The North Melbourne Kangaroos and senior coach David Noble have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.
Noble and the club reached the decision after a series of meetings on Monday, in the wake of North's loss to Collingwood on Saturday, which was its 14th defeat in a row.
Speaking at a media conference with club president Dr Sonja Hood and CEO Ben Amarfio, Noble said the decision had been made on Monday, a conversation he said was simply a continuation of discussions that had started "a few weeks ago" when it became clear results weren't improving.
"We both walked away comfortable that this was the right call for myself, my family and the club going forward," he said.
"I always worked in the best interests of the players, the staff and the football club ... but ultimately, the scoreboard doesn't make for great reading."
Noble said he would step away from the industry after leaving North, but indicated he would continue to pursue a career in football.
"I feel I have unfinished business in the industry," he said.
In a letter to members, Dr Hood said the on-field performances had "failed to live up to expectations", prompting the club to make a call on Noble's tenure.
"While we appreciate that we are at the beginning of a rebuild, it doesn’t give us a free pass in terms of expecting competitive performances. We entered this season optimistic about 2022 because of our record in the second half of 2021 and solid off-season recruiting," Dr Hood said.
"The pre-season sentiment internally was overwhelmingly positive.
"Resisting the urge to dream big, we set a simple benchmark – improve on last year, compete consistently against the teams around us on the ladder and play a brand of football that challenged the competition’s best teams.
"Put simply, we have failed to live up to those expectations, and that is why we have agreed to end David’s tenure as coach."
MESSAGE TO MEMBERS Read Dr Sonja Hood's letter in full
The club's former 104-game player Leigh Adams, an assistant at the Kangaroos for the last three seasons and the current coach of their VFL program, will take the reins as interim boss at Arden Street for the remaining six games of the year.
Noble's departure comes less than two weeks into a review of the club's football operations by veteran administrator Geoff Walsh.
Noble, who was appointed in November 2020, had previously had a long and distinguished career as an assistant coach and head of football at Adelaide before helping to steer Brisbane back to relevance as its football boss.
