West Alice Springs have announced a unique three-man coaching panel as they pursue their first senior CAFL flag since 2007.
Nick White and Ben Ellis will control the off-field coaching while Jayden Dick will lead the Bloods on the field in a captain-coach role.
Shaun Cusack announced he was standing down as senior coach soon after leading Wests to their first grand final since 2015.
Jayden Dick is confident the new system will work with three sets of eyes watching from the middle of the ground and outside the playing arena.
"My role is more of an assistant as the club captain and a playing coach, while Nick and Ben will do most of the head coaching,'' he said.
"There's a fair bit of knowledge and familiarity with the players on matchdays, so I'm sure we'll do well.
"Hopefully we can at least get there again and work on going one better, either way it was a massive improvement from the previous season and I can't see any reason why we can't do all of it again.''
Dick was full of praise for Cusack and his coaching contribution to the rise of Wests from also-rans to grand finalists.
"Unfortunately Shaun didn't have enough time to do it again with a lot of other commitments in front of him, but hopefully he can help us out during the year,'' he said.
"He was awesome for the club and did a great job in the two years he was there.''
A Blood since first pulling on the red and black jumper in the under-17s, Dick is keen to get a winning start in the Round 1 game against Rovers on April 30.
"We're keen to get them early in the year and build on our season from there,'' he said. "But I'm sure they'll be strong again as they chase a sixth flag in a row.''
Dick said the Bloods have retained most of their players from the grand final side, with some important additions from Darwin's NTFL giving them added depth.
"One of our main pickups is Charlie McAdam who has played at Southern Districts and Rovers,'' he added.
"Charlie has relocated to Alice Springs and has been training the house down.''
St Mary's premiership trio Henry Labastida, Kieren Parnell and Nick Yarran will also pull on the black and red jumper this season.
Labastida cut his teeth in the CAFL for Wests before moving north to play for St Mary's and Districts in the NTFL.
He won the 2007 Minahan Medal in a tie with Rovers' Kenny Morton.
Federal coach Izaak Ankers is also keen on a Round 1 win when his side meets Souths in the season opener.
"Unfortunately we had a few injuries towards the end of last season and went out in the finals in straight sets,'' he said.
"But that happens in this game and we're not the only footy club to run into injury problems.
"What is important is we're ready to go again, the numbers on the training track have been awesome since before Christmas and we're keen to hit the ground running.''
