What are your main football philosophies?

“My philosophy is pretty much based around playing ‘total football’. That’s the three phases of the game, and that’s our contested ball, our ball movement, and our team defence.

“I’ll be talking to our coaches about how we see our strengths and weaknesses in those areas, and then we get the opportunity to train those areas between November and March with a firm view from me as to exactly about how I’d like the game to be played.

“But I need to understand a bit about the playing list, a little bit about our players and their strengths and weaknesses as to the best way for us to play.

ALSO READ: Pyke right to carry Club forward

“But it will be around those three fundamental areas.

“I want to create an environment whereby we’re focused on continual improvement, that’s not only our players but our coaches. We’re looking to create a place where people come to work energised, enthused about the prospect of getting better.

“It’s a tough industry that we’re in. We finished sixth (this) year, and the challenge will be to rise ourselves up the ladder. To do that, we need hard work and we need to create an environment which really is about educating our players and they can improve as we go.”

Have you spoken to any of the playing group yet?

“I spoke to mainly the senior leadership group last night. I contacted all of them by phone. I also spoke to all of the coaches as well. More as just an introduction. Clearly you’re not going to build a relationship over a two minute phone call, but just to say ‘guys, it’s been a tough year for the footy club’.

“Most of them are on break. (I told them to) enjoy their break, get their bodies right, get their minds fresh and let’s make sure we come back towards the end of Novemeber when we start pre-season training in really good shape and ready to go.”

Phil Walsh held a strong vision for this Club, is it your intention to continue it?

“I’m very respectful of Phil and what he brought to the Club.

“He came in in a period when change was required and he started that change. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see that through.

ALSO READ: Brisbane interview seals Pyke deal

“There’s a lot of good things at this footy club, and a lot of those things were started by Phil. So my challenge is to come in and work with the things which are good, and try and identify the things that we can still improve further.

“(I’m) respectful of the past, but we need to move on as a footy club and we need to move into our next era, and that’s my responsibility as a leader to drive that.”

You pursued other business opportunities briefly before returning to the football industry. What brought you back?

“It was something which has always been with me. I’ve been involved with footy probably since I was about five years old. I’ve always loved footy and been passionate about footy.

“I stepped away and then came back and the passion never really disappeared. That’s why I’m thankful to West Coast. They gave me an opportunity two years ago to get back involved, and that really ignited my drive and desire to accept this role and challenge for this role.

“I’ve got some history here, I know some of the people here, a quality organisation in how it’s run - it made a lot of sense. It was easy to put my hand up and put my hat in the ring for this one.”

How much involvement will you have in Adelaide’s trade and draft dealings?

“I’ve been in contact with the List Manager and also David Noble the Head of Footy. I’ll probably be over there (in Melbourne) early next week. It’s good to probably finish with the formalities and…I can start having some input into that and be talking to players.

“But the reality is that I’ll lean pretty heavily on those guys. They’re across the list, they’re across what they think they need. I’ll be there to support them as much as anything, rather than telling them to go after Player A or B.

“I think it’s a very strong list. I’m very comfortable where the list is at.”

How much tougher is your job doing to be without Patrick Dangerfield at the Club next season?

“My philosophy is based around the style and the system, rather than the individuals.

“We recognise that Patrick’s a great player, the reality is he’s not going to be here next year. Someone will fill that spot, and we have to be in the position whereby we fill it.

“If we’re playing a key game or a final and we lose a key player, that doesn’t mean we can’t win. We have to be better than that, we have to stronger as a Club in terms of our systems and our process to mean that if we lose one soldier another one stands up. That’s generally the strength of great teams.”

Will Taylor Walker remain as captain next season?

“I haven’t given it a great deal of thought, but from what I can gather, Tex Walker has been an outstanding leader of the footy club. I’m having difficulty seeing why we would necessarily want to change that.

“We had a leadership group that came together last year with a new captain who, under in extraordinary circumstances, performed above and beyond. At this stage I’m very comfortable with the leadership group and the captaincy.”