Noble’s coaching future in spotlight
NORTH Melbourne coach David Noble accepted a rolling employment contract to coach the Roos after the club’s payouts to former coaches Brad Scott and Rhyce Shaw.
The club’s decision to hand Noble (pictured) an employment agreement rather than the customary three-year initial deal was made in part to safeguard the club from a potential payout.
But as the football world on Wednesday digested the reaction to Noble’s apology to his players after a round 3 loss, his ongoing future also became a point of discussion.
The Roos hierarchy has backed Noble for the considerable task of a top-to-bottom rebuild that will take many years and considerable on-field pain.
A longer-term contract would have given him some security in believing the club would back him to the hilt despite the early struggles so many rebuilding teams face.
The Roos paid out the remaining season of Brad Scott’s contract over several years and came to an agreement with Shaw after he suffered personal issues that meant he could not coach past 2020.
But while it emerged Noble had been urged to continue focusing on building quality relationships across all levels of the club, he has less security than almost every other rookie coach.
North Melbourne would be desperate not to remove another coach after only two seaPresident sons, which means Noble will be under pressure to develop the club’s kids and play with a more identifiable style.
The club was realistic about its on-field prospects this year, but was determined to establish a teaching culture and building strong connections between coach and player.
North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell launched a fierce defence of his coach on Tuesday even as he admitted some players had believed the messaging was “confronting”.
But it is known Noble has several times received feedback that he could deliver his messaging in a more positive manner dating as far back as last year.
North Melbourne was fully aware it would take some time for on-field gains to be shown.
But Noble has had significant change around him even in his 18 months at the club, with new football boss Brady Rawlings shifting into a football talent role and the Demons poaching Melbourne football manager Daniel McPherson to replace him.
Ben Buckley was replaced two months ago by Sonja Hood, while leadership consultant Paul Roos has pulled back to a part-time role working over Zoom this year.
The entire medical and high performance team also was replaced this season in a move that shocked some observers.
It has meant Noble has taken on a heavy load that sees him keen to have control over many areas of the football program where other coaches across the league are left to the sole job of coaching.
North Melbourne chief executive Ben Amarfio said on 3AW on Tuesday night the club was aware it might take three or four years of pain before the club rose up the ladder.
“(David) felt as though he probably went a tad hard and felt like he needed to apologise to the players so he did. In the aftermath of the match he was really feeling it and in his own words he probably thinks he went a tad hard and he apologised,” he said.
“We are not overly surprised about the position we are in. We are one year and eight games into a rebuild.
“But what we are trying to fix are these one quarter blowouts where we are having goals kicked against us, it’s the area of focus for us at the moment.”
Amarfio said he would be involved in a discussion about a priority pick submission but said it was a decision for several months down the track as the club hoped to improve its percentage and win games.