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Albert Mantello 1934-2021 NO greater North Melbourne figure roamed Arden St during the club’s golden era of the 1970s than Albert Mantello.
“I guess there is no question that John Elliott was big at Carlton, but Albert Mantello was bigger at North – and he would have made a better prime minister, too,” legendary Kangaroos administrator Ron Joseph quipped of his old mate this week.
Mantello, who died age 87 last Sunday, played a pivotal role in the transformation of North Melbourne from VFL cellar dweller to premiership juggernaut.
The first Mantello-inspired masterstroke came in 1972, when the then Kangaroos vice-president caught wind that the great Ron Barassi “was there to be got” as senior coach.
“About midway through the year Albert came to us and said, ‘I reckon Barassi could be available,’” Joseph said.
“Barassi used to work at a furniture shop in the city and Albert went in there one day and said he wanted a second-hand desk and Barassi said, ‘We don’t have any second-hand desks.’ And with that Albert kicked the leg of one of the new desks and said, ‘Well, that’s second-hand now’.
“I don’t know whether he ever bought it or not, but Barassi talked about it for years.
“He had finished coaching at Carlton in 1971 and was having a year...