FORMER Richmond and Port Adelaide defender Troy Chaplain has joined Melbourne's coaching team as an 'offensive co-ordinator'. 

Chaplin, 30, retired from the Tigers in July after suffering a dip in form. He stayed at Richmond as an assistant coach and had been mooted to make that shift permanent after interviewing to join Damien Hardwick's team next year.

However he told the Demons' website that a call from former teammate and Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney convinced him to take the position with the Demons. The pair played at the Power together from 2004-07.

"There's been a little bit of speculation the last few weeks. The way it came about was Josh Mahoney gave me a phone call the other week and really wanted to have a chat," Chaplin said.

"A couple of days later, he asked if I'd be willing to join the club in a coaching capacity. I thought about it for a couple of days but it didn't take too long to make a decision."

Melbourne handed over the senior coaching reins to Simon Goodwin at the end of the 2016 season to replace Paul Roos.

"Troy has been preparing for coaching for the past five years, working with the Sturt Football Club and more recently with the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup, so he’s invested in coaching while finishing his playing career," Mahoney told the club's website.

Chaplin spent two years at the Chargers in a development role.

"He presented really well and he’s fresh out of the game and comes in with some new ideas," Mahoney said.

"We think it’s important for our coaching group to add some young recently retired players to our group, as the rest of our group is quite experienced with Ben Mathews, Jade Rawlings, Brendan McCartney and Matthew Egan. To add Troy to our mix will add a new perspective."