The opions of these editorials are those of the Authors and not necessarily those of We Are North Melbourne Inc.

All year the majority of the media and public have taken cheap shots at the North Melbourne Football Club, constantly barraging it with innuendo and "Gold Coast Kangaroos" slurs.

Now it seems the media find it fitting to target James Brayshaw for being overseas at this critical time.

He is currently in Las Vegas to help celebrate Gary Lyon's 40th birthday. In all fairness to him, the relocation issue should have been well and truly put to bed by now.
The fact that it has dragged on is not his fault. On the contrary, we should be grateful that the Stay-in-Melbourne proposal has been so credible, otherwise the board may have made a decision to relocate based only on the AFL's doodles on a whiteboard.

Before leaving, the board of the North Melbourne Football Club and major shareholders put their support behind the plan he is pedalling. There is not much left to do now but formally inform the AFL.

While full details of the plan have not yet been made public, it is unfair to measure it against the AFL's $100m figure and claim that it must be as spectacular in order to be viable. The TV rights money and relocation costs should be taken out first, bringing the AFL's offer down to about $30 million.

It is also unfair to say that all of the $7 million per year in additional spending, as reported by Gemba, is required in order to be competitive. The figure reported is actually to reach the average spend. Adding this would mean the club would spend more than four other Victorian clubs. Our performance this year while paying only 92.5% of the salary cap (even less after Jon Hay's retirement), and with minimal coaching staff, proves that is not mandatory. From 2008, football department spending will increase, without the need to relocate. The AFL's package would still fall well short of this $7 million figure.

Finally, the fact that the club has the lowest Victorian membership does not doom it. Only the last two years have seen it in this position. The constant speculation over relocation in recent years, disenfranchisement of supporters, and a poor 2006 record / style of play have severely damaged the figure. This damage is reversible though.

One must look at the big picture rather than pigeonholing the issue. But this is the media we're talking about and, with the exception of a select few, journalists aim to sell papers and like to back a winning horse.

Andrew Schembri

AFL Chief Andrew Demetriou believes that the relocation package on offer is too good for the Kangaroos supporter base to refuse. Their belief is that the chance for long-term security will be enough to sway us.

If this is what they are banking on, then they should start negotiations with the Southport Sharks now. The fact that it is a very lucrative offer financially is a moot point when an opportunity exists to improve the club's financial position whilst sustaining its culture and spritual home.

Much like the team's ventures on the field, the North Melbourne Football Club have had their proverbial backs up against the wall several times over its history of one hundred and thirty-eight years, and has persevered to triumph on numerous occasions.

The club was persistent in its quest to join the AFL (then VFL) since the competition's inception, attempted several times to be admitted. Once it finally did enter the league in 1925, it faced eventual premiers Geelong in the opening round at Corio Oval. Already becoming popularly known as the Shinboners by that time, they were considered only a remote chance of winning when they were down 3.5 to 0.1 at the first change. However North raised its game and outscored the Cats over the remaining three quarters 9.12 to 5.6 to post an 8 point win.
In recent years, the team has defied the critics' wooden spoon predictions repeatedly, even finishing 3rd overall in 2007. To accept the AFL's offer would not only see the club turn its back on its members, but also turn its back on this culture. By relocating now, ignoring the opportunities to stay and still be viable, would be seen as a treacherous act.

The inclusion of draft and salary cap concessions would likely see the club be 'gifted' a premiership, as the Brisbane Lions did, further damaging the never say die culture. As much as any supporter would like to see their team win a premiership, they would much rather earn it by beating the opposition on a level playing field.

If the AFL were serious about returning the club to its members, it would offer to pay out the club's shareholders regardless of the reloction decision.

Finally, if the AFL are genuinely not attempting pressure the club to relocate, then it would have offered the package to all clubs before it declared that it would create a 17th licence. Perhaps a club with a poor on field record over the past 20 years would be interested.

Andrew Schembri

The board of the North Melbourne Football Club expect solutions to be presented to them from both factions (anti- and pro- relocation). They intend to then debate over them to make their choice. Putting aside for another day the fact that they want everything handed to them on a platter, lets just look at the numbers.

Brisbane has a population of 1.8 million, of which the Brisbane Lions have just under 22,000 members. That includes members residing in other states, including 3,161 in Melbourne, but we'll leave them in the equation.

Greater Melbourne has a population of 3.74 million, of which the nine Melbourne based clubs have a combined 277,477 members (including members residing outside Melbourne).

This works out to the following conversion rates:
Melbourne: 277,477 / 3,740,000 = 0.0742
Brisbane: 21,976 / 1,800,000 = 0.0122

The Gold Coast has a population of half a million. If we apply Brisbane's conversion rate to the same region (i.e. 500,000 x 0.0122), then a relocated entity can expect to attract only 6,100 members.

In the past year, an additional 62,306 people called Melbourne home, and 17,374 did so on the Gold Coast. If we apply the same conversion rates to these new residents then a club can expect to attract the following amounts as members:
Melbourne: 62,306 x 0.0742 = 4,623
Gold Coast: 17,374 x 0.0122 = 211

I may be governed by my emotions in this matter, but even without considering the fact that there is the Gold Coast Titans to compete with, the numbers speak for themselves. The choice is clear.

Andrew Schembri

Co-location is never going to work. It will only be the short term plan by trying to retain as many of us suckers as possible to help fund the club for as long as possible; but sooner rather than later it will be a full blown relocation, with 11 home games on the Gold Coast, one away game at the Gabba and the other 10 games split between the other 5 interstate clubs and the 9 Victorian clubs. Of those Victorian games, one will be in Geelong, so the maximum number of games in Melbourne will be 5, maybe 6 if you are lucky.

And why do I say that?

We only need go back in history to South Melbourne in the 1980's, the first of the co-located clubs. How many games do they play in Victoria each year now? 6 to 7 if they are lucky. Do they have a "co-location" base in Melbourne? No.

What about the club that is supposed to represent me as an old Fitzroy person? Same deal as Sydney.

So why would North Melbourne be any different? It won't.

Same deal, same interstate home base, same number of ultimately diminishing games in Victoria, same dupe the band of loyal die-hards approach.

Do not trust the lying, spin-doctoring degenerates.

Too many of us do trust them and that will lead to THE END OF THE NORTH MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB. R.I.P. (never really in peace though, just constant turmoil.)

Horace

On behalf of the North Melbourne Football Club, the member elected board representative James Brayshaw has put the onus of saving the club to its members and supporters.
He has said that $2 million dollars in additional revenue in 2008 through increased membership and game attendance will put relocation off the agenda.

This is fair enough, as we who want to the club to remain must show it. But this does not mean that the club can sit back and watch for the next year.
The club needs to continue to push this new agenda and work towards achieving our goal. Afterall, it has been the club that has so severely alienated its supporters through its silence in the media, allowing constant speculation to go on about our future.

Not only have current supporters been alienated, but it has also put off prospective supporters from joining the royal blue and white army.

In addition to towing the membership line, the club must also put pressure on the AFL to give us a fixture with more exposure. We had many twilight games this year that regional supporters find hard to attend. More blockbusters (such as Good Friday) and more prime time television exposure is what we need. The funds that the AFL distribute to account for the unfair exposure are not enough when we lose prospective supporters to other clubs that do receive the exposure.

All the current members of this football club are passionate about keeping it in Melbourne and will work hard converting supporters they know. I will say it again though, the club must also put in the hard yards.

Andrew Schembri

The North Melbourne Football Club is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the AFL with the way it is whoring itself all over the country, "trading as 'the Kangaroos'".
This is not to say that the club shouldn't sell a few games interstate to stabilise our financial position, but the way it has allowed the media to run riot with stories of relocation without so much as a peep is just unacceptable.
Perception is everything in todays media and gossip driven world.
When the club essentially remains silent on the single most important topic in the clubs history, the public are going to believe what they read, and all they are reading is the Gold Coast bound Kangaroos.

Not only does this perception make it difficult to retain members when the team isn't doing so well on field, but it makes it almost impossible to attract new support for the club. This in turn affects the club's ability to attract sponsorship and eventually hurts the bottom line.
Figures show that the club's membership in comparison to the rest of the league has steadily dropped since dropping North Melbourne name. While the league wide membership has increased 21 percent since the turn of the millenium, our membership had only increased 11 percent to last year. Now with the constant relocation speculation, combined with last year's poor finishing position, dropping our membership tally 9 percent this year, we are only forty members up from our year 2000 tally.

The club must stand up to its critics and as was done in this year's member forums, tell the media and the public to take "relocation out of your vocabulary". Our players on the field know how to stand up for themselves, why is it that the club's administration doesn't posess the Shinboner Spirit?.

Andrew Schembri