In his first week as boss of the Kangaroos, the 45-year old used the buzz-word 'league think' to highlight the need for a uniformed approach to bridging the gap between all 18 clubs.
"They (the rich clubs) would love to keep their dominance. We understand that. We would love to to be in a dominant position as well," he told the Herald Sun's Glenn McFarlane.
"But the health of the competition and the growth of the game should come first...there needs to be a bit of a mindset shift. We all need to think about how we can best grow the game and how we can have a competitive competition.
"That means we need to educate ourselves and the fans about this."
Dilena says North will be encouraging the AFL to look to sports in the United States for a solution.
"I've done a lot of research on the American sports leagues, and I'd urge the AFL clubs and their supporters to do the same... all of those leagues have private ownership, yet they have somehow all managed to come to an agreement for the betterment of the overall competition.
"There is greater revenue sharing, so that you get this competitive balance across the leagues.
"What we are seeing with the AFL paper is that there is a divide that is getting bigger. If you lose that competitive balance in a competition, you risk losing public interest. When you generate greater public interest, you have a more even competition.
"It grows supporter bases but the challenge at the moment is that everyone is thinking self-interest."
The AFL fixture, gate takings, broadcast times, stadium deals and even luxury taxes are just some of the issues being debated by the league and the clubs. Dilena says a unified approach is the only way to guarantee a sound outcome.
"That's fair. The buzzword in the US is 'League Think', and that's what we need to have here."
