Brett Hargreaves has accepted the position at the Baggies after returning to the club in 2019. The ruckman said he was thinking about moving into a coaching role for quite some time.

"Before I came back to the Baggies I was part of the leadership group during a very successful time at my club in Gippsland," he said.

"It was nothing in an official capacity. When the opportunity presented itself here, at my home club, I thought now is a perfect time.

"I feel I have enough experience to lead the team and I'm confident with our list."

RELATED: Swifts premiership ruckman Brett Hargreaves returns to North Park for 2019 season

Hargreaves said he felt the team wasn't far away to achieving a longer final's appearance in 2019 and is looking forward to building on what is already in place at the club.

"If we hold the same group together, with another season under our belts, we will go pretty close again," he said.

"The club has been supportive of who I have suggested putting in place around me as my support network.

"Most of the players out of the current team know me and I know them and I have seen most of them come through playing juniors in the area. It will be really rewarding to help those younger players continue on with their development."

Hargreaves was confident the playing group would stay unchanged in 2020, despite not having official signings.

"The indication from players was that they would be more than happy to put pen to paper shortly," he said.

READ MORE: Brett Hargreaves has found his feet back at the Swifts in the 2019 season

"Now it's official I will be taking on the role of coach those signings start.

"I certainly don't have to change a lot but I think a fresh set of eyes and a fresh voice should do well.

"Scott (Carey) has put the club in a great position over the past four years and Daniel (Parkin) coming on board in the last couple (of years) has certainly helped with his experience."

Hargreaves said as a coach, he was looking forward to having someone with the experience of Carey on the ground concentrating on playing football.

"It's not bad having a player of the ilk of Scott Carey underneath you just as a player," he said.

"The results from this season's Dellar Medal speak for themselves. He is still well and truly at the top of his game and it will be pretty exciting to have him out on the field."

READ MORE: Swifts have made their first move for the 2016 season with the appointment of Scott Carey as their playing coach

Carey said he felt a mixture of emotions but was excited for Hargreaves and the future of the club.

"I always knew I wasn't going to be coaching at the end of the season," he said.

"It's certainly going to be different, that's for sure.

"I'm looking forward to handing over the little things that no one knows a coach does but they have to do week in and week out that can get monotonous at times."

Carey said he would be supporting Hargreaves in his new role, as a player.

"I'm happy to help Brett in any capacity I can," he said.

"When I started I knew I wanted to be able to hand over something to the next coach, and that something was something solid.

"I think at this stage I've been able to do that."

Daniel Parkin could not confirm his movements for the 2020 season.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday morning from the Stawell Times-News. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the Northern Grampians shire, sign up here.