Dear members,

As we prepare to take a breather and plan a footy-free weekend, I thought it timely I checked in with you all and reflected on the year so far.

If I was to sum up, I’d say we’ve made some good progress – but we’re under no illusions about how much there is still to do. 

So let’s start with the positives.  We had a couple of great wins to start the year and not long after, we celebrated Todd Goldstein’s 300th game milestone. 

Todd is just the sixth North Melbourne player to have accomplished the milestone in the club’s 154-year history. It can be difficult to comprehend the significance of a player’s contribution in real time, and that may be true with Todd. He’s as North Melbourne as they come, and we’ve been - and still are - so lucky to have him. 

Some frustratingly close losses have given us all some hope, and glimpses of what the future will look like.  

And that future is exciting when you think of the three debutants we’ve seen this year, with Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw both garnering Rising Star nominations, and Blake Drury showing why the recruiting team were so pleased to land him.  

The growth of the likes of Tom Powell, Bailey Scott, Eddie Ford, Will Phillips and Miller Bergman has been on display for all to see; Callum Coleman-Jones and Jaidyn Stephenson have begun to make their mark;  Cam Zurhaar continues to excite, and it’s been pleasing to welcome Tarryn Thomas back into the side.  And our co-captains have done an immense job in leading the team, on and off the field.

Luke Davies-Uniacke, Charlie Comben and Josh Goater are among the players due back from injury at some point in the second half of the season, and Tristan Xerri made his football return via the VFL on the weekend. 

Jy Simpkin and Nick Larkey have committed their futures to the club, signing five-year contract extensions. They are two of eight players to recommit so far this season.

Our future is indeed bright.

Add to that the performances in our VFL program, with some of our younger players being bolstered by some of our most experienced. Credit to Tom Lynch and the development team for the work they’ve done – last week was the VFL’s fourth straight win.

Our AFLW team returned to the club in late May to begin their 2023 campaign. For the first time, our women will train one full day per week plus their usual night sessions. The group will be at the club every Tuesday, sharing the facilities with our men’s program. 

This may seem like a small change, but it’s actually a significant step forward for AFLW and women’s sport, as the players inch towards becoming full-time athletes.

On their first full day a few weeks ago, we came together as a club. Staff, players, coaches from our AFL and AFLW programs shared lunch, and the room was abuzz as coaches Brett Ratten and Darren Crocker spoke of their genuine commitment to integrating the programs.

And along with the return of the AFLW team, we’ve recently welcomed eight new players to the club. Robbie Hansen Jr joined us in the mid-season draft in early June. In what has been a whirlwind few weeks for Robbie, he packed up his life in Perth within a matter of hours and relocated to Melbourne. He’s already had two opportunities to show off his skills in the VFL, and he’s off to a flying start. 

In our AFLW program, Kate Shierlaw, Lulu Pullar, Liz McGrath, Eliza Shannon, Ruby Tripodi, Niamh Martin and Lucy Burke walked through the doors for the first time, and have made an immediate impact on our club.

But we are under no illusions that there is still plenty of work to do. As Brett Ratten said post-game on Sunday, we’ve had five weeks of pretty competitive footy, our ability to ‘hang in’ has improved, but we’ve got to become better than that.

The implementation of what the players are learning during the week is the part that needs work. We are seeing it for 80 of the 120 minutes, and that’s what’s letting us down.  

The playing group has nine more games after the bye to show us what they are capable of – and I know we will all be watching closely!

We’re on a journey of incremental improvement.  At times it’s frustratingly slow, at times it’s exhilarating – but make no mistake, every single week is about being better than the week before. 

Finally, I want to call out a few key people who have led our club through a number of issues including the temporary loss of our senior coach Alastair Clarkson – who I can assure you, will be back.  

To our CEO Jen Watt and GM of Football Todd Viney – thank you for your strength in leadership. The club and the football department have not missed a beat under your guidance. And to interim senior coach Brett Ratten, who has picked up Clarko’s plan and kept the seat warm – thank you for selflessly stepping up when the club needed you.

And to all of you – thank you for your passion, your support, your voice. For turning up, for being loud, for barracking, and for continuing on this journey with us.  I couldn’t imagine a better group of people to be doing this with!

See you all in a few weeks, and as always, go Roos!

Sonja