And I stand with you in that belief, save for the 5 years. The media deal assures 9 games a round, so for North to merge/fold within 5 years would require another team to be invited into the league. But no suprises if it happens in time for the next deal.
It worked for Brisbane when they merged their up-and-coming list with the few Fitzroy players that were still there that could (or would) cut it. Plus the F/S bonuses.
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