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Bob Ansett reflects on his time running North Melbourne ahead of their 100-year anniversary celebrations

One of footy’s most innovative clubs could have been swallowed whole by a rival powerhouse in the 1990s. Bob Ansett wouldn’t allow it — one of his many moves that saved the Kangaroos.

Bob Ansett could barely believe the figure who was standing at his doorstep outside his Carlton home one night in the early 1990s, nor the wild proposal he was bringing with him.

It was John Elliott and the brash Carlton president was angling for a Blues takeover of North Melbourne, the club that Ansett had served so passionately and defended so resolutely for more than a decade.

Several years earlier, as Kangaroos president, Ansett had “floated” North Melbourne on the Tasmanian stock exchange to help quash the club’s crippling $3m debt. The move effectively saved the famously resilient club which was determined to keep operating in its own right.

Ansett owned a significant portion of those shares.

The Kangaroos will celebrate 100 years on Thursday night.
The Kangaroos will celebrate 100 years on Thursday night.

But the 1987 stock market crash and the tightening economic climate, which ultimately brought about the collapse of Ansett’s Budget Rent A Car business, meant the shares ended up being worthless.

Worthless, that is, for all but Elliott who sensed an opportunity for the Blues to take over the Kangaroos, a club with a swag of young talent including an emerging Wayne Carey and a talented young goalkicker named John Longmire.

“John Elliott came over to my house and said: ‘Look, you guys (North Melbourne) are in a bit of trouble financially, why don’t you let us buy (your shares) and we will share the two clubs together,” Ansett said this week.

“We had a few dealings with John over the years. I said to him: ‘Under no circumstances are we going to sell you the shares.’

“A few people did, but they were insufficient (for Carlton to buy out the Kangaroos).”

If Ansett, and the other Kangaroos shareholders, had buckled, that might have been the end of the North Melbourne Football Club.

Fast forward to 2025, and the club that Ansett and friends helped to save will celebrate 100 years in the VFL-AFL with a prime-time Thursday night clash against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

Ansett, who turns 92 in August, and his wife, Josie, are flying down from their Noosa base for the occasion. His daughter, Sherrie Crosswell, will also be there.

He is immensely proud of what the football club has achieved, not just on the field with four flags (1975, ’77, ’96 and ’99), but also off it as one of the most innovative and hardy sporting organisations.

Over the years, the Roos have staved off takeover bids, merger plots, an AFL bid to send the club to the Gold Coast, and a series of economic challenges.

Through it all, the visions the club has driven – many under Ansett’s presidency – have played a key role in keeping the club afloat.

“I’m really looking forward to being there,” Ansett said about the club’s centenary game.

“This football club really has been so resilient over the years. It has always been able to work its way (out of trouble) in the most creative of ways.

“I guess I had 10 per cent of those 100 years … that’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”

ELEPHANTS, MARCHING BANDS AND GAME-DAY EXPERIENCES

Ansett was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in the US, moving there as a young child after his parents’ divorce.

His early experiences aided him when he took over as North Melbourne president in 1979.

His first full year in the role was Ron Barassi’s last as Kangaroos coach.

Ansett had initially followed Carlton on his return to Australia in 1965 – due to Barassi’s profile when he was at the Blues – but his company’s move to Peel St, North Melbourne, brought about his Kangaroos connection.

“I was a gold pass member of North and I remember having a function at Budget with a few of the people from North Melbourne there,” he said.

“We had Ron Joseph, Allen Aylett and Albert Mantello there and we had a bit of a talk about it, and they asked if I would take on the job.

“It was a time when we were taking Budget internationally, so I was doing a fair bit of travelling. But I accepted the offer and I loved every minute of it.”

The elephant made a “return” recently. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
The elephant made a “return” recently. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

One of the first things he set to work on was improving the game-day experience for fans, including marching bands, parachutists, and admitting women to the presidents’ lunches.

There had been an earlier experience of bringing a circus elephant to an Arden St match in 1978, with a young member of the cheersquad riding on its back.

The elephant took fright when the opposition team ran out and briefly was out of control.

“The keeper (of the elephant) was there but he just took a little while to get control again,” Ansett said with a laugh.

But he is so proud the Kangaroos were one of the first league clubs to invite women to the president’s luncheon.

“I couldn’t believe it (women were not invited) … We were one of the first clubs to do it,” he said. “We were doing things differently and with my activities at Budget, we were able to get new people to the club and new sponsors.

“I managed to get Qantas to sponsor us which was terrific for a club like North Melbourne.”

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTY

Ansett sensed an opportunity when the MCG installed lights for international cricket – and that opportunity changed Australian football forever.

He recalled: “They put the lights up but the East Melbourne residents were very much opposed to it, so they agreed for them to be used for only 12 nights of the year for cricket.”

“One of those cricket games had been rained out. So I went to (VFL boss) Jack Hamilton to ask if North Melbourne could play a Friday night game (as the replacement) in 1985.

“He said to me: ‘No one is going to go to night football.’ But I said: ‘Let’s have a go at it!’”

Collingwood come out for the first Friday night game.
Collingwood come out for the first Friday night game.

Ansett recalled his nervousness as he looked out from the president’s dinner to a largely empty MCG half an hour before North Melbourne’s round 1 clash with Collingwood in 1985.

“I remember walking out before the game and the place was practically empty,” he said.

“Then they showed television shots from outside the MCG and there was a queue a mile long, as far as your eye could see. The MCG thought they only needed to open half the turnstiles and the fans weren’t getting in. They (the fans) started breaking down the gates and coming through the turnstiles.”

The night turned out to be a spectacular success.

More than 65,000 attended and a Friday night tradition was born.

North Melbourne owned so much of the Friday night schedule in the late 1980s and early ’90s, which provided a great financial fill-up.

It set the template for the most popular timeslot of the 21st century and boosted future TV rights financial deals.

Ansett also said the club’s decision to move matches from its Arden St base to the MCG was a huge boost as well.

“The football world was astonished by that, they thought, ‘How the hell did North Melbourne get the deal done to go to the MCG’,” he said.

The Kangaroos also started pushing hard during the late 1980s and early 1990s to become the first club to stage games on Good Friday.

It would take more than a generation to make it happen, but North Melbourne was finally selected for the first Good Friday game in 2017.

RECRUITING THE KRAKOUER BROTHERS

There had been few Indigenous stars playing in the VFL before North Melbourne – and legendary administrator Ron Joseph – won the race to sign the Krakouer brothers.

Jim and Phil Krakouer changed the landscape for Indigenous players from 1982 with their breathtaking brand and unique on-field connection.

Ansett said their trailblazing ways played a big part in the huge growth of Indigenous players in the years since, though the racism they encountered shocked him.

“I will never forget one day at Collingwood,” he said. “Jimmy and Phil came down the passageway (to the ground) and they (some of the Magpie fans) were swearing and throwing things at them. It was just terrible.

“For the most part they ignored it. They didn’t complain.”

Phil Krakouer and Jim Krakouer with Bob Ansett.
Phil Krakouer and Jim Krakouer with Bob Ansett.

But the abuse and the attention sometimes proved too much.

“I remember we used to have the two teams meet in the rooms after a game for a drink and some food,” he said. “In one game against Carlton, Jimmy had done an ankle and he was sitting next to me and Albert Mantello in the stands.

“One of the Carlton players gave Phil a whack and knocked him down. Jimmy didn’t say a word. But when the two teams met after the match, in comes the guy from Carlton, and Jimmy was just standing at the door and he whacked him.

“That was the end of the post-match drinks – not just for us, but I think for all the clubs.”

Other clubs tried to entice the Krakouer brothers away from Arden St.

“The doctor from the Swans (Dr Geoff Edelsten, who took over Sydney in the 1980s) came to my office one time and we had a bit of chat before he slapped down $1000 on the table,” Ansett recalled.

“I said: ‘What’s that for?’. He said: ‘That’s for Jimmy’.”

Edelsten was offering Ansett the $1000 as an inducement to get a deal down on Jimmy.

“I said to him: ‘Jimmy plays for North Melbourne, he is going to continue playing for North Melbourne.’”

Without a few years, Jim had moved to St Kilda and Phil to Footscray, but Ansett still has incredible memories of their contribution to North Melbourne – and to the game itself.

FLOATING THE SHARES

North Melbourne was close to going out of business in the mid 1980s when Ansett came up with a bold plan to help save the club.

He ‘floated’ the club on the stock market to raise much needed funds, safeguarding its immediate future.

“The club was in debt and we needed money,” he said of the $3m debt.

“It was the first time there had been a second shareboard (for smaller, less established companies) in Australia.”

The float came with A and B shares, aimed at having only those with North Melbourne interests at heart involved to protect them against any takeover bids.

“It really helped us for the next couple of years,” he said.

North Melbourne chiefs watch the club's shares go up on the Stock Exchange board.
North Melbourne chiefs watch the club's shares go up on the Stock Exchange board.

Ansett and other shareholders ultimately gave up their stake when the AFL insisted North Melbourne be returned to the members, at around the time of the league’s push to move the club to the Gold Coast.

“I held on to the shares but they were worthless,” he said.

“I went down (to Melbourne) with James Brayshaw and Ron Joseph and we talked to our mate Andrew (Demetriou, AFL chief executive) and made it pretty clear that it wasn’t on (as the club rejected a potential move to the Gold Coast).”

COMMODORES, BUS TICKETS AND TRACTORS

Ansett said the Kangaroos had so many great administrators in his time, adding that the recruitment of players by Ron Joseph and Greg Miller played a huge part in the club’s success.

Joseph secured the Krakouer brothers, while Miller, who was employed by the Roos after being sacked as Sydney recruiter, got his revenge by orchestrating a deal to secure Carey and Longmire, who proved stars of the ’90s.

“Ron rang me the night before (going up to Corowa to convince Longmire to join the Roos) and he said to me: ‘I’m going to buy a Commodore … we’ve found a player’.

“So Greg and Ron drove up in two cars, and Ron said to John: ‘C’mon I want to show you something outside.’ He handed over the keys and John said: ‘I’m not old enough to drive it’. Ron said: ‘Don’t worry. (When you come to North), you’ll be 18 and you’ll get a licence’.

“Then Greg went to Adelaide to interview Wayne Carey. Ron goes over and says to Wayne, ‘Here is a little package’. Part of the package was a bus trip to Melbourne.”

Ansett now resides in Noosa. Picture: Dave Gleeson
Ansett now resides in Noosa. Picture: Dave Gleeson

Ansett laughed when Carey fought out Longmire got a Holden Commodore, not a bus ticket: “Wayne never got over that.”

Ansett and Joseph also coaxed Hawthorn premiership coach John Kennedy out of retirement to take over the Roos in 1985 – with a tractor thrown in for good measure.

“We went out to (Kennedy’s house) and knocked on his door and said: ‘Have you given any thought to coaching North?’ He said: ‘No, I’ve got a farm now’.

“So Ron went out and bought a tractor for him … and we got him as our coach.”

LIFE TODAY

Ansett starts every morning in Noosa the same way.

“We’ve got a little group that meets every morning,” he said. “I go down (to the beach) at around 6am and I do about 15 minutes of callisthenics then I go into the water at around 6.15am or 6.30am for a swim, then we come back and we meet for coffee.”

He is proud of the achievements he and others had at the Kangaroos, but is just as thrilled the club has withstood a myriad of challenges this century to remain in its own form.

He still watches religiously and is a believer that Alastair Clarkson’s young Kangaroos can turn things around as Denis Pagan’s teams did during the 1990s, and Barassi’s teams did in the 1970s.

“I think they have turned the corner, they are starting to look impressive now,” he said.

“I loved my 13 years with North Melbourne, and I was able to work alongside so many wonderful, passionate people and forge so many friendships.

“There is something special about North Melbourne.”

Originally published as Bob Ansett reflects on his time running North Melbourne ahead of their 100-year anniversary celebrations

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/afl/bob-ansett-reflects-on-his-time-running-north-melbourne-ahead-of-their-100year-anniversary-celebrations/news-story/8aa9322cce5bbbcd6742aee15e7ab789