AS a 17-year-old, Glenn Archer was happy just to play footy and have a drink and a smoke with his mates at Noble Park and would have happily played out his career with the Bulls but for the persistence of former North Melbourne coach Denis Pagan.

Archer finally relented to get Pagan "off his back", and made his debut with North in 1992. He built a reputation as one of the game's most courageous players, was a member of North's 1996 and 1999 premiership teams, played a club record 311 games, and was awarded the club's ultimate honour of being named the Shinboner of the Century.

But it could have been so different, as Archer revealed in an interview with The Journal in 2007, after his 300th game when he revealed that he could have played with Collingwood.

"As a kid, I was a mad Collingwood supporter and dreamed about playing for them when I grew up. I soon changed my mind after my first reserves game [with North Melbourne] at Victoria Park. I'd chased a bloke over the boundary line and, as I crashed into the fence, a bloke leaned over and threw a pot of beer over me.

"I was trying to jump the fence and get to him, while the trainers were holding me back. The following year, while playing in the seniors, we were walking up the the old wire-cage race at Victoria Park after thumping them by 80 points, when the Collingwood supporters started spitting at us. I thought, 'bloody hell, how did I ever barrack for this mob?"'

As a young bloke, Archer was getting some handy pocket money playing for Noble with his mates and had no intention of leaving, but Pagan had other ideas. "They [Noble Park] were giving me $100 cash as 17-year-old which was huge money for a teenager back then. I enjoyed having a beer and a smoke with the boys at Noble. I got dragged to North in the under-19s thinking I'd play one game there and get back to Noble, just to get Denis Pagan off my back. I played the one game for North, loved it and stayed." Archer's advice to youngsters in Noble Park was to think carefully about which path they took in life.

"When I got to 16, 17, 18, I was faced with the situation of having to choose from one of two paths - luckily for me I chose the right path. I had a couple of friends or acquaintances who died from drug overdoses or gone to jail."

Archer said he still had a "soft spot" for Noble and goes back there when he can as a guest speaker or on special occasions. As a way of thanking the club, Archer donated one of his famous No 11 jumpers which holds pride of place in the club.