telsor
Hall of Famer
The thing is though they have grown since their lowest point in the mid-2000s, and there is still scope for further growth so long as Victoria's population keeps growing. The club will have get a bit creative to ensure that this growth continues, but the precedent is there (e.g. Friday night pioneers) and they have shown that they are prepared to move some games outside of Melbourne to help this.
My point with those crowd figures is that they show that they can be viable. I will concede that these are from their most successful years, but I brought those up in response to you saying that even when they were a good team they still couldn't draw a crowd. The 90s proves that they can.
I will say this again, North does not have to be comparable to Collingwood or Essendon to warrant their place in the competition.
Indeed, North wouldn't be the 'most likely' to be chopped any more....St Kilda & Melbourne would be ahead of them, and considering the past few years (St Kilda is effectively bankrupt, and Melbourne was bailed out), that these clubs still exist shows the AFL isn't going to let clubs die.