Key-position player Josh Walker will return for this weekend’s clash with Geelong.
Walker, who can play as either a key-defender or key-forward, was a late omission from last week’s clash with Adelaide, as he struggled to overcome hamstring tightness.
Noble says Walker’s return is hopefully just the first of a number of senior players returning to full fitness, and that the club's recent spate of injuries had allowed players to gain experience in different roles.
“Josh Walker is back in the team so that certainly helps us, and over the next two or three weeks we’d like to think we’ll get another two or three experienced players back,” Noble told North Media.
“What injuries allow you to do is look at something a bit different. It might mean a couple of players, where they played last week, might not necessarily play this week. What we did with Kayne Turner for example.
“The experience we’ve got with the [likes of] Powell and Lazzaro, the growth opportunity for those guys going forward is huge for us.”
With North’s fast, attacking game plan starkly contrasting with Geelong’s generally slower and more considered approach, Noble believes the tactical battle between the two sides adds another intriguing element to the game.
He says North has been working hard on rectifying the defensive issues that saw his side fall to Adelaide late in the fourth quarter, and he’s excited with the development he’s seen from his players.
“It’s an interesting dynamic if we get our offence right which we think has been improving really well,” Noble said.
“What’s hurt us is our defence, so we’ve been working really hard to get better mechanisms into our defence … like think when there’s time and opportunity to create forward movement and opportunity.
“What happens is if you go really quick and turn it over then the whole team is in offensive mode. We just need to pick and choose our times but we still want to play quick where we can.”
Coming in as a late replacement for the injured Walker last week, Tom Campbell played an impressive role in the ruck for much of the game.
His addition in the side allowed Todd Goldstein to move forward and kick two goals, while Nick Larkey was relieved of ruck duties and kicked three majors for the game.
Noble says the addition of an extra tall not only helps with North’s forward structure, but will also allow the side to get the most out of Larkey in the forward 50.
“We brought Campbell in last week as the second ruckman and quite liked the look of that, so we’ll probably persist with that,” he said.
“It has a knock-on effect for Larkey as well, so Larks can actually play as a forward and we can teach him the work ethic and positioning as a forward without him being a little more gassed if he goes in the ruck.
“I think it helps our structure if we’ve got two calls, so if we want to go quick in a certain phase of the game we can get it in a bit longer. I think 'Goldy' [Goldstein] or Tom [Campbell], and 'Larks' down there allows you to draw the ball a bit deeper.”
