Glenn Archer says his love for North Melbourne made the decision to join the club’s board an easy one.

Following the departure of Mark Brayshaw to the AFL Coaches’ Association, the Shinboner of the Century has been appointed as Football Director.

Archer attended his first board meeting on Wednesday night.

“I’ve got a real love and affection for the football club,” Archer told NMFC.com.au.

“I love the footy club and I just wanted to be able to give something back.

“I’m basically the conduit between the football department, Brad Scott (senior coach) and Geoff Walsh (Director of Football) back to the board.”

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Archer said he’ll be aiming to use his knowledge to support Scott, as well as provide assistance in coaching, medical, fitness and list strategy.

“I totally understand the pressures the coaches come under.

“A lot of coaches get whacked a little bit because of the fact they are not communicating much with players and staff, but I’m big on putting myself in other people’s shoes; Brad Scott and every coach has a massive role.

“They’ve got 42 players to communicate with, they’ve got to set the game-plan, set the rules, prepare for every game and training session, they’ve got the coaches and the development coaches… so it’s a major role.

“My job 98 per cent of the time will be supporting what Brad’s doing and hopefully taking back to the board what he’s doing and in some ways helping us improve.”

Chairman James Brayshaw played a key role in luring Archer back to Arden Street.

Previously, he had a part-time role as an assistant coach in 2010.

“He’s (Brayshaw) been speaking to me for about four years about it,” Archer said.

“Once Mark Brayshaw jumped off the board, James gave me a call and asked if I be able to take his role.

“I’ve got nothing more than admiration for him (Brayshaw). When I retired back in 2007 he was the one who was the face of trying to keep us in Melbourne. We had a lot of debt, membership wasn’t high; everything he’s done since, the facility we are sitting in now… he’s played a major part.

“Unfortunately for James he’s got a very high profile, so he’s easy for people on the outside to have a go at him, but you look at his track record and what he’s been able to do for this club – he’s been fantastic.”

Archer pointed to the remarkable hurdles the club has overcome in the past decade.

“You couldn’t have written the script any better, except for a premiership,” he said.

“When you think back to 2007 and we were in a lot of trouble, I think a lot of people got mixed up with the money that was at offer.

“People saying: “It’s 100 million dollars, why wouldn’t you take it?” - why we didn’t take it was because if we’d have moved to the Gold Coast, North Melbourne wouldn’t exist anymore.

“Although the money sounds tempting, when you look deeper into it we would have lost our culture and our identity really.”

The club legend defended the Kangaroos’ round one performance against Adelaide, and said the win against the Lions was a real reflection of where the team is at.

“There were a lot of knockers after round one, but one thing I try to not forget is how hard it is as a player,” Archer added.

“When we were in our premiership years we experienced days like the boys did round one.

“People don’t really understand when you are in the cauldron of Adelaide and they get a bit of run-on, the crowd gets behind them, their confidence goes through the roof and yours goes through the floor and everything you try falls to pieces.

“I can easily dismiss the game, it’s how you respond and they responded really well last week.”

Now, he can’t wait to be part of the Roos’ success in the future.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be part of premierships as a player and ever since I’ve retired I want to experience one as a supporter.

“I just see it as doing my little bit (being on the board) to hopefully help the club win another premiership.”