Who is North Melbourne's next Great Rival?

[3051]

Yeah I agree. In the 70's we had an on field rivalry with Hawthorn but it was nothing personal. If anything there was a mutual respect between both clubs. In the 90's I never really saw any other club as a rival, it was just another team we had to beat on the weekend. The Essendon rivalry is more fan related. Essendon supporters, about football, can be a bit arrogant, and it's satisfying occasionally when we've had good runs against them but that's all it is from my POV.

"HATE is a strong word, one that Kevin Sheedy didn't like using, but the Essendon Football Club despises North Melbourne. If you ever asked Kangaroo greats Glenn Archer or Wayne Carey who they loved beating most, the automatic reply would be Essendon.

The feeling was mutual. In my time as a player, North looked at Essendon as the boys with a silver spoon in their mouths. We saw the Roos as a smug and arrogant bunch of blokes who exerted their dominance on the competition through physical and verbal intimidation. From the mid-1990s to 2001, it was on for young and old, but, as spiteful as that all sounds, North Melbourne was the team we respected most."

- Matthew Lloyd

Lloyd might be just be fanning the hype to the media and supporters, but I'll take his word, about firstly the hate/dislike but 100% the respect.

IMO what makes the greatest rivalries is the balance of both hate and respect. Carey and Jakovich spoke about this - their rivalry was initially more hate, which spurred their competitiveness and drove them to new heights, but then the relationship became of mutual respect, as they both got older and recognised their hard-earned wins and losses against each other, and how much they both benefited from each other. This is similar to the Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird/LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics rivalry.

I think to hate/respect requires an adversary that is of similar level to you - basically to make you care enough.

 

[shintemaster]

Look, fair point, but you're not seeing the opportunity.

A lot of Tassie fans will travel to Melbourne for one or two games a year. If we really foment a rivalry, then the game they'll want to come to will be ours.

That's a good thing!

Was just about to make the same point. The AFL will naturally shaft us again with more small team matchups, best if we embrace it with Tassie and lean into us being their big brother to give them something to hate.

 

[Chadwiko]

Was just about to make the same point. The AFL will naturally shaft us again with more small team matchups, best if we embrace it with Tassie and lean into us being their big brother to give them something to hate.