Former North Melbourne president James Brayshaw has challenged Eddie McGuire to call out the “unnamed” AFL presidents that he claims don’t want 19 teams in the competition.
With the league’s impending expansion into Tasmania in the next five years, the AFL will soon be faced with the issue of fixturing a competition with an odd number of teams.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: James Brayshaw fires back at suggestions North Melbourne will fold.
Stream analysis, local footy and the biggest moments free on 7plus
Most footy pundits have begun to project where it will plot its natural progression to a 20th team.
But McGuire — who was the president of Collingwood during Brayshaw’s entire reign at North Melbourne — this week aired what he thinks is a much “easier solution”, given the on-field struggles of the Kangaroos in the past 25 years and particularly the past 10.
“The last 25 years, North have been in Sydney, Canberra, Tassie — and they haven’t left the mark,” said McGuire, who also offered the suggestion that the Kangaroos look for a base in the north of Melbourne, near Craigieburn, to garner more support in that area.
“What I’m looking at though, is how can you base yourself and go forward?
“Because I reckon if North don’t, I can tell you that non-Victorian presidents, and some of the Victorian presidents, don’t want to have 19 teams.
“There’s an easy solution for this: one will go.”
Of McGuire’s comments, Talking Footy co-host Tim Watson said: “And the one that they’re referring to there would be North Melbourne.”
Watson asked Brayshaw directly on Wednesday night: “How do you feel listening to something like that?”, to which he issued a passionate and defensive response.
“I know from my time when I was doing that same job (North Melbourne president), the commission, the head of the AFL, all said the same thing, and that is: ‘We will never allow a Fitzroy departure from our competition again; we’ll never allow a 100-year-old club to not exist’,” Brayshaw said.
“So, that’s nonsense, for a start.”
Head here to watch Talking Footy on 7plus
He then challenged McGuire to stop hiding behind the “platform” of “unnamed” presidents, through whom he could promulgate his own views.
“Secondly, one of the catch-alls that seems to be leant on by a lot of people in the media now, is they just name unnamed presidents. So, they use that as a platform to say whatever they want,” Brayshaw added.
“Name them. Which presidents want a 100-year-old club not to exist?
“Because I guarantee you, not one president will put their name to that statement if push comes to shove.
“Go to (Sydney president) Andrew Pridham and say, ‘How do you feel about this?’ I guarantee if you did, he would say, ‘Oh no, we’re happy with it as it as’.”
Brayshaw, who presided over the Kangaroos board for nine years, during which time he led the charge to refuse a proposed move to Gold Coast, also detailed the contractual obligations the AFL has to keep North Melbourne in the competition, insofar as the TV broadcast deal.
“The other thing: they’ve (the AFL) just signed an eight-year, multi-billion dollar television deal that needs nine games to be played every weekend,” he said.
“Tassie are a long way away from coming into the competition.
“So, in a lot of ways, it’s a nonsense.”