After a successful year as development coach, Josh Drummond is looking forward to a new challenge as the defensive coach in 2014.

It’s a quick shift in roles considering the former Brisbane player only retired at the end of 2012 but it only came about after deep discussion with Brad Scott.

“Given it’s been my first year out of footy and into coaching, I’d been speaking to Brad and Hainesy (Jon Haines) about where I saw my coaching and whether it was something I’d be keen to have a crack at,” Drummond told NMFC.com.au.

“We didn’t speak about the role specifically until after the season had finished and it was sort of like when I was a player where you chat about where you see yourself.”

While externally an assistant coaching position is likely to receive more attention than a development role, Drummond believes the two are just as influential as each other.

“The development role is critically important at footy clubs so I don’t necessarily see it as a promotion because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time as a development coach.

“Obviously you don’t have as much hands-on work with the senior team but in terms of being able to develop a team for consistent success in the future you need to have a good development system and coaches in that area.”

One of Drummond’s replacements in the developmental area is former Claremont Under 18’s premiership coach Ben Dyer.

The two have prior experience from Dyer’s time as academy coach for the Brisbane Lions which will help them hit the ground running.

“We’ll speak, share our thoughts on what we felt worked and look to improve again.

“Given his experience in that area I’m sure he’s got his own thoughts and ideas and we’ll go from there.”

As Drummond moves into his new position he won’t look to change too much initially. He will also lean on former defensive coach Shane Watson in the early stages.

“Part of a good coaching structure is people communicating,” Drummond explained.

“I very much doubt anyone will come in and completely change things around.

“We’ve got a really exciting group down back with a quality bunch of players. I don’t think a huge amount needs to be changed.

“The defensive part of our game – from a whole team point of view – is something we’ll continue to keep working on. The players understand the way we want to play so it’s more about just improving the things we already know and have been doing.”

The off-season has been a busy one for Drummond, recently completing a Level 3 coaching course.

“We (Drummond and Jarred Moore) did it with about 20 coaches from around the state leagues and other AFL clubs.

“Some of the speakers like David Parkin and Stan Alves have had so much experience with coaching and then speaking with the other coaches about their experiences made for a great week.”

The week-long course, full of ‘12 and 13 hour days’, taught Drummond many lessons.

“The course was wide-ranging. You learned a lot about yourself and how you’re most effective as a coach.

“Then there was also teaching technical skills, coaching philosophies and also the chats through the breaks with the other coaches. All of it was just invaluable.”