North Melbourne GM of Football Brady Rawlings has hit back at claims that the club were blindsided by prized draftee Jason Horne-Francis' trip home to Adelaide to see his family, denying that the club had cautioned him.
On Tuesday, SEN's Sam Edmund reported that 18-year-old had ventured to South Australia "without the club's knowledge", leaving them "unhappy".
However, Rawlings told SEN Breakfastย that the club had no issue with the teenager travelling home to see his mother and family and that players were encouraged to see their families after their Round 8 clash against Fremantle in Perth.
"I'm glad you brought that up, this is an absolute non-story," Rawlings said.
"The players were given two and a half days off post the Friday night game (in Round 8), and encouraged to go and see their families with an 18-year-old from interstate in his first season at the club choosing to go back to Adelaide to see his mum on Mother's Day.
"If anyone thinks that as a club we would have any issue with that at all, they are absolutely kidding themselves."
Rawlings said that Horne-Francis had "missed a little step" in the process that was the "only item [they'd] spoken about", labelling claims of cautioning the youngster as "absolute nonsense".
Earlier this month, it was reported that the young midfielder had parked contract extension talks at the club until a later date, but Rawlings said he believes that Horne-Francis remains happy at the club.
"All I can comment on is the way that I see him around the club and he's got a big grin on his face, he's got a great group of young mates that he was drafted with, he's playing some terrific football and that's what I see," he said.
"It's probably not for me to comment on how happy he is, but from what I see, he seems extremely happy. He's always around the boys and up and about, especially over the last couple of weeks."
It was also reported on Tuesday that the club were losing three members of the football department, with National Recruiting Manager Mark Finnigan, Head of Player Personnel Glenn Luff and National Recruiting Officer Ben Birthisel all handing in their resignations.
In a club statement released Tuesday night, the Kangaroos confirmed the loss of Finnigan and Luff, while Birthisel, who was not mentioned in the statement, is also departing from Arden Street.
Speaking on Sportsday, Rawlings confirmed their exits but clarified that some decisions had been made weeks prior to the statement.
"It's been happening for a couple of weeks...so it's not quite right all of them made a decision today," Rawlings said.
"I'd like to put that out there straight up. That's untrue. All three are in different situations."
Despite his absence from the statement, Rawlings confirmed the loss of Birthisel, who is taking a job offer from a recruitment firm.
"We've had Ben Birthisel, the recruiting officer, he's been studying over his time at the footy club, he's wanting to get into HR. He got an opportunity presented to him two-or-three weeks ago from a recruitment firm and he decided to take up that opportunity, which is a great opportunity for Ben," Rawlings said.
"We've got Mark Finnigan who's been approached by another club...he's been weighing up that decision for three-or-four weeks now. I've been in constant contact with him working through that.
"Glenn did inform us today of his resignation. He's a great operator Glenn, loved his time working here with me and for us. He's decided to pursue other opportunities.
"Ben 100 percent went with my blessing. I've been working with him around that."
Despite losing key recruiting personnel on the eve of next week's Mid-Season Draft, Rawlings said the club remains "very well prepared" for it.
The Kangaroos sit second-last on the ladder with just one win from their opening 10 matches and will face the in-form St Kilda on Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium (1:10 AEST).
