J. Brayshaw - what about we say thank you

[roomy elephant]

So amidst the ten days of terrifying boredom waiting for something to happen in the trade period, a genuine legend of the club slips unnoticed into the background....for those of us at Dallas Brooks Hall in December 2007, holding up the Keep North South posters, you will recall that one James Brayshaw stepped forward to lead the club in its resistance to the corporate agenda to relocate us to the Gold Coast. Last night, without fanfare or glory-seeking, Jimmy's tenure as President came to an end - so what about it BF posters, real Shinboners would take a moment to say thanks, a bunch?

 

[dus]

As time goes on, his tenure as President and saving the club will become more historic.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

As long as people recognise all the influential people involved in the fight. JB made a brilliant spokesperson though.

 

[Palmezzz]

Brayshaw was terrific for our club. Without him we may be a failing Gold Coast "franchise". He has helped the club grow beyond belief. It is now time for Buckley to take the torch and get the club success where Brayshaw couldn't on the field.

 

[Donkey Chop]

Thanks Jimbob

 

[JB Our Saviour]

The Saviour !

Thanks JB

 

[roomy elephant]

As long as people recognise all the influential people involved in the fight. JB made a brilliant spokesperson though.

fair enough, give them a shout out now - the mighty Lidge of course, who else is in your hall of fame?

 

[The Other Dean]

^ Ron Joseph would be a pretty good place to start.

 

[Arden]

^ Ron Joseph would be a pretty good place to start.

Bang.

And Bob Ansett.

And Dennis Walter.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

fair enough, give them a shout out now - the mighty Lidge of course, who else is in your hall of fame?

I mean blokes like Peter Scanlon, Bob Ansett, PDR, Ron Joseph etc.

But yes, posters like Lidge and The Other Dean also deserve all the kudos in the world.

 

[Uber poster]

Definitely played a big part in keeping us where we belong. Thanks James.

I look forward to Zondor's contrubution to this thread.

 

[Donkey Chop]

Scanlon is the man. Kept us going.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Apologies, did not mean to detract from JB's work - he has been a fine figurehead and ambassador and his tenure has overseen easily the most productive era off field the club has had, both down to his own and many other people's hard work (Arocca for starters).

I think over the past few months it has become pretty clear his time is up though. He can leave with his head pretty high.

 

[Zondor]

Definitely played a big part in keeping us where we belong. Thanks James.

I look forward to Zondor's contrubution to this thread.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Also this thread has got me reading through some older threads on here and we had a poster called The OBSTacle.

Brilliant, why did we ban him again?

 

[Thewlis Dish]

View attachment 303212

:ahernlook

 

[Wayne Campbell]

Thanks JB

 

[Marksup]

It's actually scary knowing where Gold Coast are at as a organisation knowing it could have easily been us. I know we would have had a stronger foundation, but it wouldn't be the club as we know it and I'm don't mean just relocation.

Thanks JB!

 

[Rooboy 96]

Thanks JB, Peter Scanlan, Ronnie Joseph, Arch, Pagan, Laids and all of us that turned up to the Roosistance night and Dallas Brookes for saving our club.

now it is up to Ben Buckley to deliver on the field.

 

[The Other Dean]

I mean blokes like Peter Scanlon, Bob Ansett, PDR, Ron Joseph etc.

But yes, posters like Lidge and The Other Dean also deserve all the kudos in the world.

Yikes. Thanks, Dish. Think I was assisted by a bit of dumb luck. Right place at the right time and all that. And while I know you weren't making an exhaustive list or anything, I'd be embarrassed to let this post pass without mentioning Timmmmaaaay, Lidge (who you mentioned), LT Smash, and a certain ex-Huddle boss who were also tireless in their work.

But yeah, cheers, man. Really appreciate that.

 

[The Other Dean]

Scanlon is the man. Kept us going.

He is indeed a legend. I said in the Syd Barker thread that although he generally shies away from it, Peter was long overdue some recognition for his incredible generosity over the years. Basically bankrolled The Huddle out of his own pocket, and made sure that when we took the decision to stay in Melbourne, that he would do his level best to make sure the club didn't falter (financially).

However, if I had to nominate one North identity who ignited the spark of anti-relocation, and then laid the groundwork to make it a reality, it is Ron Joseph. (And without wanting to big note myself in any way, I reckon my mail on this stuff is pretty good.) In the early part, the vast majority of people associated with the club - even our own President - saw relocation as somewhat of an inevitability. (IIRC, maybe even Ron himself for a short time.) There were other dissenters (Arch comes to mind), but when the jungle drums of relocation started to gather serious momentum, Ron was the one publicly hanging his arse in the breeze, asking the tough questions in the press, lobbying people in the background, and generally refusing to accept relocation as a fait accompli. If metaphorically-speaking 2007 had its version of the guy standing in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square, it was Ron.

But as has been said, this is a thread about giving thanks to JB. And I don't want the above to been seen as an attempt to undermine James' contribution to "saving the club" or detract from his achievements in the period after. There's no denying that him jumping on board the anti-relocation train when he did was a godsend and super timely. And the fact is that he stood up and became the public face of our push to stay in Melbourne at a time when so many were still reluctant to do so. Whether that's "saving the club", I don't know, but I do know for that he absolutely deserves our praise and respect.

And in the time after, he has led the club through what has been a fairly prosperous period off-field, and a reasonably successful one on it. While we may (rightly) quibble about gaffes he has made over the course of his tenure (no-one mention the 7 home games in Tassie thing....I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it), I believe that on the balance of things his time in charge has been a positive for the NMFC.

Tl;dr?

Thanks, James.

 

[Jisse W Smuth]

Thenks Jum.

Win the chups were down, you stood up.

And if some duckhids here take the pus out of you, just jump in your unvusible jit and fly away bro. You've been a rupper.

 

[Roozee]

Thenks Jum.

Win the chups were down, you stood up.

And if some duckhids here take the pus out of you, just jump in your unvusible jit and fly away bro. You've been a rupper.

Jeez, it takes quite a bit of focus to read that in a kiwi accent!

 

[gokangas]

^ Ron Joseph would be a pretty good place to start.

And Rob Smith.

JB has his place in club history. Lead the club through a period that threatened our existence. Can never take that away from him. Thanks Jim.

 

[Groucho]

I'd like to give a shout out to someone who isn't very popular these days. Damian Barrett. He,along with RoCo, was the only journo who took on the tidal wave of pro Gold Coasters. Some of his articles were brilliant and a real thorn in the AFL's side, particularly those that broke down the financial assistance package to show that it wasn't anywhere nearly as good or as generous as some would have us believe.