THOMAS MAY RETURN, NOBLE FEELS STRAIN
And amid a heavy Blundstone Arena loss to Adelaide Thomas followed his threepossession performance by responding angrily to a fan on Instagram only minutes after the game.
As former Roos CEO and football boss Geoff Walsh begins his month-long topto-bottom review of the football department, the strong expectation is Noble will struggle to survive the intensive review process.
Noble has not been able to muster competitive performances from the team, but has improved his relationship with players
after apologising earlier in the year for a post-match spray.
What will hurt him is the general lack of positive relationships around the club, highlighted by the departure of a trio of recruiters in May.
Walsh is expected to speak to people at every level of the club to assess the morale, direction and levels of expertise in the football department.
The Roos were adamant on Monday chief executive Amarfio had been fully briefed by president Hood on the board’s plans to bring in Walsh as an adviser.
Amarfio’s tenure has also been speculated on publicly but Hood is seen to be a
strong supporter of Amarfio, who has helped put the club in a strong financial position.
Highly-paid leadership adviser Paul Roos is in America as he seeks to secure a green card as a permanent resident so has been unable to travel to Australia.
If Noble was moved on it would not cost the club financially given a rolling employment contract but they would need to hire their fourth coach since May 2019.
Amarfio has made clear he is backing in Noble but commissioning an audit of the club’s football department is the perfect way to get to the bottom of underlying issues.
Top-ten draft pick Thomas is in Sydney for his grandmother’s funeral after her passing last week and likely needs some time away from the club this week to grieve with his family.
But it will be left to him to consider whether he wants to return for the club’s main training session and play against Geelong.
Thomas had made it clear to coach David Noble he was keen to play in his nan’s honour but looked flat and uninterested, with his body language particularly poor.
In hindsight the decision to play him was incorrect but he had been especially keen to take to the field.