North Melbourne chief executive Ben Amarfio admits the club’s association with Paul Roos has been “difficult” this year.
Roos joined the Kangaroos to help select senior coach David Noble in 2020 before taking up a consultancy role for the following season.
The Sydney premiership coach’s return to Hawaii meant he had to relinquish his match day commitments with the Roos for the 2022 season.
SEN Breakfast co-hosts David King and Kane Cornes quizzed Amarfio on the club’s partnership with Roos.
King: “How do you assess the Paul Roos association with the Kangaroos? Both the success of it and the investment in it. How do you assess it?”
Amarfio: “It’s been difficult this year because ‘Roosy’ is not here.
“In an ideal world, Roosy would be in the business regularly and that’s hard because of his own situation in the United States.”
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Cornes: “Did you know that when you signed him up though? Were you not conscious of that being the fact?”
Amarfio: “Roosy’s got an American wife and he’s always travelling back-and-forth.
“We knew that at the time, obviously.
“He’s going through an immigration process that requires him to be in the United States, so in an ideal world, we’d love him here, but he can’t be here.
“That’s an opportunity for us.
“Do we try and get more experience and more support around the coaching group that can be physically in the building and around on match day?”
Roos was part of two successful coaching succession plans with John Longmire at the Swans and Simon Goodwin with Melbourne.
Noble, John Blakey (senior assistant), Gavin Brown (head of development), Heath Younie (forwards coach), Jordan Russell (midfield coach), Anthony Rocca (ruck coach), Leigh Adams (development and VFL coach) and Brent Harvey (development and goalkicking) make up North Melbourne’s coaching staff.