AFL CHIEF executive Andrew Demetriou has praised the work of North Melbourne’s new off-field team in the wake of the club posting a record membership figure some two weeks before the start of the 2008 season.

Since rejecting the AFL’s offer of a move to the Gold Coast, the Kangaroos have brought in James Brayshaw as president and Eugene Arocca as chief executive to help spearhead the club’s revival as a strictly Melbourne-based entity.

The campaign has so far drawn an excellent response from the North Melbourne fan base.

And, according to Demetriou, the club’s current membership figure of 24,841 – a figure which eclipses the previous record of 24,624 set in 2006 – could be a sign of changing times at Arden Street.

“The Kangaroos are acutely aware of the challenges facing them going forward, but I must say they’ve got off to a terrific start with James Brayshaw and Eugene Arocca,” Demetriou told reporters at AFL House on Wednesday morning.

“Eugene is doing some terrific work, and the membership numbers, as of this morning, are phenomenal really and a credit to the Kangaroos supporters.

“(Arocca) has already found some new sponsors and also he’s been able to find some costs that he’s cut out of the business, so I think the Kangaroos will turn around their business significantly this year.”

However, Demetriou, who played 103 games for North Melbourne between 1981 and 1987, warned that the real test for the club would come in the following years, when such high membership figures needed to become standard.

“Their challenge of course, which they recognise and they’re not deluding themselves about, is that they’ve got to do it year-on-year,” he said.

While North Melbourne has 6323 members from 2007 who are yet to re-sign, the club says it is still hopeful of breaking through the 30,000 figure for the first time.