North Melbourne is forming a “united” front, despite confirmation that the list manager resigned this week because he felt unsupported.
Most important points:
- Glenn Luff was one of three employees who left the Kangaroos
- Kangaroos CEO Ben Amarfio says Luff’s resignation is a ‘shock’
- David Noble says he is confident the club can turn its fortunes on the pitch
Glenn Luff resigned on Tuesday, while longtime national recruiting manager Mark Finnigan and recruiting officer Ben Birthisel have also left the club, which is languishing in penultimate place on the ladder with one win from 10 games.
The exodus of the three recruiters comes on the eve of the mid-season draft.
Kangaroos chief executive Ben Amarfio said Luff had cited a lack of support as the reason for his decision to leave the club.
“I think there are a number of reasons why Glenn left and that’s one of many reasons,” Amarfio told an Arden Street media conference on Thursday.
When asked why Luff didn’t feel supported, Amarfio said, “That’s a question for Glenn.”
ABC Sport has contacted Luff for comment, but he has not yet responded.
Amarfio described Luff’s resignation as a “shock”.
“We were disappointed. We would have liked to keep him,” said Amarfio.
Finnigan left the Kangaroos to move to Hawthorn, while Birthisel dropped out to take a permanent job in another industry.
†[Mark Finnigan] got a great offer and he got a certainty… that we couldn’t match,” said Amarfio.
The resignation leaves football boss and former player Brady Rawlings and veteran recruiter Scott Clayton as the only members of the Kangaroos full-time recruiting staff.
“It’s not ideal to lose three recruiters at this time of year, but… the work for the mid-season draw has been done in recent months,” said Amarfio.
“The staff feel united, they feel happy.”
Amarfio said head coach David Noble, who is in his second season with the Kangaroos, had the support of all key stakeholders at Arden Street.
Amarfio admitted that the kangaroos were going through a “strenuous trot”.
“In terms of where we thought we would be as a club, given other successful refurbishments, this is what we expected,” said Amarfio.
“Are we frustrated? Absolutely. Would we like to be a little more competitive and narrow our margins of loss? Absolutely.
“But we are not surprised that we are in the position we are in.”
Noble in for the ‘long distance’
Noble said Amarfio’s support was an indication that the club remained strong and united.
“I took this job because I understood that difficult times will come,” he said.
“I’m here for the long term. I want our club to be successful and strong.”
Noble shouted what he labeled as misleading stories in the media.
He pointed to reports that he had “disturbing” relationships with players and that he had been ordered to apologize to the playing side after speaking after a humiliating loss to Brisbane earlier this season.
“I wish people would stop reporting them because they aren’t true,” Noble said.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say that our players are involved.
Noble disagreed that the departure of the three recruiters was a bad sight, saying that each person’s personal circumstances were different and the situation could be worse.
Meanwhile, Amarfio invited Kangaroos greats Wayne Carey and David King to come to the club to be “part of the solution” as it looks set to improve his performance.
Carey and King – who were Kangaroos teammates in the premiership in 1996 and 1999 – were among the club’s most outspoken critics.
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