Perception is a big thing in football and James Brayshaw remembers a time not so long ago, when North struggled to be viewed as a ‘destination’ club for players on the move. 

Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn were usually first cabs off the rank with the Kangaroos having to fight to get in the frame. 

But Nick Dal Santo’s arrival has changed all that.  

“That's been a long time coming too. I remember a couple of years ago a player was sort of on the market and I remember being on air with some people and one of the people I was on air with said would the particular player look at coming to North Melbourne, and one of the other people was on air with and sort of sneered - didn't realise he was doing it - but sneered and said 'why would anyone want to go to North Melbourne?’,” Brayshaw told the Herald Sun.

“And I remember vividly, that day, I remember thinking, 'we've got to fix that. We have got to fix the perception of that'. Because we know how great this club is, but from outside people had that view. That is four or five years ago, but now to have the marquee player outside of Buddy in free agency to come to North Melbourne above all other clubs.

“That is a great sign of health and respect and future.”

No-one would argue North doesn’t have a long way to go to be considered among the league’s heavyweights, but its current position is strong, arguably the strongest it’s ever been.

“What I always said right from the start was, with the best footy clubs there are minimum five boxes that you have got to tick - the chairman, your managing director, your head of football, your coach and your captain.

“At that time in 2007-08 when I looked around, Geelong with Frank (Costa) and Brian (Cook) and Neil Balme and Bomber Thompson and Tom Harley - they had five black ticks in those boxes, and it's no surprise they were the best club in footy.

“And you look at Collingwood with Eddie, Perty and Walshy with Mick and Bucks and then you flick over to Hawthorn at that stage … you just keep doing the exercise and it is no surprise that the best clubs were able to emphatically tick those boxes.

“The biggest aim for me was to, as quickly as possible, tick those boxes and I think we do now - modesty prevents me with the chairman's box, but certainly the other four … Carl Dilena is a superstar and has been unbelievable since he has come on board, Walshy is great and Donald McDonald was terrific before that, I have huge regard for what Donald has done at our club. Brad is fantastic and Andrew Swallow is great. So suddenly - and I am biased - I think we are ticking the boxes and it is no surprise on the back of that the club is starting to head in the right direction.”

The recent appointments of Geoff Walsh, Leigh Tudor and Gavin Brown, among other coaching additions have further enhanced North’s reputation.

“For people outside the club, quite understandably, it looks like this has all happened in a hurry. But really for us, this has been a seven-year build to get to the point where we think we're getting there,” Brayshaw added.

“I remember saying to people back in 2007, the analogy I always used was I likened it to a James Bond movie where the plane is plummeting to earth … it was always going to take three or four years just to get the plane level, let alone starting to go back up again.

“It was really was going to be that tough to do and history tells you that, if you look at what Frank and Brian did at Geelong it took them 10 years to turn that amazing club around, look at what Eddie did at Collingwood - a good decade until they got the place properly sorted.

“We were kidding ourselves if we thought it was going to happen quicker than that.

“So it's been bloody hard work and a lot of work from a lot of people to get to a point where we are able to attract Geoff Walsh and Leigh Tudor.

“It's been a long time coming, but it is a good thing too, because we need to give our players but also our members and supporters and our family, every opportunity to succeed.”

The Kangaroos are making great steps forward in a financial sense too. Debt is now below $3 million and the club may get close to paying its full salary cap in 2014.

While AFL equalisation is vital to keeping the momentum going, Brayshaw also praises the support of the club’s loyal members.

“Each year since we've launched the (debt) campaign, they have just been so generous in helping us. Once we have eliminated the debt, we can begin to do so many things that you can't do when you are constricted by debt - as well as just having a yearly interest payment that is just wasted money.

“We're really pleased with that, we're really pleased with the revenue figure - things like merchandise sales, attendance, viewership on television - all the things that three or four years ago were stagnating; they are really starting to move.”