The following article was written by former Facility and Property Manager, Greg Ryan.

Greg still works at the club as its Heritage Coordinator. 

Main photo: Herald Sun archives. Article photos: Greg Ryan. 

I was exhausted. It was close to midnight before I got back to my hotel room in Adelaide and all I wanted to do was collapse on the bed.

It had been a big day, topped off by a shattering 72-point defeat at the hands of the Crows on a Friday night at Football Park.

It was Round 16 of the 2006 season and we’d only won five games. Little did I know at the time, our year was about to get a whole lot more challenging.

As Facility & Property Manager, I was responsible for looking after the Arden St facility, while on match-days I was responsible for all the gear, such as player uniforms, footballs, medical supplies, drink bottles etc.

In those days, the Arden St facility was perhaps the worst in the AFL. We had a portable room attached to the change-rooms, which comprised the football department and a break-out area for players to hangout in between meetings and training.

There was the old social club building which was converted into a merchandise shop while the upstairs lounge had been transformed into a gymnasium – complete with its own bar. The gym used to be located under the old grandstand, but was deemed unsafe and condemned for demolition. So, we upgraded … well, sort of.

So rundown was the building, we had to use buckets to catch leaks when it rained and the electricity would often cut out.

There was no heating installed in the change rooms, so we rolled in a big portable industrial gas blow heater which packed a fair punch. I would have to fire it up about half an hour before any meetings in the conference room so the players and coaches wouldn’t get hyperthermia. I had to make sure the back door was open so the gas could escape and no-one would fall asleep or get gassed. We were extremely fortunate OH&S inspectors weren’t around when the big beast was cooking!

Despite all this, Arden St was our home; we didn’t know any different and didn’t want it any other way.

Keeping up with the Joneses wasn’t a possibility but internally, it wasn’t really an issue; after all, it was pretty much the same setup that yielded two premierships in the 90’s. All the commentary about our “dilapidated” facility was driven by people on the outside, who had no idea the culture of our club was all about people, not bricks and mortar.

Back to that fateful night in Adelaide, and it was around 3.30am when my phone rang. I woke from a deep sleep and took a call from the security company back in Melbourne that looked after Arden St. I lost count how many times I would get a call like this in the middle of the night. Usually they’d be responding to an alarm and needed permission to send a guard around to take a look. With a lot of homeless in the area false alarms were common, but this time it was much different.

I was told there was a major fire and the fire brigade was on the scene. I immediately called our Football Manager, Tim Harrington, who in turn called CEO, Geoff Walsh. Being in Adelaide, there wasn’t much we could do.

Within a half an hour we were advised the fire was under control but there’d been significant damage. The portable building was destroyed and a couple of rooms connected to the change rooms had been severely impacted.

The damage
Upon returning from Adelaide, I was shocked by what I saw and took some photos to document the damage.  

To say it was devastating would be an understatement. We didn’t have much to begin with, and now we had even less.

The players’ breakout area was no longer. Adam Simpson provided me with a comprehensive list of the main items lost including:

- Large screen television
- Billiard table
- Table-tennis table
- Video game machine
- 10-seater lounge

The boot room had been totally gutted and the only boots remaining were the ones the players wore in Adelaide. All their spares and those of the players that didn’t play that weekend were reduced to ashes.

We lost a lot of training equipment such as tackling bags, punching bags, nets, etc that were stored in the corridor between the portable and the change rooms. The property room and medical rooms were significantly damaged, but thankfully the spare uniforms had been spared.    

Rising from the ashes
In times of great need, North people have always stood tall and this was no different. From Geoff, Tim, Dean Laidley, the players, staff and our many volunteers, we all just rolled up our sleeves and did whatever was needed to push through and prepare for Round 17.

The players were particularly magnificent, led by captain, Adam Simpson. Joined by the likes of Glenn Archer, Brady Rawlings, Brent Harvey, and Drew Petrie, he kept the spirits of the playing group high, and did whatever the club asked without hesitation.

With the change room area out of action temporarily, the players moved into the social club and walked to the North Melbourne pool for showers and massages. We were also granted permission by the AFL to use Marvel Stadium (formerly Telstra Dome) for main training sessions.

In true Shinboner fashion, the application and dedication shown in the lead-up to our next game against Geelong in Canberra was first-class. Despite coming off a 72-point defeat, dealing with a devastating fire, putting up with all the inconvenience, back-to-back travels, we pulled out a remarkable win. To this day, I will never forget that game under the circumstances. It was a true club victory. Everyone played their part.

New beginnings
From the ashes, the club was able to recover and renovate the social club from a state of disrepair to a clean and functional space thanks to the incredible commitment from staff, players and volunteers who offered their services.

The old upstairs kitchen was now the Pilates and gym. The main bar was removed, the walls painted and a boxing ring installed.

These before and after shots tell the story.

The old members bar was turned into coaches’ room and had an office for Dean, new match committee room, and work-stations for the assistants and strength and conditioning staff.

The players used the large room downstairs for a new lounge. The space was famous as it had been the site of the North Discos of the 70’s & 80’s, and the old Kanga Casino in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

At the time, the 2006 fire was devastating, but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining – particularly at North Melbourne. The incident gives us an example of what makes our club so special. It demonstrated what North Melbourne is all about, and that is: its people. Those connected to the club are, and always will be, our most important asset.

Outsiders may never understand our envied “Shinboner” culture, but the fire story perfectly illustrates why we are 151-years-old and why will be around for another 150 years and more. 

An investigation into the cause of the fire was conducted and revealed some spare tyres were placed under the portable and were deliberately lit. The arsonist was never found, and no charges laid.

Photo below: The Herald Sun - July 25, 2006.