North Melbourne settle on new head coach

I'm sorry if you get offended by the Tasmania connection and me connecting the dots. I don't read Caro or Hutchy or Barrett or any of the Vic journos who flog the Suns mercilessly and have driven the Suns to Tasmania agenda. I have a long memory of North's efforts to avoid merging or relocation. The merger with Fitzroy was seen as a fait accompli until Ross Oakley stopped it and forced the Lions brand to be sold to Brisbane, my old club. North Fitzroy Kangaroos came very close to happening, while the Roos have played home games in Canberra, Sydney, Gold Coast and Hobart. In 2008, the Gold Coast Kangaroos was almost a reality, with a reported three quarters of the North Melbourne Board ready to accept the AFL's offer of $111 million. But then Brayshaw came along and wrecked the deal. And even before that, North have had a relationship with Tasmania. Your AFLW team plays there too and your NGA is based there. 3 of the players on your list are Tasmanians and now your coach. Increasing the number of games the club plays there, the training camps and extended hubs you could have there just makes sense. Even realistic Tasmanians will tell you that their State can't sustain 100% of a team, especially not from scratch. They are better off with two teams. Hobart with 75% of the Kangaroos home games and Launceston with 40% of the Hawks home games. The beauty of playing 9 games in Hobart would be still getting 9 games in Melbourne, which is the proposed model. I'm not making all of this up. It's talked about throughout the industry. North don't like it and supporters don't like it, but the AFL has to accommodate the State of Tasmania and break up the remnants of the 10 team Victorian suburban VFL.

Hmmm the coach new this plan before he took the job. And what goals are you meant to have? Brisbane where last and 15th in 2017 & 2018. North have 6 rising stars, 2 guns in Simpkin and LDU and 3 top draft picks in the next 2 drafts (if they finish low next year) that’s 11 core players. Draft in Josh Kelly as free agent, get Nick Blakey to come join his old man back at North and the list changes. Nothing wrong with ambition, I’m not sure what else you are meant to sell to a young group. North were top 8 in 2020 for pressures acts, contested ball, tackles and defensive rebounds and they were top 4 until injuries took a toll. The defensive side is there and as Noble has said he wants to attack. North needs some clean ball users as they were woefully inadequate last year and hopefully that’s addressed in the draft and with free agency in the next 2 years. Simpkin, Anderson and Dumont were as hard as a cats head but their disposal needs to improve. Rawlings, Blakey, Gavin Brown, Paul Roos and Scotty Clayton all know a bit about football and list management and have a clear plan and direction and none of those heads would want to put a ceiling on success. That would be dumb.

Yes people draw those dots if they get their info from the likes of Caroline Wilson, Hutchy, Kane Cornes and Damien Barrett - the 4 wisest monkeys that have been beating the Tassie drum since Brayshaw’s days. This isn’t a personal attack on you I’m just sick of the misinformation spread by those magoos in the media. North will play 4 in Tassie but there is no relocation. We’ve spent 20 million on Arden St and the Vic Govt just gave another 10 million this week to create a media centre and upgrade other facilities. All 4 clubs call Arden St home - AFL, VFL, AFLW & VFLW ( how many other teams have 4 stand alone clubs?) The biggest event is the transformation of North Melbourne from an industrial suburb to a residential suburb with 50,000 new residents in the next couple of years. Which means memberships. The government is also committed to creating the Arden Street Complex which is set to be one of the biggest sport and recreational facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. The wider media NEVER report this. It’s a boring story for them there’s no blood. Damien Barrett professes that he is a North Supporter but I no longer read his articles because of his bias and public fight with Archer & Buckley and the same with C. Wilson and her hate of North and Brayshaw. Unfortunately the public listen to these clowns and the North hierarchy and staff have no way of defending themselves from constant media attacks. Your earlier claim that we are the smallest club is wrong. When North are playing finals we have more members than St.Kilda and the Dogs and if they are in finals then they have more. They are no ‘bigger’ than North and certainly no more successful. Many, many more finals matches in the past 50 years. Unfortunately our two strongest decades the 70’s and 90’s didn’t correlate with high membership because it wasn’t a thing back then. We need sustained success now which will increase and retain members. Hawthorn have that blueprint. * if North want to get bigger we can always sell our soul and embrace the pokies like all the other clubs (I think one other Vic club have stopped the pokies). It’s a great money earner! * not sure what you mean by no one at North gets sacked??? Again it really sounds like you swallow up Caroline Wilson & Co garbage. Why should they be sacked? Because Shaw had mental health issues? NOBODY was whining last year when North showed a lot under Shaw. The coaching tenure didn’t work out. So what? Who got sacked at St.Kilda or Carlton or Essendon because they had sustained periods of mediocrity On field North have 5 rising stars plus Stephenson. LDU and Simpkin didn’t qualify and they have 2 top draft picks. If they struggle next year there is another top pick. That’s a core group of 11 young guns to build around - snatch a free agent like Josh Kelly next year and coax Blakey to come and join his father back at North (maybe I’m drawing dots) to join Cunnington, Anderson, Ziebel and co. then things look pretty good. Have a look at Brisbane and their position on the ladder 3- 4 years ago. We (North) played them in the last round for the Cam Rayner Cup in 2017 and they finished 15th 2018. They’ve finished top 4 the past 2 years. Why? Because they had a core group of young players and traded in some class like Cameron. I am pretty sure if people said Brisbane would be top 4 after finishing last and 15th they would have laughed. So no, North aren’t deluded they are being ambitious like every other club. You did say North aren’t as bad as the media are making out and I think you’re right and I’m not expecting finals next year but I am expecting exciting signs.

That's a great get for North, Noble has a fantastic resume and is a big reason why Brisbane is where they are today. But Ben Buckley telling the public that he expects North to compete for the top 4 within 3 years us just dumb. They won't be there. They don't have the list, it ain't happening and it puts unnecessary pressure on a first time coach.

Yeah, I read that and it just makes you think they are either facing relocation if they can't dramatically turn things around or else they are deluded. I like Ben Buckley and I think David Noble is a good choice for coach, but there must be something diabolical going on internally for Rhyce Shaw to have a public mental breakdown and then the club installs a Tasmanian as coach. Am I the only one drawing the dots?

Imagine getting the gig and then hearing your chairman on national radio, saying that you've got 2-3 years to get North competing for top-4...

Poor Rob Harvey, the perennial bridesmaid.

Bombers v Blues

I assume you are talking about North vs Hawks. Seriously? A couple of bottom 4 sides even getting an MCG game is debatable.

The trumpet after each goal is impressive

They’ll still get 70-80 thousand in the gates

I’m from the Gold Coast, mate. We have 10 to 12 low crowd drawing matchups a year. It isn’t that hard to figure out which games to have at the MCG or a non-Victorian venue. Western Bulldogs even play in Ballarat when they have a matchup like the Suns. North have played heaps of games at venues like Hobart, Canberra and the Gold Coast because they are the smallest club in Melbourne.

Hawks supporters aren't used to being in the wilderness Mr Right might take them a while to find there way to a game.

What about when Carlton or Essendon are at the bottom of the ladder?

North vs Hawks when they are both at the bottom of the ladder and it’s North’s home game should be in Tassie.

Not so Noble

Good that Noble knows what he wants and will not be distracted from it. North need such singular focus.

Hawks a low drawing team in Melb?

"“I moved … up here (to Brisbane) to broaden my skill-set from an admin perspective and would like to see my path is still moving to that CEO role,” he told Trade Radio last month. That’s the direction I’ve clearly taken. I’m heading down that CEO path if I can.”" News just in, with that level of honesty he has just been poached by Collingwood ;)

Seems to be a good move, better than a younger coach for a team in this position