Matt Rendell rates the North Melbourne coaching gig as a “plum job”.
The Kangaroos parted ways with David Noble earlier this week and there have already been plenty of names thrown up as his potential replacement.
Alastair Clarkson is the number one candidate while the names of Ross Lyon and even Mark Williams have been mentioned.
But recruiting guru Rendell has put forward another prospective candidate for the Arden Street role which he describes as a “plum job”.
Current Sydney assistant and former Adelaide head coach Don Pyke is the right man provided he would be keen on the job, according to Rendell.
“I reckon it’s a plum job,” he said SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“The bloke who hasn’t been spoken about at all about coaching them, and I can’t believe why, is Don Pyke.
“Surely he only lost the job at the Crows because of the camp saga. I don’t think there was any other reason that I know of.
“He’s an experienced coach and been successful. I would have thought he would be a great get for North to coach them if he wants to do the job.”
Pyke departed Adelaide at the end of 2019 after four seasons at the helm, which included the 2017 Grand Final. He has been John Longmire’s assistant at the Swans since late 2020.
Rendell believes the incoming coach will inherit a promising Kangaroos list due to the presence of quality youngsters.
Club president Sonja Hood described it as a “really great playing list”, and although Rendell wouldn’t go that far, he does see a positive future.
“It’s not a great list,” Rendell admitted.
“They’ve got some great young talent, but they’re babies and yet to be proven.
“We’ve seen enough of (Jy) Simpkin, Tarryn Thomas, LDU (Luke Davies-Uniacke) to know they’re really good players. There’s some more there.
“Ben McKay, I think will be an All-Australian key back. They’ve never done anything with their forward line and they’re paying the price this year. (Nick) Larkey and (Cam) Zurhaar last year did a great job, but they need to fix that up. (Callum) Coleman-Jones, I don’t know what’s happened there.”
With more high draft picks to come, the playing list will only improve in the coming years, but patience is still required.
“It’s in its infancy on a rebuild and it’s seven years away from challenging,” Rendell said further.
“As history tells you, Geelong, Hawthorn and Richmond all took seven to eight years after getting all their great draft picks and starting a rebuild.
“They’ll be no different here. They have got some great kids.
“Their midfield is young and they’re all going to be great. Simpkin, Thomas, LDU and keep (Jason) Horne-Francis, there’s four guns.
“They’ve surely got to get (Jaidyn) Stephenson better, I like (Tom) Powell, he looks great, so they’ve got some real depth there and they’re going to get some super picks.”
The bottom-of-the-table Roos meet Richmond at Marvel Stadium on Saturday in their first game since the Noble sacking.
The club’s VFL coach Leigh Adams will act as caretaker for the remainder of the 2022 campaign.