St Kilda president-elect Greg Westaway has reaffirmed his pledge that the board will provide the Saints with whatever resources are required to lift the club into finals contention and keep it there.
Addressing his first media conference since the St Kilda board under Rod Butterss announced it was stepping aside clearing the way for the St Kilda Footy First group to take control, Westaway said he was looking forward to meeting the players as a group on Friday, and had a simple message for them.
"We'll give them that little bit extra when they need to go the extra mile or extra yard when they need to in facilities, support, injury management, wellbeing or training that we think we can upgrade," he said.
"We're 11th (in football department spending) and I would like to see us in the top four. The only place I would be happy being 16th is in media appearances.
"I'm a great believer that you've got to keep putting in at the bottom because there are people coming out at the top."
While former board members John Gdanski and Ross Levin who switched to St Kilda Footy First are able to slot straight into their new roles, the remaining board members, Westaway, the managing director of Delaware North (Australia) Dana Nelson, Transurban CFO Chris Brandt, the Managing Director of Kingfisher Financial Solution Simon Grant and former players Nathan Burke and Andrew Thompson need to wait for their gaming licences to be approved.
As they become available, they'll be co-opted onto the board and when there's a quorum of five, Westaway will be elected as president.
Westaway admitted the timing of the former board's decision to stand aside had caught him off guard and that while his group had been ready to move, plans have been brought forward and the tempo lifted.
"There was an air of inevitability about it with the weight of numbers we had with proxies, but the timing yesterday was a bit of a surprise," he said.
"It was very graciously done by Rod on not dragging us through the courts and going to an EGM, I think that was commendable.
"It was sensible and it’s nice to see a sensible decision being taken."
Asked why he believed the change had taken place now and in a bloodless coup, Westaway replied: "We have gone third, third, eighth and ninth. It's hardly moving in the right direction, is it?"
"That's really what it's all about and I don't necessarily believe that we've given everything to the players which we have to do to make them perform at the top level.
"We're there to be in finals."
Westaway forecast an overhaul of the club's administration with a view to boosting resources.
"Everybody's job is up for review from the point of view that they might get less to do, they might get more to do or they might get a more finite job, but in general terms you could say we'll be adding rather than subtracting," he said.
"The first thing we've got to do is improve our income and that will help our spending and we're well down the track in securing some very good sponsorships, so we're very content about where we are there."