Most sports fans out there will have been through a period (or two, or three or four...) where their favorite team is just absolutely terrible. I’m not talking about first-round exits or just missed the playoffs; I mean seriously, horrendously, god-awful bad. Those seasons where you would rather be stuck in a three-hour lecture that never seems to end than turn on the tele and watch five minutes because you know you’ll just be disappointed.
For my favorite footy team back home, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, that has been the last 10 years — and yes, I wish I was exaggerating.
However, perhaps the sickest, most twisted and cruel part of being a sports diehard is the fact that you have to tune in to watch the carnage take place. There is no choice, no freedom to just pick up your bags and move onto another club. You are tied to the club like a captain to their sinking ship, and you will ride those difficult times until it finally improves.
For my beloved Roos, I was thankful to see several good years when I was younger: 2014 and 2015 stick out as the years that almost were ours, but we ultimately fell just short of the goal of winning a premiership. Another thing: It’s okay to use possessives like “we” and “our” because, let’s face it, you feel the pain just as much as those players out on the field.
After back-to-back prelim finals appearances (equivalent of a conference championship), we started the next season off 9–0: How could this get any better? Spoiler alert: It didn’t. We would win three games the rest of the season, bottoming out in the first round of the finals series... oh the good times!
I really wish the story got better from here. Since that season, the club has been on a downward trajectory, spiraling into the dumps and depths of despair with no light at the end of the tunnel. We can run down the list of things you’d expect from a failing franchise and probably check every single one off: Multiple head coaches changes, tick. Failed top picks in the draft, you bet! Changes in club leadership, absolutely. The situation got so dire that the league had to step in and give North an “assistance package” to trade for players in an attempt to resuscitate a failing list. And of course you ask, where was I in all of this?
Staying up to watch my childhood club lose to other terrible (but slightly better) teams by 100 points at 3 a.m. Sports is not for the faint of heart, I’ll tell you that! Living on the other side of the world makes watching every game virtually impossible, but I try my best to stay loyal to the team I fell in love with as a child. There are some good moments for sure, and I suppose that is the lifeline that keeps you invested as a fan. I watched on as one of our young players equalled the all-time disposals record for a single game, and I was there when we it felt like we could almost beat the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium in the game that celebrated the club’s 100 years of existence. But once again, the season was marred by disappointing performances in games we could have won, while also being blown out in plenty of other games.
But surely there is a positive end to this, right?
I wish I could tell you it’s all worth it, but to be honest, I’m not sure if it is. The Kangaroos started the 2026 season off with a dominant win over Port Adelaide, and things looked more promising than they have in over a decade. However, just as quickly as positive signs can show, they can fade into the oblivion. In round two last weekend, North suffered an embarrassing loss to the last-placed West Coast Eagles. The light at the end of the tunnel somehow seems to be more distant by the day, and success seems impossible.
Returning to my opening statement, this predicament is not unique to supporters of the North Melbourne Football Club. It is universal — whether you’re a fan of the Browns, the Hornets, or the Pirates. Sports-purgatory would be a welcome thing, but even that doesn’t seem achievable anytime soon. Your friends make fun of you, talking heads on television constantly pick on your team, and the present outlook has as much hope as Munch’s The Scream. The lone guarantee? You’ll never be accused of being a bandwagon, and when the day finally comes that the tides turn, the taste of victory will be so much sweeter knowing what you’ve gone through.
I will still cheer on the Roos, and I hope that one day things might turn around for us...
