Paul Roos says the lure of working with great people at North Melbourne was too good to ignore and he believes the club is poised to launch itself into an era of success.
The highly respected coach and leadership specialist began working with the Roos to identify and select the club’s new coach, David Noble, and will continue in a consultancy role for the football department, Board and administration.
He said North chairman Ben Buckley was one person in particular he wanted to collaborate with.
“For me, football's obviously about people, and Benny Buckley and I have an association … we spent a lot of time together in Sydney and I've sort of gone backwards and forwards with him over the years and spoken about footy in general and run into him and he’s just a great person,” Roos told North media.
“When I saw the phone ring … we discussed what that [role] might look like. So it was really comfortable, I guess, from day one, just to see where it was going to go.”
Roos is big on ensuring people know their roles and perform at the highest level, and he knows making a successful club and on-field team is more than just hiring a new coach.
“If you think you're going to appoint a coach and that's the solution to everything you're wrong,” he stated.
“But if you can get it from top down. Benny Buckley's an outstanding chairman. I've been impressed with Ben [Amarfio] in the role of CEO. The good thing about what I noticed at the Kangaroos is, they've all got great self-awareness, there's no one here that thinks they know everything.
“Ben's prepared to learn, Benny Buckley's prepared to learn, Brady and I have had some amazing conversations around how I can help him. So, the first stage is the lack of ego, the great self-awareness of the people and then, you know, the football coaching staff … if you had a Johnny Blakey on your staff, it just goes through the roof because he's such a learned football person. Gavin Brown … has got enormous wealth of knowledge. And then some of the younger coaches that have come in. So look, yeah, the building blocks are in place, the people are there and now we're going to get to work.
“The starting point for me in any footy club is, do you have the right people? And I couldn't have been more impressed of the people of the North Melbourne Footy Club. So that's the start … we're on the right path.
“I think that the club’s in terrific shape really, really good shape. And now it's about building for the future, but certainly the blocks are in place. There's no question about that.”
