2016 marks the 20th anniversary of North Melbourne winning the Centenary Premiership Cup in 1996, and that’s cause for celebration on NMFC.com.au.
It was an eventful campaign in a changing AFL world. Merger talks dominated the airwaves and papers, a new club was preparing to enter the competition the following year, and in amongst all of it the Roos were attempting to take the next step after two successive preliminary final losses.
To relive it all, our regular weekly flashback segments will recount, from start to finish, the story of the 1996 season.
Every Friday, there’ll be extended video highlights, combined with the quotes and reaction of the footballing world at the time.
It all starts this week with Round 1 when North began its season at Waverley against St Kilda, the reigning Ansett Cup champions.
Here’s a sneak peek at some of the comments you’ll see throughout the season, from the key men and media.
“He (Glenn Freeborn) played very well today, he has to learn to play four quarters out there but he is certainly a player with a future at North Melbourne.” – Denis Pagan after Round 2
As it turned out, Freeborn didn’t exactly need to play four quarters to have an influence on a game in 1996. But nevertheless, the youngster was one of a handful of new faces sprinkled through the side during the year.
“Corey McKernan is blessed with that unmistakable Brownlow Medal class and, equally important, the flair to catch the eye of those who cast the votes.” - Bruce Matthews in the Herald Sun after Round 3
Almost immediately, the media recognised the blistering early season form of McKernan. The ruckman’s rapid growth in importance to the Kangaroos ended up becoming one of the main storylines of the season.
“So many bad habits can be covered up when you win by huge margins. Too many players get in front of the ball, too many players peel off a contest wanting to get the handball, not enough numbers at the workface…we were guilty of them all.” – Denis Pagan after Round 4
The coach wasn’t afraid of giving his players a serve after losses during the season – this one came in the media conference after North’s first defeat of 1996.
“I haven’t done anything outstanding this year. So hopefully, if I can continue to have those steady games I can pull out a crackerjack one soon.” – Wayne Carey after Round 5
20 goals in the first five games clearly weren’t enough for the skipper’s high standards. As it turned out, he would go on to play some stunning individual hands, including his 11-goal haul against Melbourne in Round 17.
“There was a lot of innuendo, a lot of lies, a lot of inaccuracies said about North Melbourne in the press, but to our players’ credit, they just focused on the task at hand, played like real professionals and went out and did the job.” – Denis Pagan after Round 8
The proposed merger between North Melbourne and Fitzroy that was on, then off, then on and finally off for good was a topic which dominated pages both front and back of the newspapers through 1996. At various stages the reporting wore thin on the playing group, with Pagan the figurehead.
