North Melbourne legend Ron Joseph dead at 77 after battle with lung cancer

North Melbourne have lost one of their favourite sons, with legendary administrator Ron Joseph passing away at 77.

North Melbourne Football Club Shinboners cocktail function. Ron Joseph.

North Melbourne administrator Ron Joseph has died after a battle with lung cancer, aged 77.

Joseph was one of the key players in North Melbourne securing their first premiership in 1975 after 50 years in the VFL.

Joseph was one of the most significant off-field figures behind North Melbourne reaching five consecutive grand finals between 1974 and 1979, with the club’s next premierships not coming until the late 1990s.

Joseph was appointed club secretary (nowadays Chief Executive) in 1964 and served in the role from 1964-74 and again from 1977-86 and 1988-89.

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He was instrumental in bringing champion players Malcolm Blight, Doug Wade, Barry Cable and the Krakouer brothers to Arden Street, alongside super coach Ron Barassi in 1973.

He famously took $10,000 in brown paper bags to the homes of players to convince them to join the Kangaroos, capturing Barassi’s signature on the back of a napkin in a pub.

Joseph also joined the Sydney Swans in 1994-95, securing Tony Lockett’s signature and sparking a revolution of the sporting landscape in the city that has seen seven Grand Finals and two premierships since, as well as the establishment of the Swans as the city’s most supported club in rugby league heartland.

Kangaroos legends, Glenn Archer (left) and Ron Joseph (right).

More recently, he brought James Brayshaw onto the club board in 2007, and the pair led North Melbourne’s resistance to a push by the AFL to move the club to the Gold Coast as part of a league expansion.

In addition to day-to-day administration, he managed almost 100 players at a point in the late 1990s, as well as serving three years on the North Melbourne board from 2007-2010.

He was a life member of the club and an inaugural club Hall of Fame inductee.

Allen Aylett, Ron Barassi and Albert Mantello with the dinner napkin contract that paved the way to glory.

Club president Sonja Hood said Joseph was loud and proud in his support of North Melbourne, and his name would be as ingrained in the club’s history as any player.

“Ron was the architect of our success in the 1970s, one of the great defenders of our club in 2007 and unflinching in his love for North, holding successive Boards and administrators to account, from within or outside of the organisation, always with a view to make the club better,” she said.

Ron Joseph, general manager, North Melbourne Football Club. [Sun 14/9/1983]

“On a personal note, I was lucky to work with him in 2007, and grateful for the time and advice he has provided in the years since.

“He was one of a kind and will be sorely missed.”

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said Joseph had devoted a lifetime to the game.

“Ron Joseph had football in his blood as an administrator determined to win for his club. He was smart and canny, working the rules to his advantage every time, and was central in North Melbourne’s rise to power,” McLachlan said.

“Beneath the loud exterior was a man who cared deeply about his family and friends and the players whose career he guided, the clubs he worked for and the code. He was deeply loyal to all of them,” he said.

“Ron was central to the fabric of the game for five decades and we send our condolences to his family, many friends, and all at North Melbourne. Vale.”