North Melbourne have announced Brisbane football boss David Noble as their new senior coach.
The Kangaroos settled on Noble on Friday after finalising arrangements to make him their coach from 2021 onwards.
Collingwood's Robert Harvey and Essendon's Daniel Giansiracusa were the other two candidates in the running.
Noble, 53, replaces Rhyce Shaw after he departed the club last month for personal reasons with two years remaining on his contract following a tough year in the hub.
“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,” North Melbourne chairman Ben Buckley said in a statement.
“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.”
He joined Brisbane in 2016, having previously worked at the Adelaide Crows as their general manager of football and the Western Bulldogs as an assistant coach.
Noble played two AFL games for Fitzroy and also coached at SANFL level for Glenelg.
He is the father of Collingwood defender John Noble.
Noble was part of the committee at Brisbane that selected Chris Fagan to become the new senior coach from 2017.
Lions players were reportedly informed on Friday afternoon that he would be departing the club.
Buckley was confident that Noble was the right coach to lead the club forward.
“We’ve done a lot of work, particularly over the past 12 months, to re-shape our list and get into a position that will bring about sustained future success.
“We believe we have set a solid foundation and the time is right for someone of David’s caliber to come in and work with our talented list of up and coming young stars, and senior players, and mold the team with his great leadership and knowledge.”
