Past Coach NMFC Senior Coach - David Noble has parted ways with NMFC

[Marstermind]

Look I'm sorry but the leadership of Shaun Atley, Shaun Higgins and Trent Dumont isn't contributing to a 107 point turnaround when you compare that one-point loss to Brisbane to the 108 point loss that we had this year.

It's also ignoring veterans like Hall, Corr, Greenwood, and our captain Jack Ziebell who played in the 108 point loss, but not the 1 point loss.

Rounds 1, 2 and 4 were acceptable. The end of last year was acceptable. That stretch was more or less with the exact same list. Something has happened to cause the wheels to fall off and I can't understand this board's compulsion to brush it off in defence of David Noble.

I'd be interested to know who the players are who would be so much better under a different coach that we'd come 107 closer to Brisbane six weeks ago (a bizarrely narrow metric).

I'm not sold on Noble - the events of the past week exposed some off-field flaws and the on-field flaws are there for everyone to see. The wheels have fallen off since Round 4, but as much as Noble is responsible for that, he is also responsible for putting the wheels on for the acceptable performances you mentioned after last year's awful start. And he's not solely responsible for the good or the bad - the entire club has a stench right now from top to bottom. I'm not sure everyone is defending Noble - just pointing out the obvious that whatever his capabilities are, he has an extremely poor list of players who are currently bereft of confidence, and severely undermanned.

 

[Roosurgence]

If West Coast weren’t going through their issues we would currently be the worst side in the comp by a country mile. In fact the West Coast result has further diluted what would be an even worse percentage and we would be sitting on zero wins.

Noble has this group in reverse and most people are saying hold tight it’s just part of rebuilding LOL

 

[Themanbun]

My issue is this, what benefit are we getting for the future at present.

Being destroyed every week at near record levels offers nothing for the future. We’ve shown we are completely incapable of implementing what noble wants the players to do. Ok, change it up for the short term until we are in a position to implement something more fancy.

From yesterday

Walker - not part of future
Turner - not part of future
Ziebell- not part of future
Anderson - not part of future
McDonald - given how far off it we are not part of future
Corr - given how far off it we are not part of future
Goldy - not part of future

That’s a third of the team there. Then add

Atu - likely delisted at end of year
Mahoney - unlikely to become an afl footballer
Young - unlikely to become an afl footballer
Perez - plenty of time on side but jury still out
CCJ - plenty of time on side but jury still out
Taylor - plenty of time on side but jury still out

So now we are 13 of 22 players from yesterday that are either not part of the future team in 5 years due to age, or have not shown that they are good enough to be. You could argue there are a few more in this category.

So therefore, why use a game plan that we can’t do, emphasises our truly terrible skill level, and isn’t even helping us score anyway, all the while 13 of the 22 players “learning” this inappropriate game plan probably won’t be at north in 2-3 years?

An alternative game plan, park the bus, make it as hard as possible for the opposition to score, and teach the players how to defend at the very least.

Right now, it appears no one is learning anything that will help us in the future.

IMO

Good post.

As you go through a rebuild you should start with a bunch of questions marks and slowly tick them off over the years. We're starting to see things that should be ticks devolving back into question marks (e.g. the midfield). It's impossible to identify where we're alright when we're getting pumped like this.

 

[r_boy]

Well I think he's going ok tbh.

We've a very sub AFL standard side on the park currently. I don't believe he's lost the playing group well from what I've heard.

As much as it sucks to lose every week, it doesn't suck more than a fist pumping after another irrelevant victory over a side going nowhere. Thus having us finishing ninth and all as we had achieved was putting another year on one of our few decent footballers. That eventually bites you square on the arse- oh it has.

We're a grand chance of the wooden spoon again this year and a PP which we will receive. Curtis, CCJ, JHF is a bloody good development year. Wil Phillips will make it, I'm actually a little surprised by peeps view on him tbh. He'll be an accumulator which from memory is what we all want.

Perez getting game under his belt is also wonderful for us. He's played nine games of AFL, I sometimes think we forget that.

Let's hope Charlie is next cab of the rank, I think he'll make a huge difference. Not in the W/L column, well not until 2024 anyways.

Imagine if we had Cunners, Hall, Polec yes he'd get a game currently if fit, then of course currently no McKay, JHF, Simpkin, Bonar, Phillips and Greenwood.

I honestly believe all nine of those would get a game if fit. s**t there's only 18 on the field at any one stage.

Anyways, maybe Noble will cop it in the neck but I am sure at some point peeps will look back nod and appreciate what he did for the team.

Oh at it was 100% the correct decision to get rid of everyone we did, we're now going somewhere. Maybe it is in reverse, but yeah sometimes you need a 3 point turn to get back on track.

Agreed.

 

[the flying ham]

Well I think he's going ok tbh.

We've a very sub AFL standard side on the park currently. I don't believe he's lost the playing group well from what I've heard.

As much as it sucks to lose every week, it doesn't suck more than a fist pumping after another irrelevant victory over a side going nowhere. Thus having us finishing ninth and all as we had achieved was putting another year on one of our few decent footballers. That eventually bites you square on the arse- oh it has.

We're a grand chance of the wooden spoon again this year and a PP which we will receive. Curtis, CCJ, JHF is a bloody good development year. Wil Phillips will make it, I'm actually a little surprised by peeps view on him tbh. He'll be an accumulator which from memory is what we all want.

Perez getting game under his belt is also wonderful for us. He's played nine games of AFL, I sometimes think we forget that.

Let's hope Charlie is next cab of the rank, I think he'll make a huge difference. Not in the W/L column, well not until 2024 anyways.

Imagine if we had Cunners, Hall, Polec yes he'd get a game currently if fit, then of course currently no McKay, JHF, Simpkin, Bonar, Phillips and Greenwood.

I honestly believe all nine of those would get a game if fit. s**t there's only 18 on the field at any one stage.

Anyways, maybe Noble will cop it in the neck but I am sure at some point peeps will look back nod and appreciate what he did for the team.

Oh at it was 100% the correct decision to get rid of everyone we did, we're now going somewhere. Maybe it is in reverse, but yeah sometimes you need a 3 point turn to get back on track.

Great post TAO.

 

[ferball]

Mentioned this in the autopsy thread, but Noble’s not being given any credit for his “Courtesy Switch” in the defence. No other team in the comp is being as polite as we are and using the switch to actually slow the play, thus allowing the opposition to set up their team defence. Unbelievably generous by us, we don’t get enough kudos.

What’s next I wonder......could Nobles be devising a way to use the dissent rule to gift the opposition ground space. This is a new type of football thinking, can’t wait to see it pan out.

I wait excitingly for next week, what cunning plan does Nobles have in store for the GoDees?

I agree. It was good for at least one goal late in the third quarter.

You may not concur but we can use that slow switch to spread the defense and open up the ground for short passes. We did it with four minutes to go in the third quarter and its what enabled that play that Flawed Genius referred to in the autopsy thread title.

We broke up their zoned press enough to hit targets with short accurate passing all the way up the ground till Zurhaar goaled.

It wasn't especially fast movement but it was effective, used the corridor well and enabled us to spread the ball to the fat side and bring it back into the middle 30m out from goal. Should have been a TT mark but he dropped it, we crumbed it forward and Zurhaar somehow threaded the needle between Aliir and another defender in the goal square.

Its something we never did under the last two coaches. Careful, controlled movement thru the middle of the ground. And its obviously not what I'd call "Plan A". But that makes it even better imo.

 

[justroyal]

I agree. It was good for at least one goal late in the third quarter.

You may not concur but we can use that slow switch to spread the defense and open up the ground for short passes. We did it with four minutes to go in the third quarter and its what enabled that play that Flawed Genius referred to in the autopsy thread title.

We broke up their zoned press enough to hit targets with short accurate passing all the way up the ground till Zurhaar goaled.

It wasn't especially fast movement but it was effective, used the corridor well and enabled us to spread the ball to the fat side and bring it back into the middle 30m out from goal. Should have been a TT mark but he dropped it, we crumbed it forward and Zurhaar somehow threaded the needle between Aliir and another defender in the goal square.

Its something we never did under the last two coaches. Careful, controlled movement thru the middle of the ground. And its obviously not what I'd call "Plan A". But that makes it even better imo.

From my viewing, when this usually goes wrong for us, it’s when players haven’t worked quick/hard enough to be a viable option from the kick-in. If they’re too slow, we get a Josh Walker type of kick down to whatever option is on the wing (usually to congestion) - but our guys more than likely turn it over. Could it be because they’re trying to re-set and get their offensive game going? But are caught trying to defend last minute?

 

[LB2Snake]

I agree. It was good for at least one goal late in the third quarter.

You may not concur but we can use that slow switch to spread the defense and open up the ground for short passes. We did it with four minutes to go in the third quarter and its what enabled that play that Flawed Genius referred to in the autopsy thread title.

We broke up their zoned press enough to hit targets with short accurate passing all the way up the ground till Zurhaar goaled.

It wasn't especially fast movement but it was effective, used the corridor well and enabled us to spread the ball to the fat side and bring it back into the middle 30m out from goal. Should have been a TT mark but he dropped it, we crumbed it forward and Zurhaar somehow threaded the needle between Aliir and another defender in the goal square.

Its something we never did under the last two coaches. Careful, controlled movement thru the middle of the ground. And its obviously not what I'd call "Plan A". But that makes it even better imo.

Look, good analysis, really good in fact. I was being pretty tongue in cheek as I‘m not convinced it‘s an actual game plan move, but you could be right there mate. Would be better if it didn’t still end up in us conceding 100+ points a game. I don’t mind the slower ball movement, but slower to then end up kicking to a contest down the line anyway is infuriating when watching.

 

[shintemaster]

Admire your optimism but feel there is a space between being very poor and 9th. I feel like the Hawks show a good template for a rebuild. There's still hope following them but at the end of the day they will finish bottom 4.

I get it but to be fair Hawks didn't essentially throw out their entire coaching setup and try to reinvent their strength and conditioning setup with the change of coach. They have a completely different framework to build from. To be blunt they have less work to do, maybe not list wise (who knows at this point) but they are not reinventing the club from top to bottom at the same time.

 

[shintemaster]

Or wants to assist us with a grand chance at pick #1 in the Mid season draft.

No doubt, we saw the talk last year though - #1 MSD picks are convenient for them because it helps them sell a narrative about PP's not being necessary.

 

[The acurate one]

No doubt, we saw the talk last year though - #1 MSD picks are convenient for them because it helps them sell a narrative about PP's not being necessary.

The AFL did tell us don't bother applying for a PP last year you're not that bad. Well we are now and we can honestly say the not bad myth has been busted.

We'll get support as to how that looks is yet to be determined.

I get it but to be fair Hawks didn't essentially throw out their entire coaching setup and try to reinvent their strength and conditioning setup with the change of coach. They have a completely different framework to build from. To be blunt they have less work to do, maybe not list wise (who knows at this point) but they are not reinventing the club from top to bottom at the same time.

just saw this post, yes we're doing it all at once- plus huge player turnover.
very brave or very stupid.

 

[shintemaster]

The AFL did tell us don't bother applying for a PP last year you're not that bad. Well we are now and we can honestly say the not bad myth has been busted.

We'll get support as to how that looks is yet to be determined.



just saw this post, yes we're doing it all at once- plus huge player turnover.
very brave or very stupid.

It can be hard to tell the difference, sometimes there isn't one.

 

[Orange Peanut]

Apparently being managed due to OP

Yeah sorry guys. My bad.

 

[giantroo]

AFL 2022: Kangaroos coach David Noble reveals how he got the job and talks about Phil Walsh’s death​

David Noble had given up on becoming an AFL coach when he received a phone call to let him know a coaching king maker wanted to talk. He reveals the surprising story.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson


@Simeon_TW

6 min read
May 16, 2022 - 11:55AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
0 comments




David Noble was fast asleep in his Adelaide home when the call came in that Phil Walsh had been killed.

The then Crows head of football initially thought Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan had dialled his number by mistake.
It was too early in the morning for a chat.

“It was 4.01am or 4.02am. I ignored it. I’m thinking, ‘surely not’. He must’ve miss-dialled me,” Noble said.

“(He) rang again, I got out of bed, went into the lounge room and he said, ‘I’ve got some pretty sad news’, and just … my wife came out, Sarah came out and I was standing there and she said, ‘your mouth was open, you were holding the phone and there was nothing coming out’.

“Yeah, he’d said that Phil had passed away and it’d been a tragic circumstance with his son — well that’s what they felt at the time — and ‘you need to get in here pretty quick’.”

Noble with Phil Walsh after Brent Reilly

Brent Reilly

Age

40

Ht

183cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.3

4star

K

10.9

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

4.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

No current season stats available

D

6.6

2star

K

4.2

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

0.4

3star

retired. Picture: Sarah Reed

The North Melbourne coach has opened up about his career and the tragedy of Walsh – killed by mentally ill son Cy on July 3 2015 – as part of the ‘The Believers: Tasmania’s AFL Journey’ podcast.

Having never faced a challenge like this, unsurprisingly Noble didn’t know what to do in the immediate aftermath.

“I’d got in the shower (and) I thought, ‘Well, I’ll – I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

“I didn’t know whether to put some clothes on and go and I thought I’m probably going to be there for a long time so I’ll jump in the shower, put my normal workday wear on and I’m driving in the car and I’m just thinking this can’t possibly have happened. You’re just lost for words. I don’t think anything could’ve prepared you for it.”

Crows players have consistently spoken of the influence that Walsh had on them.

Noble said the players were affected for years to come by the significant moments in time.

“You know the first game that we played without him, the first pre-season the following year when he’s not there,” Noble said.

“At what point do you take down some of the signs that Walshy bought (sic) in? There’s all those things that as you start to re-tool even after the end of the
first year that you continue to experience and it just brings back constant memories over that period of time.”

YOU MIGHT BE GETTING A PHONE CALL

Noble had given up on becoming a senior coach at the end of 2020.

After moving to Brisbane in 2016 to become the Lions’ general manager of football Noble was looking to become a club chief executive.

“I’d spoken to Andrew (Wellington, the chairman of the Lions) about that and Swanny (Greg Swan, the CEO) that, you know, that was the aspiration and put that to bed,” he said.

“I had a couple of little nibbles from a couple of clubs (asking) whether or not I was interested but I’d said, ‘Look I think I’m more heading that path’ (becoming a CEO).

There was an outpouring of emotion following Walsh’s death. Picture: AFL Media

“I hadn’t completed an MBA. Got most of it done and Lynchy (Alastair Lynch) rang me, Al rang me and said, ‘You might be getting a phone call’ and I said, ‘Oh, righto’.

“He said, ‘Roosy wants to speak to you’. And I said, ‘OK, what about?’ He said, ‘Oh, he wants to speak to you about the North role. Would you be interested, he said, ’cause he doesn’t want to ring you if you’re not gonna be interested?’

“So I said, ‘Give me 24 hours to think about it’.”

Noble went home to chat to Sarah and decided it couldn’t hurt to have a conversation.

He was surprised at how keen Roos was on him for the role.

“He was pretty insistent that I be in the mix and gave me a couple of days just to get my head around as much as you could in that period of time to see if I would actually be a candidate and apply for the role,” he said.

“(It) shocked me.”

HOW PLOUGH’S FAILED MOVE TO SYDNEY ALMOST BANKRUPTED NOBLE

Roos was instrumental in Noble realising his senior coaching aspirations in 2020.

But 18 years earlier Roos becoming the senior coach at Sydney nearly sent Noble bankrupt.

Terry Wallace was heavily linked to Sydney, with the general consensus that he would get the job.

In fact Wallace left the Bulldogs with one game of the season remaining, under the assumption he was joining the Swans. Noble thought he was part of the Wallace package.

But Roos’ successful stint as the caretaker coach changed the narrative.

“I was going to Sydney again,” Noble said.

Noble as footy boss at the Lions with senior coach Chris Fagan. Picture: Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images

“I was sort of part of that crew that inadvertently got sort of caught in the crossfires, which is totally understandable.

“Terry was taking me with him. It didn’t end up eventuating for whatever reason. Roosy got the gig.

“And the club was on the drip pretty strongly back then with head office. (They) had some of their funding cut.

“Although I think it got caught in the crosshairs at the same time. And yeah, I wasn’t — I didn’t have a new contract. Just bought a house three months previously. Our world came to a screeching end.”

With his new house mortgaged to the hilt, not going up to Sydney with Wallace and then losing his job at the Bulldogs, Noble was put in an uncomfortable position financially.

“Three kids. New mortgage,” he said.

“Like back then you could go up to your eyeballs, which we were, as a young family and established ourselves, so we had to pack up and took a gig in Adelaide.”

THE STUFF UP THAT ENDED HIS PLAYING CAREER

A two-time premiership player with North Hobart in the Tasmanian Football League, Noble only managed two AFL games with Fitzroy.

Quite simply he and fellow Tasmanian Robert Shaw, the coach of the Lions, just didn’t get along.

“Umm … challenging, I’d say if I’m being honest,” he said of the relationship between the two.

“I felt that I was — well we all think we probably should’ve got more games from that side of things.

“But, yeah, I went to Shawy with a few things that I thought I could adjust in my game at the end of a period of time and I felt with the responses that my time there was a bit limited.”

Noble said he had given up on his senior coaching dream before North came calling. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Noble was so disheartened with his situation at the Lions that he “actually rang the club and asked them to delist me”.

“I was going to move on,” he said.

List expert Gary Buckenara had joined Sydney and rang Noble to say that he could find a spot for him on the Swans list.

But come draft day, Noble’s name wasn’t called out.

The reason why is quite incredible.

“I didn’t know the rules back then and didn’t nominate for the draft and missed,” he said.

“Look, I was probably one of those ones that was gonna get picked up probably late.

“I didn’t have a manager at the time, the draft had only come in a couple of years ago, you had to fill in a form and Arthur Wilson, who passed away recently, had rang and made sure that I had the nomination in and all that sort of stuff, so he’d organised that.

“But, yeah, no, I had spoke to Bucky and he wanted me to go to Sydney. I had spoken to ANP at the time and said, ‘you know, could I get a transfer’ and stuffed it up.”

Buckenara himself was also shocked.

“I was pretty flat,” Noble said.

“Well I’m sitting there going, ‘oh, Sydney haven’t picked me’. I’m going what’s going on here? “Anyway, so then Buck rang and said, ‘You didn’t nominate’. I went, ‘I didn’t know I had to’.

“It’s too late then. I couldn’t do anything.

​

“So then I went to Prahran (and) played with BT (Brian Taylor) for 12 months so and then went into coaching. I could’ve been up at Sydney playing with Roosy.”

## ‘The Believers: Tasmania’s AFL Journey’ podcast — released by the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce — is available from Saturday, May 14 on all platforms. A video of the interview can be found at BelieveTasmanian.com.au.

 

[Horizons_00]

Are we soft? Are we accepting mediocrity and tip toeing around any brutal assessments of where we’re at?

Sure stay positive while we’re rebuilding but surely it’s come time to have some really hard and tough conversations with the playing group.

We lack so much on field leadership it’s deplorable. Not one player is going out there and lifting the team up apart from a number one pick that seems disgruntled because no else seems to give a * about winning.

When a team loses their drive to be competitive it’s unfortunately really hard to get it back.

I honestly think it’s a issue if or when we continue to get thrashed, and nothing is done about it. No changes just “a lot of positives to take out of the game” then onto next week where again the players don’t give a * about competing.

 

[The Dingrel]

I don’t recall anyone saying that his job is sustainable if we continue to lose by 10 goals every week.

I just don’t buy the fact that a good performance this week means that much in the big picture.

I like Nobes I really do, but the media are starting to pick at him and the club. Where is the president coming out in support?

 

[The Dingrel]

I’m off the bandwagon. He’s not the one to take us to the promised land.

Anyone got Clarko’s number.

Daresay, the AFL has already picked up the tab on a waterfront place in Manly with a private fast ferry down to Homebush.

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

Are we soft? Are we accepting mediocrity and tip toeing around any brutal assessments of where we’re at?

Mediocre is what we were for 20 years after 1999 - we are not even close to mediocre now.

Sure stay positive while we’re rebuilding but surely it’s come time to have some really hard and tough conversations with the playing group.

Nobes tried that and felt he needed to apologise to the group because he was too brutal.

We lack so much on field leadership it’s deplorable. Not one player is going out there and lifting the team up apart from a number one pick that seems disgruntled because no else seems to give a fu** about winning.

Well that is what happens when your leadership group is putrid and you offer your Captain an extra year of super because ...well for no good reason at all.

When a team loses their drive to be competitive it’s unfortunately really hard to get it back.

Not a truer word spoken - just compare JHF with everyone else on our list for intensity, skill and energy levels. It is inconceivable that an 18 year old can be the person setting standards on the track and on match day.

I honestly think it’s a issue if or when we continue to get thrashed, and nothing is done about it. No changes just “a lot of positives to take out of the game” then onto next week where again the players don’t give a fu** about competing.

Correct - we need a full circuit breaker not nourishment. We need new senior players, new coaching across the board and a raft of new young talent - basically we need to start the rebuild again with JHF as the starting point.

That can't happen of course because of the previous administrations over extending coaches contracts so we are maxed out on the soft cap.

Also on field we look to next years draft with rich pickings of 1 pick inside 50.

It's a balls up across all parts of the organisation and we are where we are. But we can all hang on to the hope that it 'will turn' one day.

 

[Gasometer]

Fair enough too. For all the s**t he copped he's better, faster and made less mistakes than a half dozen players we're going with as of this round. Plus he didn't hurt himself putting his slippers on each day.

Atley was great except when he over thought his abilities and the next minute

“BALL”…….”BALL”…..free kick

 

[shintemaster]

Atley was great except when he over thought his abilities and the next minute

“BALL”…….”BALL”…..free kick

He was what he was but we've seen with Hall this year and Scott as well in his absence - it can be a tough gig running up the ground and finding a target when they don't exist.

 

[Gasometer]

He was what he was but we've seen with Hall this year and Scott as well in his absence - it can be a tough gig running up the ground and finding a target when they don't exist.

Atley had W80, Petrie, LT, Brown…and still “BALL”…

 

[shintemaster]

Atley had W80, Petrie, LT, Brown…and still “BALL”…

I agree completely. Just saying that in the current team he would have delivered exactly the same if not more than some of the blokes we have running around now.

 

[ferball]

He was what he was but we've seen with Hall this year and Scott as well in his absence - it can be a tough gig running up the ground and finding a target when they don't exist.

Especially when its rare than anyone runs with you.

 

[Horizons_00]

From the King himself:

Wayne Carey: There’s much for my old team to get right, and a few more harsh words might be needed

It really is a question of footy’s old school versus the new generation of footballer and how best to motivate them.

www.theage.com.au

This hit home from this article:

“I’ll admit, this week’s reports have me worried for Noble – not because I don’t think he can coach, but because I’m concerned his apology might box him in.

Does that water down his ability to deliver stern feedback in the future?
Whether it was because of Noble’s post-game ‘spray’ or not, the Roos responded in round four by putting in one of their best performances of the year against Sydney.

What levers does he have to get a response now? Because at the moment Noble is just not getting the response he needs”

^^ 100% agree. He is not getting any response from the players atm and he can’t give them a spray (which obviously works with our group btw) so wtf is he gonna do? Keep ignoring that the prayers don’t do the fundamentals like, you know, actually give some effort?

I honestly don’t know how Noble is going to turn this club around. Not even talking about wins here, just our players wanting to compete!

 

[King Corey]

For the love of God just hope more players take pride in theiir performance this week.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs around the coach a few of them are shitting in their own beds.