North Melbourne has formed a coaching selection panel, with Paul Roos joining the club in its search for a new head coach.
Roos will join North CEO Ben Amarfio, GM football Brady Rawlings, Board member and football director Glenn Archer, Board member Sonja Hood and Centre for Leadership Advantage co-founder and director, Terry Coyne.
The panel will be facilitated by Bruno Conti, Partner at one of Australia’s leading recruitment firms, SHK Asia Pacific.
The experienced Roos joins North after senior coaching stints at the Sydney Swans (2002-2010) and Melbourne (2014-2016). His successful coaching career which yielded a premiership in 2005, followed a stellar playing career that included 356 games over 17 seasons with Fitzroy (1982-1994) and Sydney (1995-1998).
After hanging up the boots at the Swans as a player, Roos remained at the club and progressed into the senior coaching role in 2002. It wasn’t long until he led the club to the ultimate success in 2005; its first flag in 72 seasons. The Swans played finals in seven of the eight seasons Roos was at the helm. Roos came out of retirement in 2013 when he joined Melbourne as coach.
Coyne is a highly respected organisational psychologist. Since 1983 he has worked across most facets of Australian business and sport. In 1989 he co-founded Coyne Didsbury which was acquired by global consulting firm Personnel Decisions in 2002. He continued as CEO and Executive Consultant until 2013.
Archer played 311 games for the Kangaroos including premierships in 1996 and 1999, a Norm Smith Medal, three All-Australian nods, Shinboner of the Century and a member of North’s Team of the Century. In 2015 he accepted the role as Football Director at the Kangaroos, which saw him spend numerous years assisting key football department personnel in all areas including coaching, medical, strength and conditioning, and list and management strategy.
Hood, CEO of Community Hubs Australia and Board Chair of McAuley Community Services for Women, was a key player in mobilising the North supporter base when the AFL attempted to relocate the club to the Gold Coast in 2007. She also led the club’s community-arm, The Huddle, when she was GM Community Engagement.
Rawlings played 245 games in the royal blue and white stripes and is a three-time Syd Barker Medal winner. He spent six years at the premiership-winning West Coast Eagles as an assistant coach and list manager before returning to Arden St last year.
Amarfio boasts experience at the highest levels of international sports, media and marketing, having spent time as Executive GM at Cricket Australia and General Manager at Southern Cross Austereo. He also held senior roles at the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the AFL.
Specialising in executive appointments, Conti’s experience includes time as Chairman of the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
North chairman, Ben Buckley, said he has full confidence in the coaching panel, which brings an array of different experiences.
“We are thrilled to have Paul and Terry among our coaching panel, alongside Ben, Brady, Sonja and Glenn,” Buckley told North Media.
“Our aim is to identify and appoint the best coach available. We firmly believe we have established a well-rounded coaching panel to help us identify the person that can bring us success and build a foundation for the future.
“We have been working on a shortlist of candidates and will be conducting interviews shortly. We expect to be in a position to announce the successful candidate in due course.”
