IF NORTH Melbourne isn't Australia's most media-friendly sporting club, then it's doing its best to be.

On Monday, the club threw open the doors to its new facility to around 30 journalists, cameramen and sound operators, with no player, coach, staff member or area of the building off-limits.

Players were briefed and stationed as tour guides while a large portion of the media contingent crammed into Brad Scott's office to pepper him with questions on the redevelopment, how it compared to Brisbane and Collingwood and, almost by default, life after Jesse Smith.

Such access has become commonplace at a club that knows it has to go the extra mile to get similar coverage to its Victorian rivals, but is particularly mindful of those stories reaching its members, supporters and those who have the potential to be.

For almost every week of the past two seasons, North held an open media session with the previous week's 22 players and a press conference with the coach but also accepted requests for additional interviews outside of match day.
Even in recent weeks - the day in-day out rigmarole of pre-season training - most sessions have a journalist watching on.

Chief executive Eugene Arocca said the club's open relationship with the media was the creation of chairman James Brayshaw, who had been aware of the practice in American sports including the NFL.

He added that North's players have become more and more comfortable with the arrangement, understanding it was beneficial to their personal development.

"That was an idea that he brought back and said it was an American phenomenon, where they allow all access to anyone who wants to come in: a set time, set place, you'll know that you'll always be able to get access," Arocca said.

"This for us is a continuation of that philosophy. We want to make North Melbourne a place where people can feel at home at.

"We're not the sort of club that immediately attracts attention as opposed to the bigger clubs, but we think that allowing media into the place like this will actually [allow them to] get a feel for the club in a more explicit way.

"It's really, pretty much, 'go your hardest'."

Arocca said it was important for clubs to have a connection to their communities and that the access to North's new facility, which also houses a life and learning educational centre, was an extension of that.

Even when its future in Melbourne appeared uncertain, North was still determined to strengthen its presence at Arden Street.

"The government has made a very clear statement: you do this sort of thing and we'll support you," Arocca said.

"In our case, the administration came here in January '08 and we've been able to get some four million-odd dollars in extra funding based on our commitment to the community. From our point of view, it's an important step for the club to say, 'we're a community club and we want to make sure that everyone knows that'.

"We've had a lot of things go our way, a lot of cards fall into place for us. There are a lot of subscripts and sub-plots that go behind this story, which will come out in the fullness of time."

Arocca agreed that the staff and resources within the media department had come a long way under manager Heath O'Loughlin.

"Two years ago we didn't have a video camera," he said.

"I think it's been a conscious part of the club, JB (Brayshaw) and myself, to get ourselves out there and have the facility to be able to do it."