Speaking to the Herald Sun’s Grant Baker, the Roos’ chairman recalled telling Andrew Demetriou and Mike Fitzpatrick the club would be staying put.
“I remember going to see Andrew and I remember going to see Mike and they were pretty cool - as in distant - because the result they wanted was for us to go and be playing out of the Gold Coast.”
However it also doubled as a pivotal turning point for the club.
“But I remember sitting with Andrew and saying to him 'we've got to earn your respect. We have got to prove to you that we can run this business properly. Once we prove to you that we can run it properly, then I expect your help if we deserve it'.
“And to his absolute credit, he looked me in the eye and said, 'mate, when you start running your business properly, we'll give you the help you need'. And they have, and I have no problem at all with anything the AFL has done since, because they have been true to their word.”
It was Brayshaw’s role to break the good news to thousands of North supporters at an electric Dallas Brooks Hall.
“I remember getting there and there was this unbelievable simmering tension in the room - 3000 people there - and the simmering tension I think came from that fact that the majority of people turning up thought they were going to hear that the club was moving and they were ropeable.
“So to then be able to stand up and say we are not going anywhere, I remember this unbelievable exhalation of air from all these people and it turned into a rallying cry almost, it was quite amazing.”
Brayshaw has and still does, face criticism for his dual role as chairman and media personality but he accepts it was right for people for doubt him when he took the position on.
“I remember standing up there (at Dallas Brooks Hall) thinking, 'what the hell have I got myself into - how are we going to do this?'
“It was all very well to say, but the doing was going to be the hard bit.
“There were a lot of people in the room that night who, I am sure, were pretty skeptical.
“They would have looked down and thought, 'here is this media, TV guy - who does he think he is and how is he going to do this?'
“And they were right to have that skepticism at the time, I reckon. What we did was we banded together, and we have had some great help along the way to get that plane leveled out and start climbing.”
The process started with reclaiming the North Melbourne name, getting funding approved for new facilities, handing the club back to members and it has been onwards and upwards since late in 2007.
