Daryl Tuffey has been appointed coach of New City Cricket Club.
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The former New Zealand international, 43, has signed a three-year deal at Urana Road Oval, just over 12 months after leaving Lavington.
Tuffey inherits a side which finished bottom of Cricket Albury-Wodonga's provincial competition in 2021/22 but he's confident there are better days ahead.
"I'm really excited," Tuffey said.
"I had a great time at Lavi, we had some good success and hopefully I can bring some of that across to New City.
"I want to get them playing some consistent, winning cricket.
"The batting's a big focus, so once I get that right and get a couple of players in to shore up the batting, I think everything else will fall into place.
"I look back on past scorecards and the bowling seemed pretty solid; it was just the batting and the consistency.
"That'll be my main focus for the start of the season.
"Last year, they were short of a couple of A-grade batters.
"If we can get a couple of guys in, then everyone's filtering down and B-grade and C-grade are going to be a lot stronger. That's the goal."
Tuffey, who represented New Zealand in 26 Test Matches and 94 one-day internationals, spent four seasons with Lavington and coached the Panthers to the premiership in 2020/21.
"We couldn't have asked for anyone better," New City president Chris Green said.
"With that sort of gravitas, that sort of CV, that sort of track record, why wouldn't you want to come and play here? If you want to improve your cricket and be a really strong CAW player, why wouldn't you come under Daryl's mentorship and tutelage?
"With the diversity and the culture we have, I think it's going to be an awesome club for many years to come.
"You don't very often hear about clubs that can rebuild from where we were, down to 13 players three years ago and now fielding six sides, so it's something we're pretty proud of.
"This last brick in the wall, this keystone, will hopefully take us to sustainable success in the future."
New City's succession plan will also see Brad Baker step into Green's shoes as president and he's excited by what Tuffey will bring to the Phoenix.
"This is huge for the club," Baker said. "It's what the club needed after the hard work that's been done in the last three years.
"We needed that profile coach/player, to draw some more A-grade cricketers back to the club.
"Kids that left here years ago are now A-grade cricketers so we'll speak to them and see if they're interested in coming back and being part of the New City family again.
"We've had blokes playing above the grades they usually play in for the last three years and, to their credit, they've never complained about it.
"If we can recruit what we're after, that will allow those blokes to go back and play where they're comfortable and enjoy their cricket even more."
Tuffey takes over from Akki Murthy, who looks back on his three years as coach with a great deal of satisfaction.
"We had very set goals," Murthy said. "It was all about the culture and I think we did that really well.
"Now, with Daryl coming on board, he'll be more of a technical coach and with the backing he's got, being an ex-international player, he demands respect.
"I was more of a man-manager and now the guys need the technical aspect of coaching.
"The foundation has been set and Daryl will build on top of that. I'm super excited and I'm going to spend a lot of time with him making sure there's a good handover and seeing how we can take the club forward. It's all about a partnership now."
So will we see Tuffey coming out of retirement to bolster New City's on-field presence with bat and ball in 2022/23?
"Everyone says I'm like John Farnham, another comeback," he laughed.
"I'll get stuck into my coaching role first and foremost but I've always got the competitive juices flowing so there's every chance I'll play in the T20s.
"Having a season off was refreshing, spending more time with my wife and kids.
"But I've missed it and I've recharged the batteries, so I'm keen to jump back in."
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