The appointment comes as the Rovers struggled at senior level in 2016 and failed to make the finals.

The pair have taken over from 2016 coach Jake Whelan after he left the club.

Toliday said they have already made some changes during the preseason.

"The club did not have a very successful season last year and we did not finish where we wanted to,” he said.

"We are certainly looking at bettering our ladder position with the goal of playing finals, so we have looked at areas we can improve on.

"We have retained a lot of our good players while a lot of locals are also returning to the club this year.”

Both coaches have been involved in the club previously with Franc taking the step up after playing for the club in 2016 while Toliday has returned from a short tenure at Springbank.

The new coaching combination will bring plenty of experience to the team with Toliday benefitting from Frank’s knowledge of the club.

Toliday said he was lucky to be working alongside the veteran.

"With two new coaches, we wanted the players to enjoy the preseason before Christmas so we decided not to work them too hard,” he said.

The senior players had three preseason training sessions before Christmas to get everyone together and get the hype up within the group.

The club has strengthened its depth after the club only had 43 players on its senior list in 2016.

The Rovers have signed midfielder Andrew Spratley from Lake Wendouree with more signings still to be confirmed.

Toliday said increasing the list was a priority to provide flexibility during games and week to week.

"We have tried to thicken up the spine and we think we have done that so far,” he said.

“And try to find people that fit into the style we want to play.

“We also have a few former players returning to the club who have played more than 100 senior games each, so their experience will valuable.”

The team will utilise a new style with Toliday and Franc implementing a game plan around winning the contested ball.

Toliday said it was about trying to play to the team’s strengths.

"We are gonna use something that we are used to, based around winning one on one footy

"To improve on the five wins from last year, we feel we have put together a list capable of doing that

”We are going for whole club success this year and we think we are in a strong position to improve on last season.”