Watch Toronto Wolfpack take on Leeds Rhinos in Super League on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Arena and Main Event from 7pm
Thursday 5 March 2020 08:29, UK
He may no longer have a day-to-day role with Toronto Wolfpack after departing from his post as director of rugby, but you would be hard-pressed to find a stauncher supporter of the Canadian outfit than Brian Noble.
The man who oversaw Bradford Bulls' glory years in Super League at the turn of the century and is a self-confessed rugby league expansionist had been in the role with Toronto since 2016, having joined ahead of their entry into League One the following year.
On the pitch, things could hardly have gone better for the Wolfpack during that time, earning a place in Super League for 2020 on the back of two promotions in three years, although it has been a tough initiation for the club since earning their place in the top flight.
The abrupt departure of Noble, who will appear as studio guest on Sky Sports' live coverage of Toronto's trip to Leeds Rhinos on Thursday, came as a surprise to many observers as well. However, the man himself remains in regular contact with his now-former employers.
"The umbilical cord hasn't quite been cut," Noble told Sky Sports. "I'm still a fan, I'm still interested in what happens and I have a good working relationship with the ownership group, so I can still offer them a pound of flesh in relation to that.
"Clearly, I miss the players day-to-day, but that's what happens when you agree to move on. But I'm still a huge fan, I still look at the games intimately as if I was advising and some of the players still contact me.
"I'm not quite dead in that respect, so it's important I'm still available because I'm still a fan and, while I'm doing nothing else, it's still my No. 1 priority as a hobby if nothing else."
Despite some encouraging signs in their performances since earning promotion, Toronto travel to head coach Brian McDermott's former club Leeds having suffered five defeats in their first five Super League matches - the most recent being a 32-0 loss to defending champions St Helens last Saturday.
McDermott has remained upbeat despite those early-season struggles though, taking solace in how he sees his side adapting to life at the highest level of the British professional game, and Noble is in agreement with his former colleague.
"I'm really confident in the current squad," Noble said. "We picked up two injuries to the three people we signed, and long-term as well, but the character of the group is completely intact.
"I understand the dynamics of professional sport and wins count, but sometimes you've got to understand what you're trying to do.
"When the drier tracks come in the middle part of the season and the end part of the season, that's when you have to be playing your best football.
"We haven't had the ideal start, but you've got to hold your nerve if you can see shoots of improvement week by week and in the main, up to the last game, I've probably seen that."
The club have been criticised in some quarters for starting the season with just 23 players in their squad, choosing instead to bring in cross-code superstar Sonny Bill Williams as one of their marquee signings on a two-year deal which reputedly makes him the highest-paid player in either rugby code.
But while Noble concedes the Wolfpack could have gone for extra squad depth over Williams, he insists there should be no regrets about making a signing which generated headlines for both the club and Super League around the world.
"The fact we went into this season, purposely, with the amount of troops we've got hasn't helped us, but I don't know how it could have been done differently," Noble said.
"Clearly, we could have not signed Sonny Bill Williams and then had 26 players, but we've always made decisions that have been good for the game.
"That's been the case since year one when (then-head coach) Paul Rowley wanted to sign Fuifui Moimoi - he won that argument because he was box-office.
"We're in the entertainment business and he's a larger-than-life character who managed to put bums on seats in Canada. I don't think the Wolfpack will ever go away from that."
On a personal level, Noble is looking for opportunities to stay involved in rugby league after leaving his role with Toronto a month into the 2020 season and revealed he has already turned down two job offers.
Even though his time with the Wolfpack came to an abrupt end, the 59-year-old looks back with pride of what was achieved during the past four years and is quick to underline the progress made in a relatively short time span.
"It's been an unbelievable journey and a quick journey," Noble said. "Nobody was in a rush at the start and it was a five-year plan to get to Super League, and we've of course been well-supported by (owner) David Argyle as a group.
"There have been some talented people on the coaching and medical staff. Other than the injuries, the smallness of the squad and the fact they haven't got a 'W' on the board at present, everything else is in place.
"To see where it was four years ago which was a blank piece of paper in a coffee shop with a Cornish pasty is an unbelievable success story. Justifiably, along with others, we should be proud of what we've achieved."
