NEW manager of football operations Josh Mahoney says he’s excited by the club’s future, the challenge of his new role and working closely with chief executive Peter Jackson and coach Paul Roos.

Mahoney, who was appointed to the new role this week after filling in a similar position on an interim level, said the football department responsibilities would be shared between him and Roos. 

“My role is looking after the medical, fitness and conditioning area, as well as the list management and recruiting, and the administration side,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“Paul’s responsibilities are around the coaching and the development, so that’s where it’s split up in terms of the footy department.”

Mahoney, who was Melbourne’s forward line coach under Dean Bailey and then Todd Viney from 2008-11, switched to football administration when Mark Neeld was appointed coach. Mahoney was football manager for the past two seasons, under Neeld and Neil Craig, before his role was expanded.

He said he enjoyed the variety of being a football administrator, and enjoyed his move away from coaching.

“I can go from a match committee meeting to a higher level club discussion, so I enjoy that variety. Every day’s different, so I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“As you take on more responsibility, you can have more of an impact with things that happen at footy clubs, but again, the best clubs just have a great group of people – it’s not just one person, who turns things around.

“That’s what we have to do as a footy club – everyone’s got their role to play, and if I can just play my little role in assisting this club to getting back up the ladder and earning some respect in the AFL industry, I’ll be very happy with that.”

Mahoney, who played in the 2004 Port Adelaide premiership and featured in 97 AFL matches with Collingwood, Western Bulldogs and the Power from 1997-2000 and 2004-07, said it had been an “interesting journey” since arriving at Melbourne with Bailey from the Power at the end of the 2007 season. But despite experiencing more down times on the field than up, he said he had relished his time so far at the Demons.

“Like a lot of people, when you’re playing, you don’t necessarily see yourself going into coaching and I got the opportunity through Dean Bailey to go straight into coaching, which was terrific at the time,” he said.

“Throughout my whole playing career, I’d always studied outside, and did an MBA when I was coaching.

“It got to the stage where I was starting to get more excited by how the club runs, from a business point of view, and how the AFL works. When an opportunity came up a couple of years ago to move more into administration, I jumped at that opportunity. I’ve taken on more responsibility each year, and I’m really excited by the challenge ahead.”

Mahoney has been touted as one of the emerging administrators in the game, with experienced Melbourne chief executive Peter Jackson saying he was one of the “rising stars” upon his appointment.

He was humbled by the praise from Jackson, but added that he was able to turn to some of the game’s most experienced administrators.

“I think that’s one of the great things about our industry - that the people who have been around for a period of time are experienced, and they’re only a phone call away,” he said.

“It’s such a competitive industry, but I can ring [Geelong general manger of football] Neil Balme and speak to him or [former Collingwood director of footballer] Geoff Walsh and run things past them, and they’re always happy to assist.

“That’s good for my development and the next group of administrators coming through – it’s always going to improve. If we can improve as an industry, it’s going to be better for all of us.”

But for the moment, the 35 year-old is strongly focused on his role at the Demons, rather than setting his sights on greater positions down the track.  

“It’s still very early days into this, but for me, I’ve got a great passion for football and I love football,” he said.

“I played for a long time, and to be able to still be around a footy club is an infectious environment and it’s very exciting to be around.

“I like the idea that in this industry, if you don’t improve, you get swallowed up pretty quickly, so it forces you to get better and better each year, and I enjoy that part of it.”

Meanwhile, Mahoney said the greater player breaks were not a major issue, given all clubs were aware of the time frames.

“In the end it’s just finalised the break, so they know straight away when the season finishes, when they’re starting back. It’s dependant on their years in the game, so it’s now very clear to the club and the players when their starting date will be,” he said.

“There are also some restrictions around the number of days you can train up until Christmas time, so as a club, we just have to make sure that our program fits within those regulations and we’ve got to get the best that we can out of our players.

“During the off season, our players know that they have to come back in a certain shape and they’ve got targets they have to reach. They’ve done that in the last couple of years and they’ve come back in good shape. I’m sure with a new coach on board, they’ll be pretty keen to impress turning up on day one [in good shape].”

Mahoney added that a Northern Territory-style camp akin to last December was unlikely, although a camp was possible closer to the start of the 2014 premiership season.

“At this stage, we think it’s important with such a new coaching group coming in and the restricted time up until Christmas that we get as much time together as we can here in Melbourne,” he said.

“There will be opportunities to go away on a camp, probably closer to the season in February or March, so we’ll investigate those during that time.”