North Shore boost numbers and registrations significantly after AFL Barwon letter and club meeting

North Shore had just 19 registered players for the 2025 season. But the response since last week has been swift, with Seagulls players hellbent on keeping their club alive.

North Shore in danger of not being able to field a senior side. Picture: Alan Barber

North Shore has doubled its PlayHQ registrations in the past week and numbers have increased significantly on the track following AFL Barwon’s letter to the Seagulls and a club meeting last Friday night, as the club awaits a decision on whether they will field senior sides in 2025.

This masthead revealed last Wednesday that AFL Barwon had emailed a letter to North Shore on Tuesday to warn the Seagulls the organisation had no choice but to start planning the 2025 Geelong Football League without the club because the Seagulls had failed to provide evidence of their numbers.

AFL Barwon’s requests included a minimum of 60 registered players on PlayHQ for their senior and reserves teams and a list of contracted players.

The letter said North Shore had just 19 registered players at that time which has grown to 43 in the space of a week – with another four pending that have to re-register – after a concerted effort from players and club figures with the Seagulls’ future at stake.

Members of the North Shore side. Picture: Alan Barber

North Shore had been averaging just 15-20 players on the track before the wake-up call but its Thursday session last week had numbers in the low 30s, and more than 40 showed up to the Seagulls’ intra-club on Tuesday night.

The Seagulls’ football leadership group and key figures, including new coach Mark Hounslow, met on Friday night to discuss their future with players in particular determined to keep fighting.

Talks are ongoing between North Shore and AFL Barwon, with the organisation saying in a statement last Friday it will continue to support the club, however, “There remains some work to be done regarding North Shore’s ability to field senior and reserve football teams in 2025”.

Hounslow said there is a great vibe around the club despite not knowing whether the club will compete in 2025.

“I think when it became a stark reality that maybe the club won’t be around, that it really did wake everyone up and (they) thought, ‘They don’t want their club to die’,” Hounslow said.

“And the players, we met with the leadership group last Friday and had a chat with them and they are hellbent on helping this club get back on track and not letting it go down.

“Ever since then it has ramped right up and it has been great, I think a lot of people have jumped behind it now and a little bit of momentum is starting to go our way and we just want to keep that going.

“It has been a great vibe around the club, obviously last week we had low 30s there which was great but there was still a bit of an unknown obviously in the background, all the talk going on.”

The option of recession was raised at the meeting on Friday night but there were grave fears the club, which began in 1927, may not recover.

Hounslow believes that the meeting has been pivotal in boosting morale and numbers over the past week.

Picture: Alan Barber

“A lot of guys (at the meeting) thought, if you do go into recess, you might not come back out of that,” Hounslow said.

“And for guys who had been there a few years and their parents as well had played there, they have a strong connection to the club and they don’t want it to die. That really hit home with me because I have only just arrived there, so all of a sudden we left there really strong and united to say, ‘Let’s go, let’s have a real go at this’.

“And yeah, there might be a bit of short-term pain this year, but we all understand where we are at. I think that really helped sort of leaving that with a clear vision, ‘Okay, we are not sort of up and down like we have been the last few weeks, let’s go, let’s put our head down and go forward and drive this club’.”

Hounslow said captain Jack Sammut, Harry Purcell, Lachie Hayes, Connor Walmsley and Brad Tregenza have been central to driving the playing group in the past week.

Harry Purcell and Jacob Sammut have helped increase numbers on the track. Picture: Alan Barber

“All these guys that have been there for a few years now, they are the core group of the senior squad. So they are really driving it and pushing guys to come and better themselves and that’s what we want,” Hounslow said.

North Shore is in limbo as it awaits a decision from AFL Barwon but it is continuing to recruit players, with 10-12 joining training over the past fortnight.

“There is still that unknown, but we are just preparing as if we are definitely playing round one,” Hounslow said.

“We are still working hard in (the recruiting) space as well, target a lot of young guys who want opportunity and try and build a group and come through together.

“We don’t want a quick fix or to blow money on one guy, we want to do it the right way. And if that means teach a bit more of the basics and a bit more game sense into the boys and really develop this first year, and later be better prepared come the second and third year.”

Originally published as North Shore boost numbers and registrations significantly after AFL Barwon letter and club meeting