NORTH Melbourne coach David Noble says many people from outside the club have reached out amid intense media coverage surrounding a post-game spray.
It was revealed earlier this week that Noble had apologised to his team for dishing out a harsh assessment of their 108-point thrashing by Brisbane in round three at the Gabba.
The second-year coach conceded he erred in the heat of the moment and addressed his players too soon after the match.
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The Kangaroos' winless streak was extended to seven on Saturday afternoon thanks to a 69-point loss at the hands of a resurgent Port Adelaide in Hobart.
Noble dismissed suggestions the added scrutiny had taken a personal toll.
"I don't feel like it has. I had great support from the players. A lot of people externally, ringing in and checking in, which was great," he said.
"It's part of the business (media coverage). I was probably surprised a bit with the extent of it, to be honest.
"Internally we've talked about it as a group. We wanted to use it to galvanise ourselves a bit (against Port Adelaide).
"We want to create an environment where players and staff feel safe. Leadership and a growth mindset is about being vulnerable."
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The Kangaroos, who were blown away in the first and last quarters, were without midfield gun Jy Simpkin who was a late withdrawal with a suspected hamstring injury.
Their task doesn't get any easier against top-of-the-table reigning premier Melbourne next round.
North Melbourne struggled to contain Port Adelaide's tall trio of Mitch Georgiades, Todd Marshall and Jeremy Finlayson, who combined for eight goals.
"I'm frustrated that we can't get our best crew on the paddock, period," Noble said.
"Obviously Ben (McKay) is injured. We've got a couple of young developing talls at the moment."
The Power are on the fringe of the top eight after a horror 0-5 start to the season.
"(We've been) incredibly resilient, by how we've stuck at it," coach Ken Hinkley said.
"We believed we could still turn things around. We're certainly not solved but we're better than we were.
"We didn't get distracted by the ladder, which was hard not to because it said zero and five."
Port Adelaide midfielder and stand-in skipper Ollie Wines was outstanding, picking up a game-high 32 touches, two goals, nine clearances and two goal assists.
"The key message from me to (Ollie) was ... a really critical piece of being a good captain is playing well. He led really well," Hinkley said.
