FIVE "white knights" have pledged loans of $2 million each to enable the Kangaroos to stay in Melbourne as part of the plan released yesterday to keep the club from relocating to the Gold Coast.

Four unnamed investors would contribute the money next year, with a fifth in 2009, giving the club a total of $10 million of non-football revenue to invest, generating up to $700,000 per year, and at the end of a 10-year arrangement, capital growth of up to $10 million.

The investment scheme is the central plank of the plan, details of which were announced yesterday by club director James Brayshaw, who is leading the fight to keep the club at Arden Street.

It follows last week's release of the AFL offer of $100 million for the club to shift to the Gold Coast, where the league is desperate to have a presence by 2010. The Brayshaw group is due to meet the AFL to discuss its proposal early next month.

"It's an exciting and sustainable model to stay in Melbourne comfortably," Brayshaw said last night. "We're not trying to compete with the AFL offer. We're just trying to work out a business model that will make us stay here and be able to wipe our own face, and we can do that, in my opinion."

The "Stay at North" group plan has a new major sponsor worth between $700,000 and $1 million per year lined up for next season to replace telecommunications company Primus, which recently withdrew backing, and another three mid-tier sponsors whose contributions would be worth another $1 million.

The Brayshaw group has received assurances from the club's major shareholders that they will co-operate in dissolving the share plan and returning the club to a traditional membership-based structure.

It has pledged a further $350,000 on top of the $650,000 already committed to the Kangaroos' football department spending for next season in 2009.

It will seek additions to a Melbourne-based board including former coach Denis Pagan, leading QC Will Houghton, corporate heavyweight Geoff Lewis and former player Carl Dilena, now a partner with KPMG.

Brayshaw said that while the group would love the involvement of the likes of former champion Glenn Archer and Australian Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting at board level, he doubted either would have sufficient time on their hands to be able to do so.

The Roo director and media personality said that with talks also on-going to secure a naming rights sponsor for the redeveloped Arden Street, the club had the potential to attract $1.5 million of new money per annum into its coffers.

But it was the non-football revenue-raising scheme, he said was an "amazing initiative", which had the capacity to "bomb-proof" the club over a long period.

"These are people who have put their hand up to be part of it and who have been amazingly generous," Brayshaw said. "They love the club and don't want to see us go anywhere. It's as simple as that."

Brayshaw said even on conservative estimates, the $10 million investment could allow the club to recoup at least that amount in capital growth come the end of the 10-year long arrangement.

"The beauty is that not only do you get that money coming in each year, which the CFO can put into his bottom line before he does anything else, but at the end of the time you've got that capital growth," he said. "For the first time in the club's history, it will mean we're in the black in the bank.

"The thing I'm trying to say is that I don't just want to put some fanciful figures out there for the next two years and then say: 'good luck' beyond that. This plan is for the next 10 years and beyond, so we can look our members and supporters in the eye and say we are putting together a business plan."