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It’s the curiously-timed triple walkout that has forced North Melbourne to put out several fires and ultimately threatens to disrupt the club’s very public, long-term rebuild.
Rival recruiters were left shocked on Tuesday night when contacted by foxfooty.com.au after North confirmed long-time national recruiting manager Mark Finnigan and list manager Glenn Luff had walked out at the club just over one week before the mid-season draft. Ben Birthisel, the club’s national recruiting officer, also departed days before to add to the unusual timing.
Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy labeled it a “disastrous day” and “a worrying turn of events” for the Kangaroos, telling 3AW’s Sportsday “Mid-season walkouts point to a much, much bigger issue than wins and losses”.
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North football boss Brady Rawlings then stressed on Sportsday all three resignations were three separate scenarios.
Rawlings confirmed Finnigan, who had been at the club full-time for 11 years following five years in the club’s recruiting team working in a part-time capacity, had turned down various rival-club approaches over the years but had been contemplating an offer from Hawthorn for the past “three or four weeks” – a dilemma he’d been in constant contact with Rawlings about. The Herald Sun. reported Finnigan was leaving the club after feeling “undermined and unsupported” over recent months and felt compelled to move on after Roos officials were “lukewarm” on matching the Hawks ’three-year offer.
Birthisel, who started at North part-time close to a decade ago, had accepted an opportunity from a recruiting firm outside of the footy industry that’d been in front of him for “two or three weeks”, according to Rawlings, who added : “Ben 100 per cent went with my blessing. I’ve been working with him around that. ” Foxfooty.com.au understands Birthisel resigned last week, not this week, to take up an opportunity he’d been studying towards over many years.
Luff, who joined North in 2018 as head of game analysis before becoming list manager one year later then head of player personnel late last year, left the club “to pursue new opportunities”, according to North’s statement on Tuesday. Unlike Finnigan and Birthisel’s departures, Luff’s resignation on Tuesday seemed to catch the Roos off-guard.
Asked specifically why Luff had left, Rawlings told Sportsday: “He’s a great operator, Glenn, loved his time working here with me and for us and he’s decided to pursue other opportunities. So that’s probably more of a question for Glenn than for me. “
The exodus, coincidental or unfortunately timed, comes with the rebuilding Kangaroos 1-9 and facing external questions over some list decisions.
The Kangaroos have deliberately gutted their list to ‘start again’. They’ve delisted 17 players across the past two seasons and 21 from the past four as part of a significant rebuild. Experienced players such as Ben Brown (Melbourne), Shaun Higgins (Geelong) and Robbie Tarrant (Richmond) have all been traded during those off-seasons.
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It was curious last Thursday when all of Callum Coleman-Jones (traded from Richmond in late 2021), Jaidyn Stephenson and Atu Bosenavulagi (both traded from Collingwood in late 2020) for the same game against Melbourne on Saturday. Four-time Power best and fairest winner Kane Cornes made a note of the omissions, cheekily writing on Twitter last week “recruiting going well at North”, before adding on Footy Classified: “You can’t pick players off a computer screen… Correct me If I’m wrong, I’d like to know one positive list management move they’ve made in the last four or five years. “
North fans also seem most frustrated the club opted to take midfielder Will Phillips with Pick 3 at the 2020 draft over key forward Logan McDonald, who was instead snapped up by Sydney with Pick 4. Phillips hasn’t played a game for North this year due to illness after managing 16 in his debut AFL season.
Herald Sun. reporter Jon Ralph wrote the criticism of North’s list calls was an “unfair hit job on some of the list team’s draft picks” and would’ve had Luff wondering where the information came from.
Rawlings also fiercely defended the club’s list strategy, saying his scouts attend an array of matches across the country in-person and conduct interviews to assess prospects’ characters. He said: “Clearly Kane hasn’t seen how the football environment works in that area.”
Luff and Finnigan also saw a significant football department turnover over the past three years at the club, including three different coaches – Brad Scott, Rhyce Shaw and David Noble – and head of football changes.
Finnigan, Luff and Birthisel’s departures came to light eight days before the mid-season draft, in which the Kangaroos will have one selection at – either Pick 1 or 2, depending on Round 11 results. Rawlings on Tuesday night insisted the Roos were still “really well prepared” for the mini draft, adding: “There’s nothing that’s going to change between now and next Wednesday that’s going to affect anything we do.”
It all comes following more reports around coach Noble and how he’d changed his approach to providing feedback to his players over the past two months.
Fox Footy journalist Ralph reported on On The Couch earlier this month that an angry Noble had apologized to his playing group after a vicious spray in the aftermath of the 108-point loss to Brisbane in Round 3. Ralph reported Noble’s bake after the defeat at The Gabba was personal enough in nature that some of the players were left “shell-shocked” – some even close in tears.
Ralph reported on Tuesday night that Noble’s preference to “roar rather than cuddle” was an “open secret” during the early stages of the 2022 campaign, writing in the Herald Sun. that Noble, in his first season in charge last year had “delivered more sprays than Brad Scott in his entire tenure”.
Noble, after the Round 3 loss, reflected on his tirade and said sorry to the players, prompting a change in attitude that has led to him delivering feedback in a more positive and uplifting manner.
Still, the Roos haven’t won since Round 2 and are now facing a third straight bottom-four finish.
Rawlings said the club would begin the process of replacing the vacant roles over the coming months. In the meantime, The Age reported Rawlings and veteran recruiter Scott Clayton would assume responsibility for the entire recruiting and list management portfolio.
Whoever takes on the roles will now be highly scrutinized. For as AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley suggested on Tuesday night, the recruiting department moves had the potential to shake the foundations of the rebuild if they were due to disunity within the club.
“Rebuilds only work when stability is achieved. I think we’ve seen enough that once the stability fails, the rebuild usually collapses and you have to start again. So this is the risk in this phase for North Melbourne, ”he told AFL 360.
“If this instability lasts right throughout the year, then what does it look like in the off-season and have gains been made coming into 2023?”
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