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North Melbourne coach David Noble insists he is "not going anywhere" as the embattled Kangaroos wade through one of the trickiest periods in their AFL history.

North Melbourne coach David Noble insists he is at the embattled AFL club for the "long haul" following a tumultuous start to the season.

The Kangaroos are slumped at 1-9 and have endured another rocky week off the field with three staff recently departing Arden St.

Club legends, including dual premiership captain Wayne Carey, have hit out at how the Kangaroos are being managed.

Pressure has also amplified on Noble's future after winning just five out of 32 games since becoming North coach ahead of the 2021 season.

But Noble believes there are brighter days ahead for last year's wooden spooners and strongly disputed reports he has a fractured relationship with some players and staff.

The 55-year-old apologised to the playing group for giving them a blistering spray following the 108-point smashing against Brisbane in round three, but he felt it was necessary and rubbished claims the club asked him to.

"I took this job on understanding that there will be difficult times, but I'm here for the long haul," Noble said on Thursday.

"I want our club to be successful and strong, and all the things that get misreported outside are just not true.

"I don't know how many times I have to say our players are engaged, our players are moving forward.

"Our coaches are terrific; I've got a great relationship with the CEO (Ben Amarfio) and the board ... for the last time we are moving forward.

"Building high performance is difficult, where we're building from needs to be rigorous and you need to have debate and you need to challenge.

"I'm here for the challenge and I'm not going anywhere.

"I want to win more games, there's nothing clearer, but it's where we are, so now we've got to be united and strong."

National recruiting manager Mark Finnigan and head of player personnel Glenn Luff have quit, while colleague Ben Birthisel left last week.

Luff's departure has been particularly acrimonious, claiming he did not feel supported by certain people at the club.

Amarfio and club hierarchy were all surprised by Luff's sudden exit so close to the mid-season rookie draft.

"A lot of clubs do lose personnel, at different times, but it would be worse to lose three recruiters heading into the national draft," Noble said.

"Those three guys have done an outstanding job for our footy club.

"I've rated Glenn for a long period of time, even when he was (working) at Champion Data.

"In the right time, we'll sit down and talk to Glenn and understand where we could improve and we'll go to work."

North will be looking to snap an eight-game losing streak when they face a red-hot St Kilda (7-3) at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.