'Bigger than one premiership team': North Melbourne greats furious over AFLW side's inclusion at centenary celebrations, as Wayne Carey tells Sam Kekovich to ‘bite the bullet'
AFL icons are at loggerheads over the North Melbourne's upcoming centenary celebration, with club legends slamming the decision to combine the commemoration of Kangaroo's 1975 VFL premiership with its 2024 AFLW success - all at a single cocktail function before a Thursday night match.
Sam Kekovich, a key figure in North Melbourne's first-ever premiership, has publicly declared he will not attend, calling the event a 'token gesture' and a 'political stunt' that diminishes the significance of the club's greatest sporting milestone.
'You can't conflate a VFL premiership with an AFLW flag,' Kekovich said earlier this month. 'We were the trailblazers. We deserve more than a stand-up, finger food reception before a game.'
Joining Kekovich in the boycott is former teammate John Burns, who booted four goals in the 1975 Grand Final and says the club should have staged a marquee weekend gala to mark the occasion.
Adding fuel to the fire is club legend Wayne Carey, who says he, too, is disappointed with how the event is being handled - but has urged his former teammates to attend anyway.
'I love Keka, but sometimes you've got to bite the bullet,' Carey said on the You Cannot Be Serious podcast.
'You do it for the benefit of more than just yourself.
'There are many, many people who've made this club what it is. This is bigger than one premiership team.'
But Carey's own place in the club's legacy was called into question just months ago, after North Melbourne omitted him from a promotional video marking the centenary - despite his role in delivering two premierships in 1996 and 1999.
The centenary celebration, set for next Thursday at Marvel Stadium, has drawn criticism for its structure and timing.
Instead of a sit-down gala, the club opted for a 500-person cocktail reception before its prime-time clash against the Western Bulldogs.
The switch from a round 20 fixture against Geelong - the club's first VFL opponent in 1925 - to a midweek slot has only intensified player frustration.
Former Roos coach and legend Malcolm Blight said many players had already booked holidays and were blindsided by the last-minute changes.
'We went from a gala dinner to sausage rolls and stood around in the cold,' Blight said. 'No wonder some of the boys are out.'
Footy commentator Sam Newman was more blunt:
'It's a disgrace. You've got Malcolm Blight flying in from Queensland for a pissy stand-up function. If you'd done a proper dinner at Crown, you'd have had 1000 people through the door and filled the club's coffers.'
Journalist Caroline Wilson suggested a key point of contention is the club's decision to honour both the men's and women's teams at the same event.
'This is largely about gender,' Wilson said on The Agenda Setters.
'Some of the old guard clearly don't like that the women are sharing the stage.'
AFL 360's Lauren Wood also argues that the club's women's program is an essential part of its future - and deserves equal spotlight.
'The AFLW team is part of the club. This isn't a premiership reunion - it's a centenary celebration. Both milestones matter,' she said on Fox Footy's Midweek Tackle.
North Melbourne maintains it has invested over $150,000 in the celebrations and is doing everything possible to include as many figures from its past as possible.
Former CEO Eugene Arocca also weighed in, expressing surprise that only one of the club's seven living CEOs had been invited.
'It seems odd when clubs like Hawthorn invited all their ex-CEOs,' Arocca told the Herald Sun. 'A 100-year celebration only comes around once.'
Despite the growing discontent, the club says more than 40 players will take part in the on-ground ceremony next week, including Brownlow medallist Keith Greig and Carey himself.
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