North Melbourne chairman Ben Buckley has put to bed rumours surrounding the Kangaroos and a possible relocation to Tasmania.
In an interview with Fox Sports News' AFL Tonight, Buckley addressed the issue and told supporters as long as he's in the top job, the North's main base will remain at Arden Street, and the club wouldn't increase their Tasmania appearances.
“I can firmly say that under my leadership, North Melbourne will always be headquartered here at Arden Street," Buckley stated.
“We’re committed to our heritage in North Melbourne.
“It’s a very strong and successful partnership we’ve had with the community for many, many years.’
“We’re comfortable with playing three games in Hobart, we’re very supportive of growing football in Tasmania in partnership with the Tassie government and Football Tasmania and the AFL.
"But at this point in time we don’t see any need or have any great desire to play any more games.’’
Buckley also touched on the club's interest in this season's free agents, with North Melbourne set to be big movers in the upcoming off-season.
Josh Kelly, Dustin Martin, Jacob Hopper and Jasper Pittard have all been linked to the Roos in one way or another, and Buckley said the club is in a position to attack the open market aggressively.
“Certainly as a board we have encouraged the football department to think boldly and aggressively about the way they go about putting a competitive team on the field,” Buckley said.
“We set that challenge to them towards the end of last season. They came back to the board with a clear very strategy and a very clear agenda about what they wanted to achieve over the next three to five years. The board endorsed that.
“It’s not an either-or option.
“We can certainly go forward and go forward strongly if we’re not successful in attracting other players from other clubs.’’
