WORKING with his former teammates has made James Kelly's transition from Essendon's half-back line to John Worsfold's coaching panel easier as the ex-Cat and Bomber digs in to his new role.
The three-time Geelong premiership player retired at the end of 2015 after 273 games with the Cats, before reigniting his career months later with Essendon as a 'top-up' player for their 2016 season.
After finishing as equal runner-up in the Bombers' best and fairest that season, he played on again in 2017 and was one of Essendon's most consistent players with his composure in defence.
He toyed with the idea of continuing in 2018 but, after discussions with the club, retired for a second time and pursued a coaching career. He was announced as a performance coach for the Bombers in September.
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"For me I'm sure physically I could have kept playing, and mentally I had my head around going again if that was what was needed or required," Kelly told AFL.com.au.
"But once the decision was made to finish up I think I was more ready than I thought I was, and I knew I wanted to coach.
"The transition for me has been pretty good and I've done it once before, so I've had two runs at it. I'm doing a job that I wanted to do so it makes it a lot easier."
The 34-year-old said discussions to take on a position in the Bombers' coaches' box only began officially once he had decided to retire, having initially felt he was more likely to don the red and black on the field again.
"A lot of our conversations were about playing on, and Essendon wasn't in a position where we could have a definitive answer on that. I needed a decision because I knew I wanted to coach, and in the coach world jobs go very quickly, so I wanted to have a decision on my playing future sooner rather than later," he said.
"When that happened, we started talking about an interview with the club and potentially staying on. The conversation started with playing, and once that was done and dusted, we moved really quickly to potentially coaching."
Kelly was considered an on-field coach by many of his teammates at Essendon during the past two years, with plenty of Bombers praising his footy nous and constructive approach. While he admits it can be a challenge guiding players he became close with, he sees it as a positive.
"A lot of times having a relationship with a player actually makes that easier because I know how to communicate with them and know, to an extent, what makes them tick so I know what would then motivate them to improve," he said.
Kelly highlighted the efforts of Darcy Parish and Devon Smith as two midfielders who had shone across the pre-season, and said that the batch of players who returned from season-long suspensions last season would come into this year with far better preparation than in 2017.
"I think maybe the players underestimated the mental aspect of going through a whole season," he said.
"They had some enormous challenges watching the game from afar but the rigours of the AFL season can be really challenging as well. Over the course of the year the group ebbed and flowed and so did individuals at different stages.
"The way we finished the year wasn't great, but I think it was a little bit reflective of the ebbs and flows that came through the year. Those guys are going to be so much better for the year gone."
Essendon plays Geelong on Sunday in Colac in its final JLT Community Series game before round one.
