BEN RUTTEN admits there's an element of stepping outside his comfort zone in taking his first coaching job away from the familiar surroundings of Adelaide.
But a week into his role as Richmond's backline coach, the 31-year-old is confident he made the right call in moving away from the South Australian capital, where he spent 13 years.
He left the Crows with nothing but respect and gratitude from the club that took a punt on him in the 2002 rookie draft, and later helped him gain experience as a "hands on" assistant.
But Rutten knew his coaching skills would benefit from a move to Melbourne.
"It was going to be best for my development to look outside," Rutten told AFL.com.au this week.
"It had been fantastic environment for me but it would have been the comfortable decision, to try and look at a role in Adelaide.
"The timing was right for me and my family to take on another challenge and I was really pleased to be able to get an opportunity here at Richmond."
The 229-game ex-Crows defender, born and bred in the city of churches, has never lived anywhere else.
Now his wife Kylie – also from Adelaide - and sons Jack (six) and Bernie (four), will make Melbourne their home as Rutten takes his first steps as an assistant under Damien Hardwick.
"I think to be able to watch a lot more live footy as a coach is also really important," he said.
"You've got a lot more contact with a whole range of people.
"It's going to be a big move but we've been planning for it and it's not too far from Adelaide.
"Our children are at a good age where they're pretty flexible with moving and they're excited about coming over as well."
Rutten had a few offers to sort through when he announced his retirement in July and made his intention to move into coaching clear.
He had already made in-roads by working with the Crows' key position players and backline coach Darren Milburn over the last three years.
Former coach Brenton Sanderson had spoken to him about the prospect of staying at the Crows as a coach but the 2005 All Australian said he knew he had to expand his football knowledge.
He also thinks it will help him not only work with Richmond's forwards.
His experience as a key position player saw him mentor the likes of Daniel Talia and Phil Davis, as well as forwards Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins.
And given he only recently played on Jack Riewoldt and Ty Vickery, he believes he can help them, along with the Tiger backmen.
"A different environment is crucial, especially if you want to be a long-term coach," he said.
"That's what happens when you come from an outside environment; you have a different perspective and view on players and the way they play, and that's something I can add to the coaching group.
"I think a coaching group needs to be well balanced and keep challenging each other to progress, and that's what I'll be doing."
The first-to-four year Tigers are back in training but most of the senior players have filtered through the club ahead of their pre-season start on Monday.
Alex Rance, Chris Newman and Nathan Foley ran laps on Wednesday while Ivan Maric and Vickery were involved in training at Punt Road with the youngsters.
The Tigers have hired consultant Gerard Murphy, who helped facilitate Geelong's turnaround that resulted in the club's 2007 premiership win, on a part-time basis to run their leadership program.
