Having been abandoned at the altar this week by the Tasmanian Government, North Melbourne is left not just with mascara running down its tear-stained face but an uncertain future as the AFL's spurned spinster. 

The Kangaroos, having turned their back on the Gold Coast three years ago and been rejected by Tasmania - or at least the north half of the island - now have to make a go of it in Victoria. 

And a pretty bleak prospect that is, forking out as they do ridiculous amounts of money to play at Etihad Stadium - their home ground - and having to make do with unhelpful AFL scheduling and next-to-no exposure on free-to-air TV. 

Yes, the old Shinboners are on the nose and one wonders how, and when, they'll ever become a sweet-smelling golden child of the league again. 

The Roos had hoped to play seven games in Tasmania from 2012 - five in Launceston and two in Hobart - as a forerunner to permanent relocation in the island state. 

No-one at the club, or AFL, would have ever dared utter that ambition but that was the Roos' long-term plan. It made sense on just about every level. They would have gone south with the AFL's blessing, and financial support, and would have developed a strong local following - which might one day have even included the north half of the island. 

But now they've been stymied by a combination of a lily-livered minority government and the formidable lobbying power of Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett. 

True to form, Kennett came on all macho, full of bluff and bluster, threatening to pull out of Tassie altogether if the Hawks' interests weren't protected in Launceston.

The Premier David Bartlett, having brokered then taken the North Melbourne/AFL deal to Cabinet, found he didn't have the numbers to steamroll it through. 

So he chose to political expediency - saving his own skin as leader - ahead of his constituents' desire to see AFL football every second or third week and caved in. Kennett and Launceston won the day; Hobart, the Roos and the AFL came away empty-handed.    

What is worrying for North is that, even with the backing of the AFL, it couldn't get this deal over the line. That's how low they've sunk. The league and Andy D don't cop too many bloody noses but, on this issue, they wore a Manny Pacquiao-type hammering - and they're not best pleased. 

In fact, they are filthy with Bartlett's government for buckling in to Kennett's short-term, one-city vision and not adopting their own seven-game proposal which would have seen matches played at both ends of this strangely-divided island, where the enmity between north and south always takes newcomers by surprise. 

Equally unhappy with the Hawthorn deal is Cricket Tasmania, owner of the Bellerive Oval and major supporter of an AFL presence at the ground in winter.

Demetriou gave a press conference yesterday in which he said the Tasmanian Government's decision had closed the door on a Tasmanian AFL team in the foreseeable future.   

The Kangaroos' one remaining avenue out of footy's poor house has been blocked by a mixture of petty policking and naked self-interest.

They might now get the sop of a couple of games in Hobart, and the AFL will look to give them a run in a provincial centre in Victoria, probably Ballarat, but gone is the prospect of re-inventing itself completely at Bellerive, in the shadow of Mt Wellington where ferry services from Hobart city dock at Bellerive wharf.

Now it's back to struggletown in Melbourne's inner north.

And that means the focus is on the club's president James Brayshaw like never before. Brayshaw led the fight to stay in Melbourne three years ago, claiming to have the backing of five mystery benefactors who were ready to tip in $2million each. It's not known how many of them - if any - have made good on that promise. Some say none.

So he must now make a decent fist of the Roos' next incarnation in Melbourne - and get the club out of this poverty trap and perennially down-at-heel existence - or hand over the job to someone who can.