North Melbourne thread

[Christabella]

North gets Terry Wallace?

Surely you jest ...

If that were to happen I'd shoot him first.

[Tigger]

I wouldn't wish that mongrel on ANY team!!  It's bad enuf we've got him 

[perthstormer]

ur got to be kiding me Buzz  if anyone was going to get himit would be the blues that would have to be the least sought out job of em all.  If pagan cant turn it around who will and honestly you had a much better list than Richmond

[Andy]

2nd on the ladder.

I am going to live it up for at least a week cause it's been a long, long time.

[perthstormer]

live it up im actully thinking we can make top 4.  hey do think its an omen storm and roos in 99    storm and roos in 07.  I guess I can dream but we are one of those teams that go in underdogs every weeks but seem to get the job done

[Andy]

This week is a danger game.  The Hawks sitting underneath us in 3rd possie, they just lost to the Saints and they have never lost a match down in Tassie.

I do have faith in our boys though.  I'd love to see a big upset.

[perthstormer]

will be a hard game but can u see the trend im getting sick of it if we win it will be an upset.  How many times do the boys have to win till they start getting some credit.  Ive just had enough of hering about the over achieving roos.  its about time we start getting some respect

[perthstormer]

NMFC had a members forum this week

thought you guys might be intersted in what went down this is from a member from the searching roos forum

Lengthy and very good as always:

I attended the 2nd member's forum the season.

The details were as follows
Date: 22/07/2007
Duration: 3:30pm to 4:15pm
Location: Victory Room, Telstra Dome

Board Members in Attendance: Graham Duff (GD), Ron Joseph (RJ), the Brayshaws, Fulvio Inserra, John McGowan, Andrew Carter, Stephen Head (arrived late).

Absentees: Michael O'Brien unwell and couldn't attend. Rick Aylett (CEO) was at the ground but at another engagement.

The meeting commenced on time with RJ opening proceedings. He invited any questions to any board members but first wanted to make some motherhood statements as he called them.

- Glad to see all of the board attending (applause)
- Admires what Laidley has done this year after RJ admitted he was a doubting Thomas early in the year (applause)
- He is really warming to the job GD is doing and stated it was difficult to extract govt monies but we have been able to do that for the Arden St Redevelopment (applause). Reckons GD has done a great job over last 6 months (applause).
- Gave kudos to Peter DeRauch for his support of the Auction Night function. RJ said we almost doubled our expected revenue (applause for DeRauch who was at the back of the room)

RJ spoke for about 5 mins and then introduced GD.

GD opened by stating this is the continuation of our interaction with our members. Our new board has been in place for about half a year and contains 6 new Directors. Last of these meetings for the year The AGM expected in Feb/March.

At the end of the '05 fin year the club had to address the issue of the social club and the football club absorbed a 2.5 million debt dating back many years from the social club. The Telstra Dome located Social Club "hasn't been a rewarding experience".

Pleased to announce subject to the completion of some documentation with statutory authorities the social club premises which are here (Telstra Dome) will be transferred to the Docklands Community Social Club which will leave the club free to now seek other options for a venue for our Social Club. A Social Club with better location, stronger ties to our heartland and a return to profitability. It is more than that, there are liabilities with the Social Club being here, there are debts and a host of different issues. This transfer is a elimination of those liabilities and a total sum of 1.5 million dollars. We've been able to eliminate those liabilities and we will know be able to go forward and seek a better arrangement for our Social Club.

GD then moved onto to discussing the Arden St Redevelopment. A powerpoint presentation of about 4 slides displaying the look of the facility was looped. The million dollars put towards this project by the club were by "good friends of the club and is cash in kind". It was hoped to be announced today but not quite ready (hopefully this week) but the expectation is for some more community facilities (value of 2 million dollars & under direct control of the football club) will be added to further enhance the overall development. Will bring the value of the redevelopment up to 11 million. GD stated that it will be "state of the art" and assured that it would be the "best of any AFL side". The redevelopment will improve our financial position. It will be a major increase in a net assets and improve the balance sheet by 5 million dollars.

GD stated the forecast of substantial profit this year has been hit hard by the downturn in m'ships. Churn rate of m'ships isn't a "this year problem" and talked about the last 5 years. During last 5 yrs 25% of our members don't rejoin. This year the figure rose to 32% and an overall 9% drop in total member numbers this year. A serious issue for the club and a concern for the board. We are involved with a full review of all m'ship issues including price, types of packages, focus groups to gain insight etc.

Mentioned Gemba review. Stated that the board commissioned the report to have an independent report on the performance of the club and how it can survive and grow in Melbourne. It is not an exercise that has any consideration of the Gold Coast (applause). Last week Gemba sent out a survey to members and over 3000 replies were received. Member input is important to the board and the Gemba report. The Gemba Report summary will be made available to all members after completion and after the board have had a chance to assess it. He expects this will hopefully be by season's end.

He said he wanted to raise 2 matters that came up strongly at the time of the 1st member's forum. One was the issue of the AFL purchasing a controlling share of the club and the other was a relocation to the GC. He said that the first issue has seemingly died off and was never an issue in his opinion. The latter (GC) is not simply a matter of attendance or merchandise sales in the GC it is much more complex to evaluate. FYI, the board has not changed its attitude and is in discussion with no one about a relocation. Remain committed to the GC games under the 3 yr contract.

GD spoke of the team. He said he deliberately avoids making comment on team performance but decided to make an exception. Reconfirmed how he is "inspired" by Laidley's performance (as he mentioned in the press recently). Crowd applauded. Said he hopes we are 2nd place after today (applause). Before the season Laidley & himself agreed for better or worse that the club would discuss his contract at season's end. This will remain the case and is his final word on the matter.

GD spoke for about 20 mins in total and then invited questions. Questions commenced.

Question 1) What actions are being taken to improve m'ships?
GD stated we need to find out reasons why members don't renew. This year had a lack of certainty about the GC but there is a churn rate every year. Improve the m'ship packages. Are packages aren't the best value in town, we need to improve the value. Research is being undertaken. Certain there will be substantial changes in regards to our m'ship packages. RJ stood up to have his say. Stated that he is "quite pleased our former M'shp Manager has recently left and is at Carlton" (applause). RJ asked for those in attendance to play a real part to push the m'ship campaign for '08. Need to get all '07 members signed prior to xmas and then focus Jan/Feb/Mar on signing new members.

Q2) From experience at a Printing Firm other clubs send out their m'ship mailouts earlier and reminders far more regularly & we need to do this.......
GD agreed and said our communication needs to be improved. We need to create more interest.

Q3) Lack of junior members and most of our members are old. Other clubs have alot more young fans. I know 5 members who have died in the past 12 months. We need Free to Air exposure.......
GD saw we are working hard for more exposure and our current performance should assist in gaining more exposure. GD jokingly stated he couldn't do much about the ageing population of which he is one. Archer and Ponting will be pushed as marketing figureheads for the club and this should help to attract junior members and provide good role models to youngsters

Q4) Lack of access to away games in Melbourne for Melbourne based members in return for home games played interstate. Other clubs provide this. We need Friday Night's back and need to fight more for it.......
GD said you are right and did not provide anything further.

Q5) I believe GC severely affected m'ship as per Sydney & Canberra experiments. Wants a firm undertaking maybe in 25 words or less that the club is committed to Melbourne and Melbourne is the true home.......
GD stated this is why Gemba report has been initiated. We need at least 30K members to improve sponsorships. Not major sponsors which are strong but the 2nd tier sponsorship support which is lacking but has shown signs of improvement in recent times. We are having a crack at improving our position in Melbourne and beginning to make progress. (applause)

Q6) Believed that not hosing down relocation talk affected m'ships and we need to revert the club name to North Melbourne (applause). I want to see Terms of Reference for the Gemba report.....
GD stated the TOR are with the documentation with the Gemba Report and can be viewed as a whole.

Q7) Praise for the recent Junior Clinic, its attendance but wanted names on the players for identification purposes..... No answer given as such and next question requested

Q8) Praise for recent Auction function and Archer's 300 games. Club is displaying more professionalism . What other examples of professionalism can we expect and hopefully we can protect our position in Melbourne?
GD stated we have a relatively new CEO, Marketing Mgr and a new team of people, young people, smart people & enthusiastic people. We need to focus on next year. Some functions are fine but others need attention such as the Chairman's Dinner's which are seen as about as much fun as a "walk in the rain".

Q9) What will happen with our VFL Alignment?
GD stated good question. Our current situation needs to change. Can we go it alone? Won't be next year but is on the agenda. Can we have curtain raisers, can we fund one independently? Are we going to have change? Yes we are. People are discussing this situation now.

GD asked for one more question as he had to go to the Chairman's Dinner

Q10) When will a Business Strategic Plan be developed?
GD stated it will come from the Gemba Report. It is on our agenda. Need to build a platform to sustain us for the next 75 yrs. Didn't provide a timeline.

GD thanked all, said he hoped to see you in the finals and the meeting closed on time.

As it turned out GD & RJ were the only ones to speak.

At a guess about 600 people attended.

[Andy]

The details were as follows
Date: 22/07/2007
Duration: 3:30pm to 4:15pm
Location: Victory Room, Telstra Dome

Board Members in Attendance: Graham Duff (GD), Ron Joseph (RJ), the Brayshaws, Fulvio Inserra, John McGowan, Andrew Carter, Stephen Head (arrived late).

I was going to attend this, but it was on too early. 

Andrew Carter used to be my old boss too. 

[perthstormer]

Hey if JYD goes you rekon we can get sheeds?????

[Christabella]

Oh I love them right now ... keep going boys, please keep going - we need the biggest margins we can get.

[perthstormer]

We are playing so well how is djars?

[Brisbane_Storm]

AFL is a cute little game, but up north we all see it as an occassionall odd thing, like goat tossing.

[Andy]

I bet a few Lions fans would disagree comparing it to goat tossing after 3 premierships in a row. 

How good are we travelling though, I did the worst thing a supporter could do last weekend and tipped against them.  D'oh!

[Christabella]

Something I wrote before the Hawks game:

So Join in the Chorus...

and sing it one and all, 'Roos still going strong, they hear the finals call ...


Second place after 16 rounds; who would have thought it?

I admit that when the year began I was among the doubters. I had expected much better of the Kangaroos in 2006 and I couldn't see how the 2007 version would improve on the dismal 14th placed finish. For the first few rounds I admit to thinking that I would have been content with a similar finish to last season as long as the club demonstrated a view to the future. But as the season continued things became progressively better.

One third of the way through, I was already quite pleased with the Kangaroos performance and happy just to be on contention for a possible finals berth. Now, with under a third of the season remaining, I can scarcely believe just how well the team has played.

Their will to win and belief in themselves has been enormous and while everyone else is waiting for them to fall over they just keep winning. It is their opponents who have stumbled in recent weeks and four consecutive victories has seen the Kangaroos steadily climb into second place on the ladder.

The only problem they now face arises from the fact the margins in most of their victories have been very narrow; until they defeated Melbourne last weekend their biggest win was only 26 points, resulting in a rather low percentage. Alternatively it can be taken to show that the Kangaroos are capable of holding on and digging deep in tight finishes but with a lower percentage that the chasing teams they will have to keep winning to ensure the highest possible finish leading into the finals.

Despite their consistency and ladder position the Kangaroos are still considered long shots to claim the premiership. However a lot will be revealed about exactly where they stand in the coming weeks  when they meet the more fancied Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong.

One thing is for sure though, next time I will know better than to doubt the determination of a side that still boasts the likes of Glenn Archer, Brent Harvey and Adam Simpson. With some very good young talent, in particular Michael Firrito who has shown he can restrict the best forwards in the game, the Kangaroos have a nice mix of youth and experience. They are certainly a much better team than they are given credit for.

Anyhow since they have already surpassed all expectations this season I feel there is little pressure on them in the march towards the finals. Hopefully we will all be singing for a few more weeks to come.