MPFNL: Shaun Foster and Matt Dussin take the coaching reins at Chelsea while Dave Willett is overseas

Chelsea has begun the MPFNL Division 2 season with a different coaching set up, but it’s temporary. Go inside how it’s working...

Matt Dussin is sharing the Chelsea coaching duties with Shaun Foster. Picture: Andrew Batsch

There’s a new voice calling the shots at Chelsea in the opening month of the MPFNL Division 2 season.

In fact, there’s two.

Shaun Foster and Matt Dussin are filling in as Seagulls co-coaches while senior coach Dave Willett is away on a long-planned overseas family holiday.

Willett is back after Rd 4 when he will slot back into the top job.

But in the meantime, his assistants are driving the bus — and the Foster-Dussin reign got off to a flying start on Saturday when Chelsea turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 27-point win over Crib Point, 15.10 (100) to 10.13 (73).

Foster said, so far, things had gone smoothly.

“It hasn’t been a massive shock to the players…it’s business as usual,’’ he said.

Chelsea sing the team song in the rooms after a finals win last season. Picture: Andrew Batsch

The two are sharing responsibilties — Foster is the man in the box, while Dussin is a key figure out on the ground.

“It works well,’’ Foster said.

“He (Dussin) does a lot of the training and planning during the week and I’ll do more of the Saturday stuff. Like I said to him, ‘we need you to be all systems go on a Saturday and make sure you are at your best’, so whatever I can do to complement that I’ll do.’’

It’s Foster’s first taste of senior coaching and he said it could “potentially’’ be the forerunner to a coaching career down the track.

“I’ve coached cricket clubs...as long as you can speak in front of a group and sell something to them it’s all pretty similar,’’ he said.

“It wasn’t over daunting by any means.

“Potentially down the track it might be something we look at doing together.’’

Chelsea faces Pearcedale, Seaford and Bonbeach in the coming weeks and Foster said he’d like to hand back the coaching controls to Willett with the Seagulls in good shape, and on track to go one better than their grand final loss in 2024.

“We’ve got Pearcedale at Pearcedale this week and I don’t think we’ve beaten them down there in about three or four years so it will be a good test for us,’’ he said.

“Then Bonny and Seaford, the neighbours, they always get up.’’

Brad Clark made a rousing return to the Seagulls after a season at Lang Lang with a best-on-ground display in the first-up win over Crib Point.

Foster said it was great to have him back.

“We missed him last year,’’ he said.

“He had that feeling of leaving for one year, playing there your whole life and almost missing out on the ultimate success.

“He was best on ground for us on Saturday. It was a really good sign.’’

Another recruit, former Edi-Asp ruckman Sam Browne, was also among the Seagulls’ best players.

“He’s fitted in really well and he gives us a bit of a different look in there, he’s a bit more aggressive and a bit of a work horse,’’ Foster said of Browne.