North Melbourne will name its top players from 1869-1949 this Friday, and subsequent lists every Friday over the next month.
Can you imagine ranking North Melbourne's top ten players, in order? Well, that's the task the club's Heritage Committee has been asked to undertake as part of North's 150th anniversary.
While the top ten will no doubt spark some healthy debate, it's much bigger than that. Initially, the club will be revealing its best 150 players in its history in chronological order, with the top 10 revealed in number order from 10 to 1 at the 150th Anniversary Dinner on August 3.
As you can imagine this is a massive challenge and some may say it's an, “impossible task" considering the history of our great club since its inception in 1869.
Since then, we had some wonderful success in our VFA years (1869-1924) and were represented by some magnificent players and the trend continued when we joined the VFL in 1925.
I must point out, the club advised the Committee the criteria for selection strictly pertained to on-field exploits only, meaning this wasn't about the person, just the player. Character, life achievements or anything regarded as off-field, good or bad, had no bearing whatsoever. Our job was simply to find the best players the club has ever seen and/or produced.
To be considered for selection, those that represented North during the VFA years would have no “games played” limit, as records for some players were not able to be obtained. For the VFL/AFL, strict eligibility criteria was set with players having to have played 50 senior games up until the end of 2018.
There were several components in the selection process, and included objectivity based on a player's career and subjectivity. A points system was applied to VFL/AFL players but was not applicable to the VFA, again due to a lack of records Instead, selection for VFA players relied heavily on historical data from football books, newspaper reports and other trusted accounts.
The points system was multi-faceted and allowed the Heritage Committee an objective guide. Players were awarded points for such things as games played, Syd Barker medal placings, finals, premierships, state and all-Australian representation and other special on-field honours and achievements.
The painstaking process also involved archival information, club Annual Reports, AFL Guides, newspaper reports and other official sources.
When all the information was collected and the "objective” process completed, the Heritage Committee used “subjective” powers to refine the list. A critical element was the input of more than 25 people who have had an intrinsic connection to the club. These people included North Melbourne Hall of Fame members, Life Members, Past Players and Coaches, as well as former and current administrators. They were an invaluable resource and assured the process involved true “North people” covering more than seven decades of history.
Everyone will have an opinion on who the greatest players to wear the royal blue and white stripes were and no doubt, each supporter will have a different combination.
I hope you can join us to celebrate every person who has played part in our rich history. Everyone is welcome, whether you're a past or current player, coach, administrator, volunteer, or most importantly, a supporter and member.
I hope to see you all at this once in a lifetime event.
To secure your spot at the 150th Anniversary Dinner or for more information, click here or contact Darcy Pfitzner on (03) 9320 2475 or darcy.pfitzner@nmfc.com.au
