North Melbourne says Arden St redevelopment shows future of club remains in the suburb
North Melbourne will post a small profit despite the COVID-hit year and plans to upgrade Arden St has reinforced where the club’s future lies.
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North Melbourne is daring to believe the AFL could host full crowds at some stage next season as the club’s future in Victoria was again reinforced on Tuesday.
Roos chief executive Ben Amarfio told the Herald Sun the club’s 151-year history would continue in Melbourne long into the future after a $7.3 million state government funding commitment.
It will allow the Roos to proceed with a stage two development of Arden St, including installing female-friendly changerooms for AFLW and VFLW sides and a redesign of their Huddle community facility.
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The Roos will make a small profit this year and a debt that was at one stage $8 million has gone from $650,000 to $400,000 this year and is set to be wiped totally next year.
Amarfio said he was amazed only two per cent of members asked for a refund compared to a competition average of seven per cent, which was central to the club’s capacity to ride out the COVID-hit year.
The league has told clubs to buckle up for a rocky ride in 2021 given a potential “run” on membership and small crowds.
But Amarfio said he was optimistic about growing numbers of crowds for Round 1.
“It’s looking that way. It can change tomorrow, and look at South Australia yesterday, so it can change in 24 hours but we are excited about getting to March and having crowds back,” he said.
“We want our members and supporters watching, you saw how depressing it was this year. Players are athletes but also performers and athletes. And they get so much energy from crowds and we want them back. We are hoping the worst-case scenario in March is 50 per cent crowds and hopefully it’s up from there. (Full houses) are the hope, absolutely. If we can stay virus-free that’s the potential.”
A new Arden Structure Plan will see a Metro stop only metres from the club’s headquarters and an extra 50,000 workers and people living in the suburb in coming years.
Amarfio said the club had ambitious plans for the next stage of its development but said the stage two revamp could not have happened without Tourism, Sports and Major Events minister Martin Pakula.
He could not be more adamant the club’s future lies in this suburb rather than Tasmania.
“There has been a lot of pressure over the years. Even prior to 2007 and the Gold Coast, pressure on the club to move, but the club has been steadfast that it wanted to stay and we have been in North Melbourne for 151 years, and on this site for 139 of those years.
“The development of this precinct will give us even more reason to stay and be part of it.
“I guess people will always default to the easy option and we understand that the fact is if you were starting a competition from scratch people would say, ‘Why are there 10 teams in Victoria?’
“We get that and it’s what people default to, but we like to think this club is more than just a sporting club, it is part of people’s identity. They relate to their football clubs.
“The connection between members and supporters with the club is something I don’t think we should give up on too easily.”
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ROOS RECRUIT BACKS HARVEY FOR TOP JOB
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New Roo Jaidyn Stephenson has backed Collingwood assistant Robert Harvey as a potential senior coach at Arden Street.
Harvey — who has served at the Magpies since the end of 2011 — is understood to currently be a contender for the top job at North Melbourne, which became vacant last month when Rhyce Shaw stepped away to deal with his mental health.
Remaining contenders will have a second round of interviews with the club this week with a call expected by the end of the month.
But Stephenson said he would “love it” if Harvey took the reins.
“I’d love it if Harvs came here,” the Kangaroos recruit said. “He’s one of the better blokes I’ve met, and he’s a really good person in terms of building relationships and he also knows his footy very well.
“So I think Harvs is a great candidate. I don’t really care who gets it but I hope he does.”
Stephenson, 21, was traded to North Melbourne last week after three years and 54 games, and said the entire recruitment process online.
He met with football manager Brady Rawlings, senior assistant coach John Blakey and other football department members via a Zoom interview.
But he said having no senior coach installed at the club had not led to any hesitation.
“I trust the judgment of the people choosing the coach that they’ll choose a good person that will want to put the club heading in the right direction and I had that Zoom meeting and I got great confidence with the fact that you’re going to have a great coach, but the support staff around him are great,” he said.
“So I would back that in and that’s made my decision a lot easier.”
Brisbane football boss David Noble is also a leading candidate for the job, after Port Adelaide assistant Michael Voss removed himself from the running.
Monday marked Stephenson’s first visit to Arden Street since he trained there before he was picked up by Collingwood and he said the facilities had had a significant upgrade since his last visit.
“I’m looking forward to the times to come,” he said.
VOSS PULLS OUT OF ROOS COACHING RACE
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Brisbane head of football David Noble has emerged as a candidate for the vacant North Melbourne coaching job.
Noble is one of a handful of contenders for the Roos including Collingwood assistant Robert Harvey.
But Port Adelaide assistant coach Michael Voss has told North Melbourne he will not be a candidate.
Noble, 53, has a similar background to Chris Fagan, appointed as senior coach of the Lions at the end of 2016 – an experienced football figure, who has coached Glenelg in the SANFL.
He has previously served as head of football at the Adelaide Crows and was an assistant for five seasons at the Western Bulldogs.
Voss’ football CV was highly appealing. He coached Brisbane and has worked under Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley since 2015.
Former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was sounded out but is not interested in the Kangaroos job.
Noble played two games for Fitzroy in 1991 and was a teammate of Paul Roos, a member of North Melbourne’s coaching selection panel.
The panel includes Roos, club chief executive Ben Amarfio, football general manager Brady Rawlings, football director Glenn Archer, board member Sonja Hood and leadership expert Terry Coyne.
In an interview with the Herald Sun this month, Rawlings said the club would search far and wide for a replacement for Rhyce Shaw.
“We’ll look at four different types. We’ve got the experienced former coach, that’s one category, we’ve got assistant coaches with 10-15 years’ experience, we’ve got the inexperienced assistant coaches who come with high credentials, and we’ve also got a category which is a bit left field, maybe they haven’t coached in the past year or two,” Rawlings said.
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“I think this will be different because last year we had an interim coach that potential candidates might not have wanted to interview against because they might’ve thought he already had the job. This year, we’re the one team looking for a senior coach and we’re not discriminating against age or experience.”
Voss had held preliminary talks with the Kangaroos.
Shaw walked away from football at the end of the season after a gruelling year in the Queensland hubs.
North expects to announce its new coach in late November or early December.
Originally published as North Melbourne says Arden St redevelopment shows future of club remains in the suburb
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