"It was hard to miss out" - Collingwood rebounder John Noble on tough end to 2023 after failing to make final series appearance 

Collingwood Magpies winger John Noble revealed how difficult it was to miss out on his side's final series fixtures last term. The Magpies clinched a 16th premiership flag in 2023, but the 27-year-old did not feature in the four final series games en route to the triumph.

The Magpies defeated Melbourne in the qualifying finals and saw off Carlton in the semifinals. They beat Greater Western Sydney in the preliminary finals before overcoming Brisbane in the Grand final.

Noble played a huge role in his side's first-place finish during the regular season, featuring in all 24 rounds, but was not deployed for the last four games of the Magpies title-winning campaign.

The Pie rebounder watched from the sidelines as his teammates cruised to the Grand Final clinching the premiership cup and flag. Speaking recently on foxfooty.com.au, he disclosed that missing out on the final set of games after playing a huge part during the regular season was tough.

He said (via Fix Footy):

"Look, I think missing was really tough. Last year I felt like I contributed a fair bit to our success, and I was certainly along the journey."

"Yeah, it was hard to miss out."

John Noble has featured in six of Collingwood's nine games in 2024 but still has his eyes on becoming a regular in coach Craig McRae's side. He shared how he intends to achieve this goal:

"Going back to work on my game and what I know I can bring to the table and to our team," he said.

"(To) come back, work on my body, work on my strengths; speed, strength, my skills."

John Noble leaned on his mentors and father during difficult end to 2023

John Noble was devasted after being left out of Collingwood's final series games, but the 27-year-old leaned on his mentors and father - former North Melbourne coach David Noble, during the period.

Speaking after the Magpies win over Carlton Blues on Friday, May 3, he said:

"(I’ve been) leaning on my mentors that I’ve used throughout my career. I’ve had a harder journey than most to get to the AFL, and I leaned on those experiences that I’ve had throughout my life."

"It’s helped me mentally to get back in the team and be contributing to awesome wins like (Friday night). I have a lot of mentors that I lean on — even my dad, he’s got amazing experience in the game."

John Noble also identified the particular aspects of his game he worked on during the off-season to win back a spot in the team.

"Picking my game apart, thinking of things I can work on, the different areas of my game (would) be ground balls, aerially, tackling, and getting to work on my body."

"I wanted to come back fitter (and) stronger, I wanted to come back a different sort of player and elevate my game again."

He continued:

"They’re the main things I focused on — game first, body and then my mental space. All of (those) things contributed to getting back to where I am now."

John Noble will look to help Collingwood to another win in Round 9. The Magpies, with a 4-3 record, are ninth in the league and play West Coast Eagles at the Marvel Stadium on Sunday in their next league encounter.