The opportunity to return to coaching at Brierly-Christ Church, however, was full of them.

Wilkie, a three-time club champion at Warrnambool and District Cricket Association rival Port Fairy, was unveiled as Jason Mungean's replacement on Monday.

Wilkie's switch ended a lifelong association with the Pirates, a stint which included several leadership roles and accolades.

"It's all the man management and working with individuals that I enjoy," Wilkie said.

"This will be a bit different as the roles I've had in the past have been about tearing it down and rebuilding everything from the ground up.

"But here everything is very stable. There's a really good mix of youth and experience and the boys are coming off the (division one) premiership."

Wilkie will implement a top-to-bottom focus in pursuit of sustained success at the club.

"My philosophy is that you don't just focus on divvy one. You need to build from the ground up," he told The Standard.

"We'll try to get some ex-players back and improve the depth side of things.

"We'll work to get division two and three really ingrained in finals and continue working with junior coaches to keep giving our kids opportunities."

The chance to work alongside Bulls skipper Matthew Love - a former Victorian Premier Cricket captain-coach - was also an attractive proposition.

Wilkie said he and Love would work closely as the club chased its second-straight flag.

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"We had a meeting on Monday and worked all that out. We're pretty compatible," he said.

"He was really keen to continue on as captain.

"I probably only have a couple of years left in division one. I stepped away a bit the last few years as I've been fairly injured.

"But I've really had the itch again to be involved. (Coaching) wasn't really on the radar until the boys put the idea in my head, the wife pushed for me to do it."

The 40-year-old said it was a tough decision to leave Port Fairy - who also appointed Brian Medew as coach earlier this week - but was already feeling at home.

"It was a disappointing way to leave, but I don't think I've ever felt as welcomed at a club as I do at (Brierly-Christ Church)," Wilkie said.

"I'd barely left Warrnambool on Monday night and already had a heap of players messaging me.

"It suggests they have a pretty strong culture over there."

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