Better leadership needed at North Melbourne

I never thought that relocating a Melbourne based club to the Gold Coast would ever work. It was based on the assumption that former Victorians living there would support them, but I don't think that would have happened, I could not imagine old Collingwood, Essendon or Geelong supporters suddenly changing allegiances to the Gold Coast Kanagaroos. The Gold Coast has proven to be a graveyard for most professional sporting teams, a relocated Melbourne based club would have withered and died, at least with a locally created club, they have some chance of success.

"all sizzle & no sausage".........love it! Agree with everything you say, AR. I was one of those who thought NMFC should go to Gold Coast - but seeing how things are unraveling, better they didn't

Brilliant article. Brayshaw needs to get his priorities right or get out. I think Brad Scott is a good coach with an average list. Brayshaw made a grave error in not relocating. Now they need to bottom out and start again or they will continue to be just mediocre. Their loss against Port from an unloseable position has finished their season.

Yeah the comments on social media a are joke, Fango - who the hell uses Fango! lol Ch7 pushing you know what up hill.

Dear Your Excellency, The cold-dead hands thing is why, when we're talking about discounting premierships, we're usually thinking of the "first to 17" mob.

Dear Mr of Perth, I can see how the VFL is viewed with some cynism from the outside. As to degree of difficulty North, Footers and Hawthorn were only invited in because the other clubs were sick of picking on St Kilda. Prizing premierships from the cold hands of Melbourne's elite was no easy task. In the 51 seasons it took North to win. Between them they contested only 8 GFs. Since 1987, at a rough count, AFL outerstaters have lobbed up for at least 17 appearances.

Hasnt Brian Taylor gone off the boil. Didnt mind him on Foxtel but with Ch 7 he has turned into a self important prat. The Sat night commentary team is terrible they make Macca and Commetti looks like stars.

You guys are getting too big for your own boots! :)

"In fact, with 18 teams in the comp, to win 4 premierships in 25 seasons, as North managed to do, will be viewed as a huge success now" This, btw, is a big part of why non-Victorian team supporters don't much care for counting VFL flags :) AFL era flags are another order of magnitude in difficulty.

Timmuh there is something to be said there - I've heard Brad Scott talk about a similar theme last year (on Insider), that it's not really about a hand-out, but about some equity in being allowed to draw big crowds. No doubt that a bit more exposure on FTA would help the battler clubs, except the AFL is stuck with the Government's anti-siphoning rules. Another thing that would help, is for the League to sit down with the three lowest drawing clubs, say North, dogs and demons, and ask: which timeslot suits your supporter base best? Sat arvo? Sat night? sunday arvo? twilight? whatever it is, ok, all your home games are going to scheduled at precisely that time. Supporters love clarity, they'll form a habit around that and going to the footy is a bit of a habit that needs nurturing.

JamesP agree with that.

Timmuh very true, and Hawthorn started from a similar base as North and Footscray. An advantage Hawthorn had, once it started racking up premierships, which North didn't have, is an expansive and affluent Eastern suburbs base - that stretched East forever - by 1980, it was the club whose eponymous suburb had more people following another club (in their case, Carlton) - a bad sign. the bulldogs have tried to emulate that in the opposite direction, but only with a modicum of success

There's some truth in thsat flipside. But also remember that it took Hawthorn almost 25 years from the start of their 15 year, almost unbroken, run near the top to see a big economic upside. And they didn't have a league administration trying to kill them off as North had before the run in the 90s, and again just a few year back. Only the emergence of a premiership team stopp ed North from being Fitzroyed in the 90s, and only a last minute fightback against seemingly certain doom stopped North from being Southed a few years back.

Interesting analysis. Out of those games, these are my thoughts on what these games would pull today: Melbourne vs Richmond – MCG – 76,387 (Would pull that amount only if both Richmond and Melbourne were in the top 8 ) North vs dogs – MCG – 68,050 (extraordinary H&A figure for the 2 least popular AFL teams) Geelong vs Essendon – MCG – 61,089 (would get about the same) Hawthorn vs Freo – Waverley – 39,735 (would get about the same if played at the G) West Coast vs Adelaide – Subi – 37,388 (the same) Sydney vs Collingwood – SCG – 35,814 (the same - although in 2003 they somehow managed to pull 70k at ANZ) Port vs Carlton – Football Park – 34,518 (about 10k less now judging by last weekend - although if Port were flying closer to 30k) Brisbane vs St Kilda – Gabba – 14,993 (a touch better now - close to 20k) When the Lions were on fire, this would have been a 30k+ crowd.

Damn flipsides but it's a long and fascinating haul.

He is rather vanilla, but no more so than Gaz. Unfortunately I continually shudder at the vision of him in the mankini. And his work on Triple M makes Brian Taylor look like a tame Labrador...

Quite right Timmuh, it's only Big Reds not found in Tassie. Apologies...I recalled a prior reference to it, clearly incorrect. But the Roos didn't shunt 2 home games to Hobart for a change in scenery...they did it because it reaps them about $900,000 each game. Yes Tassie wanted more AFL footy, but did they really want some blow ins who were strapped for cash? Hawthorn's different...they have a partnership with Tassie and a long term committment. The Roos demonstrated they were willing to go anywhere for money (except the GC).

One big difference is that North v Dogs was for 1st and 2nd on the ladder. When the smaller clubs are near the top of the table they can pull a crowd, when the big clubs are near the bottom they pull a similar crowd. Should the AFL be putting more emphasis on building up the smaller games (trying to turn 25k crowds into 35k crowds) than the big ones (turning 75k crowds into 85k crowds). All the emphasis is on the "blockbusters", with nothing done to assist other games. Sunday twilight spots being used for the games which will most likely have the lowest attendance anyway, automatically further decrease attendance and places the teams where only 35% of the nation can watch pay TV. The lack of FTA and decent timeslots does far more damage to the smaller clubs than they get back in "handouts". And not just short term, it also destroys their ability to sell their brand to future generations. Which kid will choose to barrack for a team they see five times a year over one they see 20 times?