Ziebell: Spray not out of line
NORTH Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell has leapt to the defence of his under-siege coach, declaring a spray that was handed out by David Noble after a hefty round 3 loss was “well warranted”.
Ziebell said he was “bemused” that the spray following the Kangaroos’ 108-point loss to Brisbane had become a major talking point after it was revealed that Noble apologised to players in the days after handing it out.
Several younger players were visibly shocked by the coach’s raw feedback.
Ziebell, 31, said while he might be a little bit “old school”, he had not seen a problem with the spray and did not think Noble had to apologise.
“In fairness, we’d just lost by over 100 points so the coach gave us a pretty direct message after the game,” Ziebell said.
“I think in the coming days he (Noble) might have reflected upon that and thought that maybe it was a little bit too much.
“But my recollection, to be honest, was he didn’t need to do that.
“His message was fair, it was direct. The performance wasn’t up to standard.
“This season, in 2022, we’ve got higher expectations of ourselves and the way we want to play and the way we want to carry ourselves and we didn’t live up to that on the night.
“I personally don’t think he needed to apologise.”
He dismissed suggestions the players were concerned about the feedback Noble generally provided, but conceded the round 3 spray may have been confronting for some.
“There might have been (some players who found it confronting), potentially,” Ziebell said on SEN radio.
“Probably because they haven’t been exposed to that as much as we used to be back in the day. But in saying that, I’m sure that if you get beaten by 100 points at any other footy club around Australia, it’s probably going to be a pretty similar response from your coach.”
The Kangaroos sit 17th on the ladder with a 1-7 record this season in Noble’s second year in charge.
But Ziebell said he was confident the club was on the right path and that the game plan “stacks up”.
“He’s been fantastic for us and we are 100 per cent on the right path,” Ziebell said.