North Melbourne have officially appointed Brisbane Lions footy boss David Noble as the club's next head coach in the wake of Rhyce Shaw's exit.
Noble was widely tipped to win the role, beating out reported candidates Collingwood assistant Robert Harvey and Essendon assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa.
North Melbourne chairman Ben Buckley confirmed the news on Friday afternoon and said the club was confident Noble could lead the Kangaroos to success in the future.
"We were very clear on what we wanted in our next coach and we have found that in David. We are delighted to appoint him the 38th coach [including interim coaches] of our football club," Buckley said.
"David has a profound knowledge of all areas of the football department and knows what it takes to win and set up club's for success, having been part of no less than 13 AFL finals series throughout his impressive career so far.
"He is a great fit for our club and will complement our strategic direction. We are very confident he will lead our young side back up the ladder in the coming years."
Noble previously spent 11 years with Adelaide before joining the Lions in 2016. At the Crows, he spent five years (2005-10) as an assistant coach and held roles as the club's list manager (2011-13) and head of football (2014-16).
Noble's appointment comes as North Melbourne champion David King backed the former Lions footy boss to lead the Kangaroos into the future.
"It's important because we've unfortunately put Rhyce in a position that challenged him to some degree in 2020 and it hasn't gone to plan and unfortunately that hasn't worked for anyone. You can't afford that situation happening again – you can't afford in 12 to 18 months to be replacing this guy," King told SEN Breakfast.
"This is why it comes back to David Noble for me, just because of sheer experience and having seen challenge at a whole host of football clubs before.
"He has the experience I think to take the media side of things really well. There's going to be some challenging questions … he'll be able to sit there in a really measured and calm way and educate us on the run.
"I think David Noble is a Kangaroos kind of guy – you get what you see. This is a guy that's been around struggling footy clubs and been to the Brisbane Lions and had a major impact on what they've done in the last couple of years."
Noble will take over from Shaw who last month stepped down from head coaching duties.
Shaw from his 29 games as the head coach of North Melbourne, finished with 10 wins and 19 losses.
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