Former skipper Kalon Wilkie – who managed just two division one matches prior to Christmas – has returned to Avery’s Paddock on a more permanent basis.

The top-order batsman, who has a young family, stepped back to build a new home after captaining the Pirates alongside Aaron Williams last season.

Port Fairy skipper Jordan Graham revealed the club turned to Wilkie after an “honest” meeting following its Twenty20 loss to Nirranda a fortnight ago.

“He gives us leadership and experience and just has a genuine passion for our club,” Graham said.

“We weren’t soul searching, but we had a pretty honest chat after Nirranda and delivered a few home truths, and getting him back in was something we wanted to do straight away.

“We really changed it up, got Kalon to open the batting and it paid off for us.”

Graham said while he was rapt with Wilkie’s output, he didn’t expect the veteran to consistently fire the Pirates to victory immediately.

“We don’t expect him to come out and do what he did last week every single weekend,” Graham said.

“He’s great to bounce off in the field and Az (Williams) is too. Az and Jason (Perera) have been a bit up and down and they know that and Angelo (Henke) is another who has too.

“Angelo won us three games at the start of the year but has been a bit quiet lately.

“But it’s been the same with our bowlers, too. We’ve been a bit down and we need to pick it up.”

Wilkie, the sixth-highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in Port Fairy history, is a three-time club champion.

He returned to Port Fairy for the 2015-16 after a five-year stint in Darwin.

Graham described Saturday’s two-day clash with fifth-placed Nestles as a “12-point” match.