AFL2022: Angry, shouty David Noble has work to do to unite North Melbourne

We were told David Noble had pulled his head in and the wagons circled around the second-year coach. Then we got a real insight into what’s going on at North Melbourne.

The strong message out of North Melbourne on Tuesday morning was that David Noble had pulled his head in.

That the club had circled the wagons around the second-year coach and were intent on delivering stability to a football program at the absolute bottom of its deep, dark rebuild.

That his crash or crash-through approach was counterproductive and if continued, a fast-track to removal as North Melbourne’s senior coach.

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Then late afternoon came the club release that revealed the simmering discontent within Arden St.

A trio of North Melbourne recruiters led by Mark Finnigan and Glenn Luff had departed the building amid significant turmoil and accusations of a total lack of support.

David Noble is an old school coach with a tendency to shout rather than nurture Picture: Getty Images

For coach Noble and the North Melbourne hierarchy, the timing was abysmal — eight days ahead of a mid-season draft where the club will have two selections.

But the greater fallout will be a renewed focus on the club’s football department and a coach who, until the last month, had been keener to shout than to nurture his players.

Finnigan will find his way to Hawthorn on a three-year deal, but only after feeling undermined and unsupported in recent months.

After repeated job offers elsewhere the highly rated recruiter was compelled to take the Hawks offer when the Roos hierarchy was lukewarm on matching the three-year Hawthorn deal.

Former Champion Data analyst Luff walked too and even if he was already considering his future, the unfair hit job on some of the list team’s draft picks this week must have had him wondering where that information came from.

It is understood the recruiting team felt a collaborative approach as seen in the best clubs —we own our recruiting successes and failures equally — was instead replaced by blame from specific members higher up the chain.

All of it adds up to a sense of impending doom for a club that admits it has multiple seasons of onfield struggles ahead, given it is 33 games into a rebuild it expects to last 88 games across four seasons.

Glenn Luff (R) has also walked away from the Kangaroos.

Noble’s tendency to shout rather than nurture, to roar rather than cuddle, was an open secret in the early rounds of the season.

As the club’s hopes of improved performances earlier in the rebuild were exposed as fallacy, Noble was frustrated and angry.

There are several versions, but that tirade delivered to players after the round 3 loss to Brisbane either brought young players to tears or awfully close, and was followed by an apology to the group days later.

But as has been said more than once inside the walls of Arden St, in his first year Noble delivered more sprays than Brad Scott in his entire tenure.

There is no doubt Noble has put some Roos staffers off side with bedside manner and yet what the Roos believe is that he has changed significantly since that round 3 contest.

That the fallout from that round 3 spray forced Noble to be a more positive and affirming presence in his feedback to players.

That he has listened and responded with a moderated tone for a playing group who come from a generation where the only real feedback they accept is positive.

Jason Horne-Francis is the club’s most important property and yet he has put off contract talks amid signs he has not settled as well as he might at a club that rejected astronomical trade offers for him.

The news Tuesday night that he was counselled by the club after he flew home to Adelaide without its permission following a Friday night game in Perth was another worrying sign for a club that has already had talks parked for exciting 24-year-old forward Cam Zurhaar.

Those close to Horne-Francis were adamant that the club knew he wasn’t playing the following week and that the story had been overblown, but for a club that only has two years to convince Horne-Francis to re-sign, none of it helps the cause.

Number 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis put contract talks on hold recently Picture: Getty Images

For the Roos there is so much at stake as they attempt to surround Noble with the support staff to get through the dark days of a rebuild.

They simply cannot afford to find a fourth coach in four years given it was only three years ago this week Brad Scott moved on.

And then it was Rhyce Shaw’s diabolical hub experience without adequate club support leading to his departure.

The Roos are adamant Noble will coach them again next year, that hiring a first-time coach has given them the football cap space to surround him with development staff and coaching assistants.

Paul Roos remains in America but his ‘Performance By Design’ offsider Gerard Murphy is active at the club, while Noble has a long list of official and unofficial mentors.

He has senior assistant John Blakey, development boss Gavin Brown, assistants Heath Younie and Jordan Russell, ruck coach Anthony Rocca and development coaches Leigh Adams and Brent Harvey.

Noble has a list of performance KPIs to keep his job, but also behavioural KPIs.

With the playing list cut so deep and the rebuild so significant, he simply must rely on the behavioural standards given the on-field fortunes.

The task is clear for Noble – it is not enough to stop yelling at players, he must unite the entire club and football program behind him.

Former North Melbourne premiership star David King says not many coaches who start the rebuild get to finish them, and right now the fear is that Noble will not be the exception to the rule.

Undermined and under pressure, North recruiters quit

North Melbourne’s tough start to the season has been compounded by three key off-field staff quitting the club.

National recruiting manager Mark Finnigan and head of player personnel Glenn Luff resigned from the second-bottom Kangaroos on Tuesday – a week before the AFL’s mid-season draft.

The club’s national recruiting officer, Ben Birthisel, has also left.

It is understood Finnigan will find his way to Hawthorn on a long-term deal, having felt he had no choice to leave Arden St over his direction.

The recruiting team is believed to have felt undermined by management and some of the coaching staff amid pressure on the club about its direction and the speed of its rebuild.

It is disastrous timing ahead of next Wednesday’s mid-season draft, where the Kangaroos are in position to make one or two selections.

Coming off a wooden spoon, the club is second-last with a 1-9 record to start this campaign.

North Melbourne’s sole victory was against a depleted West Coast in round 2 and five of its losses have been by at least 10 goals.

The trio of resignations will place significant pressure on the club’s hierarchy given the timing and reasons behind their decisions.

It is believed the recruiting team felt a lack of support from the coaching department over player decisions that have been questioned.

The Kangaroos have drawn heat for selecting midfielder Will Phillips over Sydney’s Logan McDonald.

North Melbourne have drawn heat for selecting Will Phillips over Sydney’s Logan McDonald. Photo by Michael Klein

They also dropped three of their recent additions to the team in Jaidyn Stephenson, Atu Bosenavulagi and Callum Coleman-Jones.

North Melbourne gave up significant draft capital to secure Coleman-Jones from Richmond, including this year’s second-round pick, but he is yet to live up to the hype.

Finnigan had been at Arden St for 17 years, joining the recruiting team in 2006 before becoming national boss at the end of 2016.

Luff became the club’s head of game analysis in 2018 and its list manager a year later.

He had been head of player personnel since November.

Luff is leaving to pursue other work opportunities.

Their untimely exits continue the Roos’ rollercoaster opening to the season.

Coach David Noble apologised to his players after their 108-point loss to Brisbane in round 3 and last year’s No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis put contract extension talks on hold several weeks ago.

The departing trio oversaw the selection of Horne-Francis – the Kangaroos’ first ever top choice.

North Melbourne’s football talent general manager Brady Rawlings said the recruiting team had been valuable contributors to the club and wished them well.

“Mark and Glenn have worked passionately and tirelessly for the club and we thank them for their work,” Rawlings said.

“The team’s planning and preparation around the mid-season draft has been very thorough and will hold us in good stead as we look towards next week.

“We will begin the process of replacing the now vacant roles in our recruiting and list management team over the coming months.”

Glenn Luff is North Melbourne's former list boss.

Originally published as AFL2022: Angry, shouty David Noble has work to do to unite North Melbourne