Ron Joseph slams North Melbourne 'boy's club'

FORMER North Melbourne chief executive Ron Joseph believes the club is imploding because of “a boy’s club” mentality.

Ron Joseph

FORMER North Melbourne chief executive Ron Joseph believes the club is imploding because of “a boy's club” that puts itself before the club, and that James Brayshaw is not the right man for the presidency.

Joseph bought into the current crisis today, a day after Brayshaw accepted the resignation of chief executive Eugene Arocca, who quit claiming his position was no longer tenable.

“James Brayshaw has been genuine in some ways but I don’t think he is the right man for the job,” Joseph told RSN Racing & Sports.

“What you need is someone who is going to embrace all of the people across the whole stream of the club.

“You must have a certain personality for that and, not wanting to be disrespectful to James, he doesn’t have that.

"He doesn’t want to go beyond standing behind the microphone and making speeches.”

Joseph said he felt sad and disappointed to “see the place implode in the middle of the season".

“There is no question at North there was a boys club in operation and it is unhealthy where people came before the club," he said.

“When I was on the board I could see problems, particularly in the football area. There is a void in expertise (on the board) and when I mentioned that I was isolated,” he said.

“There is no question there was a boys club that should have been dismantled four or five years ago. When I tried to express my views on it I was isolated, and booed out of the annual general meeting,” he said of his exit almost two years ago, after 45 years at the club.

“Now standing from afar I suspect the North Melbourne Football Club does not come first (in some quarters).”

Joseph said Arocca “in some respects has done a very good job in very, very difficult circumstances".

“It is sad to see a great football club implode,” he said.