David Noble has departed the footy landscape for a role as CEO of V8 Supercars team Shell V-Power Racing, but he was also in the running for the AFL General Manager of Football role.
The role, vacated by Brad Scott after one year, oversees the laws of the game, rule changes and the broader footy landscape.
Speaking on SEN’s Sportsday, the former North Melbourne coach ran through a few things he would have considered changing had he ended up in that role.
“There are two or three things that could be opened up a bit, I reckon,” Noble said.
“There’s player movement – I’d be interested to see how player movement mid-season is going to look like.
“I know we’ve got the drafts in there, but whether or not there is more scope for movement, I think they’ve got things pretty good at the back-end of the year with the way that moves around, but mid-season there is scope to look around.
“Certainly I think the umpires, where they sit in the overall context, I still believe going forward – umpiring is the only part of the AFL game that is not full-time and I think that needs some serious consideration going forward. That would be a big one.
“Then it’s – how do we support clubs. How can the AFL continue to support clubs being competitive going forward.”
Noble was also part of the St Kilda external review that ultimately sacked coach Brett Ratten.
He revealed he has signed a non-disclosure agreement around what took place in the review, but gave his broader perspective.
“I thought the program overall was in pretty good shape,” Noble said.
“I think ultimately, led by Andrew and Simon, there were some pretty high standards that they want to obtain and I think that was the result of putting the panel together to really search out how they could achieve greater aspirations at the football club.
“I’ve got to be cautious, I’ve signed a (non-disclosure agreement). It was more the top-line of what that detail looked like from an overall program, but ultimately it’s a tough industry and the demands are pretty high.”
Listen to the full chat below