Political tensions are running high at North Melbourne just days out from the club’s first game of the 2026 AFL season.

Veteran journalist Caroline Wilson has revealed that friction is building internally between former players and the current administration following their on-field struggles in recent years.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: North Melbourne dealing with infighting

“It’s been a poor pre-season politically for the North Melbourne Football Club, and I fear that this club could implode this year if performances on field don’t improve,” Wilson said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

Wilson said reporter Sam Edmund had revealed that some former players and former bosses from the 1990s had been getting involved at the club again, and creating an internal storm.

“I can tell you that former premiership player, Mark Roberts, intervened in a process at the annual general meeting, Sonya Hood, the chairman, was trying to get two motions across,” Wilson said on The Agenda Setters.

“She needed 75 per cent, Mark Roberts organised the vote, and she fell short by one-and-a-half percent of votes to extend her tenure, and, in fact, any tenure of any chairman going forward.

“There was some corporate sponsorship situations as well (that) didn’t happen. Bad blood there ...

“Since then, I can tell you that Sonya Hood has met with former chairman of selectors and player, Mark Dawson, Dennis Pagan’s former chairman of selectors who famously fell out with Dennis, and club patron, life member, and former board member, Stephen Head.

“That meeting took place in more recent weeks. It wasn’t pleasant.”

Wilson said the words used to describe the unpleasantries were “vaguely threatening” and in the tone of “things had better improve”.

“(They were) threatening towards her future and the board’s future,” Wilson said.

Wilson: “This is around several things, they had a very small profit last year, which some would say was a good result, given everything that’s gone on off field, no free to air games, and the move from Tasmania to West Australia.

“20 wins in six years and only eight in Alastair Clarkson’s last two years. Alastair Clarkson hasn’t been able to change things, but I’m sorry to say that there’s a lot more to this than all of that. It’s women versus men.

“And I’m not just talking about a club that has a woman chairman and a woman CEO. I’m talking about the fact that there’s a lot of former footballers, players, and officials who are getting very frustrated when they hear the president say I know the men’s program has taken too long, but look at how well we’ve done in AFLW.

”Now, in the AFLW North Melbourne has been dominant. They’ve won the last two premierships and they’ve been fantastic. Remember last year, Kane, when the club centenary, 50 years’ celebrations happened? There was a lot of unhappiness around that. But some premiership players, older premiership players, certainly from the ‘75 team, were unhappy at having to share the limelight with the AFLW premiership team.

“There has even been scoffing at the fact that Sonya Hood and Jen Watt, her CEO, respected CEO, gave themselves premiership tattoos. This really disappoints me, Kane.

Kane Cornes: “I’m not sure why you need to make it men versus women.”

Wilson: “Because I’m telling you, what these people are saying to me.”

Cornes: “Because if North Melbourne were running a successful men’s program and a successful female football program, these people would be happy, and they wouldn’t be there.

“This angst, and I’m just assuming, is centred around the shocking performance of the North Melbourne Football Club. Surely that is the number one driver. The number one driver isn’t men versus women, which you’re painting out.”

Wilson: “Every time Sonya Hood mentions how well the women’s program is going, when she mentions we do know what success looks like, because we’ve achieved it in the (AFLW). A lot of these people get very angry, to the point of frustrated beyond belief.

“The tattoos tipped some of them over the edge. Now, I’m sorry, I think that is ridiculous. Why can’t you say, yes, we’ve been poor here, but we do know what success looks like here. Why can’t, what is wrong with doing something quirky and getting a tattoo?”