The Hampden league club revealed O'Brien would lead a coaching group of five - featuring Ben Parkinson, Dan Weymouth, Sam Cowling and Tim Hunt - on Sunday.

He said he was confident of retaining every player on the Blues' senior list and adding more through targeted recruiting.

"I'm in the process of ringing around at the moment and touching base with every player," O'Brien said.

"We don't have any players who are based in Geelong or Melbourne. We're all living locally which is a real advantage (with retention) as they're not travelling.

"We're speaking to a few ex-Warrnambool players who have moved out of the area to see if they're interested in coming back to play footy."

Warrnambool has already secured spearhead Jason Rowan after a three-year stint coaching Warrnambool and District league outfit Merrivale.

O'Brien said a change in on-field structures and personnel meant he was keen to see pre-season work come to life.

"We put a lot of work in this year and didn't get off the ground," he said.

"There's some unfinished business there. We've worked pretty hard over the past couple of years to develop the list as well.

"We're really coaching as a team - it's a shared model - so I was pretty keen for that to continue."

The former Deakin University Sharks mentor said player relationships were among the most enjoyable aspects of coaching.

"The involvement with young people is the most enjoyable part," he said. "The club has really welcomed my whole family and I."

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