North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw says everyone at the club should be embarrassed following its thrashing against Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to Billy Brownless on Triple M’s Rush Hour program on Monday, Brayshaw didn’t hold back with his thoughts about the match.
“Nowhere near good enough,” he said.
“Everyone at our club should be embarrassed…It was an appalling performance…I don’t care how good Collingwood are, you never get beaten by 117 points.”
Brayshaw says the club will be judged on how it responds against the Bulldogs and expects its players to come out swinging.
“It was non-competitive. …What I hope the members of our playing group do, is get to a mental point where they go, ‘I’m not copping this anymore, I’m not allowing this to happen again. When we play Collingwood, when we play Geelong, when we play the top four sides I am not allowing this to happen.’ Because until they do, it’ll keep happening.”
It’s the second time this year North has been thumped by the Magpies and Brayshaw wants to see the club’s famous fighting spirit return for the sake of its loyal supporters and members.
“The shinboner spirit is something this club has always been famous for…because we were always famous for being hard to beat…so that’s why these losses hurt.
“They (the supporters) would have had every right to be disgusted with what they saw yesterday the players know that. But it’s not just about the players…It hurt me as much, it hurt Brad as much and all the people attached to the club. We just have to stand our ground and go ‘Right, who here wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again?’ and they’re the ones that you build your club around.”
Brayshaw says the coaching staff are working extremely hard to turn the club’s poor record against the top four side around.
“...we have fallen well short way too often in the past two years so it’s a huge cause for concern and Brad (Scott) would be more aware of that than anyone.”