The recruitment of John Blakey to North Melbourne’s football department gave David Noble great confidence in the club’s direction, the incoming senior coach has revealed.

Blakey arrived at Arden Street a little over a month before Noble, but was already held in high regard.   

“I’ve known ‘Blakes’ for a long time. I tried to get him to Adelaide a few years ago when we were looking for a senior-assistant,” Noble said on 3AW.

“He was one that I knew and respected greatly and he’d had a great record; he’d not only played in premierships, but also coached with Leigh (Matthews) when he was at the Lions.”

Blakey boasts an impressive resume, having also coached alongside Paul Roos and John Longmire at Sydney from 2007 to 2020. 

“He’s been fantastic,” Noble said.

“I think when I looked at the role (senior coach) and who had been put in place; Glenn Luff (List Manager), Scott Clayton (Head of Player Personnel), John Blakey … the club was already well down the path of making some good decisions of where it wanted it to go.

“If it hadn’t have been John (Blakey) who was here and I’d got the gig, he would have been one person I’d have been going hard after.”

North’s new-look coaching panel has seen the arrival of Heath Younie, who Noble worked closely with at Adelaide, Jordan Russell and Anthony Rocca.