Over the long and changing history of the pre-season competition, North Melbourne has often been in the thick of the action.
There have been three different eras – from 1956 to 1971 the competition was played exclusively in September, at night, amongst the eight VFL teams which didn’t make the finals.
After a five year hiatus, it returned from 1977 to 1987. Still played in the evening, some matches were played during the early part of the year, with the rest during the home and away season.
Finally from 1988, the competition made the permanent switch exclusively to the pre-season, with all three eras spoken of collectively.
Five time premiers and seven times runners up, the Kangaroos won all of their flags playing at grounds that are no longer in use for competitive football.
The first two were back-to-back successes in 1965 and 1966, held at Lake Oval – the former home of South Melbourne.
The 1966 night premiership team
During a trying decade, it was the high point of the club’s on-field fortunes. It also contrasted with its regular season record at Lake Oval. Over the history of the ground, North won only 14 of 42 games.
When South Melbourne moved to Sydney at the end of the 1981 season, Lake Oval ceased to be used as a venue for AFL competition points. In the mid 1990’s, redevelopment begun on the venue to be changed from an oval configuration to rectangular to accommodate South Melbourne FC.
In recent years an athletics track has been added around the outside of the playing field, making the ground – now known as Lakeside Stadium – almost unrecognisable to how it looked during its football days.
How Lakeside Stadium currently looks (picture courtesy of austadiums.com)
1965 Night Series Grand Final
North Melbourne: 14.13.97
Carlton: 9.3.57
1966 Night Series Grand Final
North Melbourne: 20.12.132
Hawthorn: 12.7.79
During the night series’ second incarnation between 1977 and 1987, North was at the centre of one of the most controversial finishes to a game.
In the 1980 Grand Final, the Kangaroos trailed Collingwood by just three points in the dying stages of the contest at Waverley Park. Moments before Kerry Good marked within scoring range for North, the siren had sounded but the umpire failed to recognise it. It meant the young key-position forward had to deal with a chaotic scene as he attempted to win the game.
Fans stream the field as Good wins the game for North
It was the first of three pre-season premierships the Kangaroos won at Waverley Park.
During the three decades the ground was active as a league venue, North was a frequent guest despite never playing home games there. 16 finals appearances yielded eight victories - four of which were in preliminary finals.
The ground closed at the end of 1999, however in its last five years North was victors in two pre-season grand finals.
The first came in 1995, as the Kangaroos defeated Adelaide by 30 points. In 1998, North produced a superb comeback to run down St Kilda in the second half.
RELATED: Highlights of the 1998 pre-season Grand Final
Trailing by 34 points during the third term, North kicked eight of the last nine goals to record a 14 point victory and signal its intent to challenge for the premiership.
1980 Night Series Grand Final
North Melbourne: 8.9.57
Collingwood: 7.12.54
1995 Pre-Season Grand Final
North Melbourne: 14.9.93
Adelaide: 8.15.63
1998 Pre-Season Grand Final
North Melbourne: 14.13.97
St Kilda: 12.11.93
North’s 2015 pre-season campaign begins on Sunday as it travels to Port Lincoln to face Adelaide.
Sunday March 1
v Adelaide, 4:40pm Melbourne time
Port Lincoln, Centenary Oval
Sunday March 8
v Hawthorn, 4:40pm Melbourne time
Shepparton, Deakin Reserve
Saturday March 21
v Richmond, 1:10pm Melbourne time
Etihad Stadium
