If not Clarkson, then North should consider a Lyon handover

That North Melbourne and David Noble parted ways before the completion of consultant Geoff Walsh’s review into football – which is examining all aspects of the team’s poor performance – is a measure of feedback from key players and the desire to move quickly in finding his replacement.

There were concerns that players would be looking to leave. Ben McKay, according to well-placed sources, has been among those considering his future, although contracted for next year. Jason Horne-Francis and Tarryn Thomas have had difficult seasons and the latter, in particular, has become emblematic of Noble’s issues and the environment at the club.

David Noble (right) announces his departure alongside chief executive Ben Amarfio and president Sonja Hood.Credit:Getty Images

The priority for North must be to source a head of football with experience, sound judgment and clout. This is more important now that president Sonja Hood has guaranteed that chief executive Ben Amarfio will retain his position into 2023.

Amarfio is not a football CEO in the manner of Trevor Nisbett (West Coast) and if he is retained the Roos will need a strong football boss to support and counter-balance the incoming coach. Daniel McPherson, head of football performance, lacks experience.

The Roos are compelled to approach Alastair Clarkson. The four-time premiership coach, thus, could well have the choice of at least two clubs, having met with Greater Western Sydney last week.

It is not completely beyond the realms that Essendon will consider Clarkson, too, although the Bombers’ victories over Sydney and Brisbane have shored up Ben Rutten’s shaky position.

Alastair Clarkson is keen to coach again, but with one key proviso.Credit:Getty Images

Clarkson wants to coach, with the single proviso that he can win a fifth flag. “If I didn’t feel like I was the bloke who could take that club or that group of players to win it, then I’d stay out of the game,” Clarkson told Fox Footy in May.

Should Clarkson spurn any North advances, what are the options? Let’s consider the proven senior coaches first.

Adam Simpson, despite a horrendous season, appears committed to West Coast and vice-versa. Another old Shinboner, John Longmire, is entrenched in Sydney. That pair can be all but ruled out.

The noise around Ken Hinkley suggests that he intends to stick with Port Adelaide for 2023, which is also when his contract expires.

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has said that he does not wish to coach in 2023. If so, the Kangaroos shouldn’t try and dissuade him. Don Pyke, enjoying life as an assistant in Sydney, wouldn’t pursue the Collingwood job, so it’s hard to see him jumping at North.

Of the seasoned coaches with successful track records, that leaves Ross Lyon, an authoritarian figure who can polarise but whose coaching acumen and ability to get players on board is not in question.

North, thus, should seriously consider appointing Lyon for a short, three-year stint, in the manner of Paul Roos at Melbourne, with the club identifying a younger coach for a handover in year two or three. Lyon would work better with a limited tenure, when he will not be expected to deliver a flag or even finals.

Lyon would abruptly halt the uncompetitive and defensively inadequate efforts. His teams are hard to play against. Standards will be lifted, player dissent would cease and the most talented players, such as Horne-Francis, Luke Davies-Uniacke (LDU), Thomas and others (Will Phillips hopefully in that group), would have clear direction.

Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon.Credit:Getty Images

North would be more relevant and robust. They would regain respect and credibility.

Lyon would need to convince North’s hierarchy that he isn’t simply a coach who wrings the lemon of a mature, contending team and perhaps that he’s mellowed a tad. A stint at North would afford him the opportunity to show that he can preside over a successful rebuild (Freo’s rebuild finally bearing fruit).

Besides Lyon, the other proven coach to contemplate is Leon Cameron, whose efforts with the Giants were better than the market perception; while he had significant raw materials in players, he also faced the obstacles of piloting an expansion team in a footy-averse market.

The other path available to North is the standard coach-search process: to identify a cluster of up-and-coming assistant coaches, run a rigorous assessment and pick one. Having mucked up with the premature hiring of Rhyce Shaw (29 games) and now Noble (38 games), the club board must use more external experts for the process.

Fremantle and Collingwood have both flourished to date with “untried” assistants in Justin Longmuir and Craig McRae.

The long list of assistants to consider would include those who’ve been in the process for other senior gigs: Adam Kingsley (Richmond), Jaymie Graham (Fremantle), Adem Yze (Melbourne), Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon), plus Ashley Hansen (Carlton) and probably others.

North’s primary selling point should be their access to talent. They lack quality senior players, but will begin next season with a pair of pick No.1s, plus LDU, Thomas, Phillips and others. The job is more appealing than when Noble took it on.

In hindsight, Noble ought to have stuck to his career plan of working as a football operations chief en route to a club chief executive role, his road map when working as head of football for Adelaide and then the Brisbane Lions.

But the lure of coaching proved to be the devil’s candy that he, like many others, couldn’t resist. “I’m proud that I put my hand up and chose to have a go,” said Noble, in defence of his fateful gamble.

The existential questions that hang over North are unlikely to impact on a coach’s prospects in the short to medium term. Not while the current AFL funding model – which bails out fiscal failings or weak support – is intact.

For the Roos, the hard ask will be finding a revenue source to replace the gains from playing home games in Hobart once Tasmania get the green light as the 19th team.

Finding a coach is a much easier task.

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