The Noble pathway
WORK-LIFE BALANCE KEY FOR ROOS BOSS
NEW North Melbourne coach David Noble has implemented a hard-and-fast rule at Arden Street he hopes might ultimately fast-track the Kangaroos’ long-term revival. A day off is a day off. Having built a reputation as one of the AFL’s hardestworking individuals, the 53year-old is no stranger to rolling his sleeves up and working long hours.
But he believes a strict adherence to this rule – for players, the coaching staff and indeed himself – might provide the best work-life balance to ensure they get the best out of each other.
It might even help fasttrack the Kangaroos as the club looks for a fresh start after experiencing an extraordinarily tough 2020 season.
“I’m big on that ... a day off is a day off,” Noble said.
“That balance and wellbeing in your life is very important. You need some down-time. We are very strong on that.”
Finding the right work-life balance has been a vexed question for AFL coaches and players in recent seasons but was even more heightened by last year’s hub experiences.
The all-encompassing nature of the game inside the hub impacted on Noble’s predecessor, Rhyce Shaw, and it played a part in his decision to leave the role late last year.
A number of senior and assistant coaches have experienced burnout, prompting warnings from outgoing AFL Coaches’ Association chief executive Mark Brayshaw, who fears the departure of about 60 AFL assistant coaches, due to football departure cuts, could put even more strain on those left in the roles.
Noble’s previous administrative roles – most recently as Brisbane Lions general manager of football – have provided him with a unique management perspective and he intends to put that to good use.
“We understand the balance that is required, especially with us being an older group of coaches,” he said.
Noble agreed to take on the job late last year knowing his family would be impacted. His wife, Sarah, initially won’t be joining him in Melbourne. She will remain on the family’s property at Tamborine, where his father, John, also lives. It won’t be easy, as he is close to his family.
He is about to become a grandfather for the first time in April, with his daughter Jessica and her partner Dean, expecting their first child in April. His sons, Collingwood defender John Noble, and Mark, who had been set to play for Werribee in the VFL before the pandemic hit last year, are living in Melbourne.
“Sarah has been enormously supportive of me – she has been a rock to our family,” Noble said of his wife.
“When this opportunity popped up, she was very bullish I should do it. She will stay up there on the property initially because my dad is on the property. Dad was a bit of a legend (as a footballer) in Tassie. He played in the old carnivals in the ’60s and won a Lefroy Medal as the best player in the carnival.”
Three months into the role he undertook after some prompting from Paul Roos, who will join him in the coaches’ box in 2021, Noble couldn’t be more pleased with what has transpired and the plans he and the club have put in place.
It’s a position he has been preparing most of his life for.
“If you had looked at my overall journey a big chunk of it early was coaching. But even in the way I managed (in other roles), I was still probably coaching staff to try to improve them,” he explained.
He feels grateful to have a broad experience in the staff alongside him as he prepares to coach his first game of AFL.
He will keep a close eye on the assistant coaches’ individual workloads but also is happy for them to monitor his as well.
The additions include his one-time Fitzroy teammate John Blakey, Heath Younie, Jordan Russell and Anthony Rocca as well as head of development Gavin Brown, Leigh Adams and Brent Harvey, who remain from last season.
Chris Fagan’s success at Brisbane in his first stint in an AFL senior coaching position after a lifetime of experiences may have assisted his own cause but Noble said the coaching flame was never close to being extinguished in his own mind.
“I think with what Chris has done, does it open the door a bit more? Yeah probably,” he said.
“(But) I think as an ambitious and driven person, I would still (have been interested) if that opportunity had come up.”