Goldy, are you still helping North?

Todd Goldstein has been a fine servant at North Melbourne and has been desperate to remain a one-club player.

He turns 34 this year and if he played every home-and-away game, then he would reach the magic 300-game mark in Round 5 of 2023. That would be a fitting milestone.

However, can North Melbourne afford to play out that sentimental narrative?

I can’t help but to think back to 1984. Champion ruckman Gary Dempsey was 35 and rucking in a side that had finished top of the ladder in 1983 but had been exposed as old and slow while being bundled out in straight sets by Hawthorn and Essendon in the finals.

Dempsey continued into 1984 but had taken a wonky knee from the practice matches and then missed a couple of weeks with a fractured cheekbone.

(Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images)

In Round 8 against the Sydney Swans, at home at Arden Street Oval, Dempsey found himself at fullback midway through the final quarter as North surged in an ultimately failed bid for victory (a seven-point loss).

Darren Steele was on debut. Angelo Petraglia was playing game number three. Others in single digits included Ross Smith (he would captain the ’96 premiership reserves side), Mark Lisle, Ian Fairley (the first of the ’96 flag team to be assembled), David Dwyer, Jon Collins and Craig Brittain.

North Melbourne were entering rebuild mode and the under-19s were being brought through. Many were given a look at senior footy – a number would be single-season players.

Across that season, these youngsters were joined by future captain Matty Larkin, Peter Densley, Tim Harrington, Brendan Mutimer, Michael Passmore, Paul Johnson and Peter German.

With a national competition a couple of years away, the old days of chequebook recruiting from interstate were to become more limited.

North Melbourne would focus hugely within, on under-19 graduates coming through a program run by a fellow named Denis Pagan coaching from 1983 to 1991.

It was a program that would also guide the likes of Damien Hardwick, John Longmire and Alastair Clarkson.

Dempsey saw the writing on the wall and realised, as he put it, “I was playing at fullback and I realised I was not helping North. There’s no point in me going on if I can’t help North.”

He announced his retirement the following Monday. He played 329 games at Footscray and North. He won a Brownlow.

Alas, he’d arrived at North in 1979 so a prelim final (versus Collingwood in ’79 and versus Essendon in ’83) was as close as he got to a grand final. Timing is everything.

Last year Todd Goldstein asserted a desire to play on to get to 300 games.

(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Speaking prior to the final-round game in 2021, Goldstein told radio SEN SA that he wanted to play on a few more years while body and mind were willing.

“I’m feeling really good … I’m quite motivated and quite keen to play on. I know I’ll hopefully get to 300 games in a year and a half and that’s a big goal for me. Hopefully I can help this group get into finals and have an impact in finals in the next year or two.”

And in season 2021, ‘Goldy’ had carried the North ruck division, and ranked fourth in hit-outs for the season.

However, we find ourselves six rounds into 2022 and it’s clear that North Melbourne – in the midst of a rebuild – is struggling to find a role for Goldstein.

He’s now expected to contribute as a ruck/forward with youngster Tristan Xerri getting increasingly more time as the number one ruck.

Is Goldstein helping North now or hindering?

Across the off-season, North lured former top 20 draft pick Callum Coleman-Jones to Arden Street. He wasn’t recruited to play VFL.

After playing Round 1 he’s found himself in the VFL, however his form on the weekend against Frankston is demanding of a recall.

So what to do with Goldstein? He is averaging ten disposals but just two marks, and has five goals in total from five games.

Perhaps he needs to look around and make a similar call to that of Gary Dempsey 38 years ago (gee, that seems a long time ago now!).

Dempsey wasn’t on his own – around that time players like David Dench, Arnold Briedis, Kerry Good and Gary Cowton (left stranded on 199 games) found their VFL careers had come to an end.

Goldstein, like Dempsey, got two preliminary final appearances.

The harsh reality now is that it’s hard to argue that Goldstein is helping North.