar battler' connotations that came with the Shinboner tag, almost instantly from about 2002 onwards. It was kind of a patronising, 'how cute, look at them punching above their weight' tag, that tied in with the whole relocation, small supporter base thing - the importance of which seemed to escalate at just after the late 90s/early 2000s. And it always frustrated me because we, unlike others, had actual recent achievement to be proud of - not 'record' membership numbers of extended family, dogs, forefathers, ancient Egyptian friends of friends of guinea pigs, that never attend matches, etc. Not that it was ever specifically spoken about, or indeed proven to be the case, but it frustrated me that two or so years after dominating the competition, we were all of a sudden spoken about as minnows and cast to the backburner, to make way for others who, through relentless media pushing, were 'perceived' to be successful - not that they'd actually achieved anything at all. It was as if our achievements, having the best player the game had seen, all amounted to nothing, and as though the smug supporters who latched onto the coat-tails of bigger clubs could proudly speak about their clubs as 'better', because they had wads of cash to play with (even if no actual success had happened).

It bloody annoyed me because it was as if 'Yep, North had their little success. Now we're onto the real stuff with the real footy teams. Oh look, North (oh sorry, the 'Kangaroos') are still trying so hard to be a part of it. How admirable they think they can still compete'. THAT was 'Shinboner spirit' for a few years to so many in the football community.

And **** that. That's not what it's about AT ALL.

I understand Brad wanting to destroy that idea that our wins came from some intangible force that our underpaid, under-resourced downtrodden players drew from, just so they could be paid their pittance, just so they could sup from the barrel of gruel that night before sleeping on a bed of rusty nails in a dilapidated dog box. Our wins came from, and always came from, superior football to the other team on the day. Superior football, sure, made easier through having and demonstrating the right attitude and endeavour time and time again - but superior football all the same.

He wanted us spoken about in the same breath as the well-financed, well-supported, most professional clubs. Forget the tag 'shinboner' for a few years; we're not the 'who brought him?' cousin, trying to have a kick with the other guys. We ****ing deserve to be a part of it, as much as, and in some cases more than, anyone else. Those who smugly moved on from us, who smirked at our resources and support numbers, who more often than not supported a 'big' club without corresponding success - didn't deserve the accolades and attention any more than we did. Less than we do.

So I love what the club has done. Skip forward five years, and the word relocation doesn't come up. The words 'punching above their weight' don't come up. A destination club for so many, and if a player leaves it's the exception, and not the rule. That's a culture that's been there all the time, and even stronger than ever now IMO. If we win, the commentators are excited, would 'pay good money' to see us. Have called it exhilarating plenty of times. I have a lot of people who support other clubs say to me these days 'your guys look awesome, very hard to beat this year, they'll be top 4'.

We're back up where we should be, on the back of our football and nothing else.

The fact that Brad demands players who want to be at the club, and want to buy into the ethos of the club, is as 'Shinboner' as anyone, from any era in my opinion. It has actually made the professionalism and excellence we see now on the field follow seamlessly.

Damn. I feel like framing this and putting it up on the wall.

 

[winalotroos]

Shinboner Spirit never left.

I agree never felt it left, I have been following North since 1975 that's 40 years ( s**t I am old ) and have never been able to explain it to an outsider but alway love the fact that North were the shinboners and I understood that feeling over the last 30 years more than the first 10 years.
I also love the way the club is continuing to build on the term even if I can't define it.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I agree never felt it left, I have been following North since 1975 that's 40 years ( s**t I am old ) and have never been able to explain it to an outsider but alway love the fact that North were the shinboners and I understood that feeling over the last 30 years more than the first 10 years.
I also love the way the club is continuing to build on the term even if I can't define it.

Old, how do you think Horace feels.

 

[Jimmy's Hot Dogs]

Spirit got lost and something was missing....


Go the shinboners!

 

[archereleven]

Darwinroo disapproves of this thread lol