For the best part of three decades, the gritty quality of Shinboner Spirit was embodied by men who pulled on the North Melbourne Football club jumper, but not anymore.

In a spectacular move, Collingwood President Eddie McGuire has told 800.85 FMs Bazza and Mungo that his club have “swooped in” to trademark the two words.

“Well they haven’t played with any (spirit) in years, but aside from that, they’d not filed the appropriate paperwork, so we did” said the Supreme Pie.

Addressing the media outside the clubs Arden Street facilities, former player Glenn Archer, described Shinboner Spirit as “one football’s great intangibles”, comparing it to the Bloods Culture at the Sydney Swans.

He said it isn’t found in a stats column, but “like peptides at Essendon” it was injected into the clubs draftees DNA and it will be “sorely missed”.

“It was our way of saying to opposition teams - we know we’re not flashy, and yes, we haven’t got any supporters, but we’ll still try really hard” the clubs Shinboner of the Century added.

McGuire explained that Collingwood were “rapt” and can’t wait to start their rebranding.

“We’ve always liked the workman like identify they (The Kangaroos) had, and just thought the term Shinboner Spirit suited us more than them now anyway”.

“We’d tried to capture the same essence here in past seasons with mottos like ‘Pie Hearted’ and ‘Maggie Morale’, but Shinboner Spirit works better. And people already get it.”

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Kangaroos President Rudy Skipper would not comment on what had happened other than saying he was “disappointed” and that the club had “misplaced the paperwork”.

He said the club is now focused on looking forward, and added that they’ve already started working on a new mantra.

“The marketing department are throwing around things like ‘Roo Juice’ and ‘Kanga Meat’ so there’s options.”

“You can see a beast like Cunners (Ben Cunnington) displaying that tough Kangaroo Meat, can’t you.”