STEVEN King will dedicate Monday to his new role as senior coach of Melbourne Football Club. Introductory press conference in the Jim Stynes Room. Family photos on the boundary of the MCG. Meetings with the list management team and football department.

But from the moment he gets in the car at 5.30am on Tuesday morning for the hour-long commute down to GMHBA Stadium, King will revert back to Chris Scott's assistant coach at Geelong and continue to plan for Hawthorn on Friday night.

The 46-year-old was appointed the Demons' 28th senior coach last Friday after Melbourne concluded its coaching search to replace 2021 premiership coach Simon Goodwin. 

King didn't want to abandon the Cats in the middle of a finals series. He will remain in the role for as long as Geelong progress this September after Cats CEO Steve Hocking and his Melbourne counterpart Paul Guerra agreed to that last week. 

Guerra, who officially started as CEO last week, sat alongside King and interim president Brad Green on level two of the Olympic Stand for a 23-minute press conference on Monday morning, where the three addressed a range of topics:

• The decision to remain with Geelong during the finals
• The value of going through the West Coast process
• When King realised he could be a senior coach
• Nathan Buckley’s involvement in the process
• Will Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver remain at the club?

"I've dedicated myself today to Melbourne, then I'll be driving down the highway at 5.30 tomorrow morning to be straight back into that," King told reporters on Monday. 

"Watching the finals on the weekend and watching Adelaide and Hawthorn game gave me a little bit of normality to go back and code that game and prepare our players at Geelong for what's coming up on Friday night. 

"I think it's a credit to both organisations, the level of respect they have for one another, to allow me to finish this season out really means a lot to me. Personally, it wouldn't have sat right to abort that now and jump straight in, but also it's unchartered for me, I understand the significance of this role. I was really guided by Paul and Steve Hocking. I'm really glad that two clubs who respect each other could make that decision."

King was one of six candidates shortlisted for the job earlier this month, which became five before the formal interviews started when Collingwood assistant Hayden Skipworth opted to pull out of the process. 

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and King progressed to the final stage, where Melbourne's subcommittee – which also included incoming president Steve Smith, GM Alan Richardson, Essendon great Jobe Watson, Melbourne Storm GM Frank Ponissi and HR executive Meahan Callaghan – knew they had their man by close of business on Thursday.

"We asked him if we offered you the role of the coach of the Melbourne Football Club what would your answer be?" Guerra said. 

"You could see the emotion building up and he said, 'It would be the proudest day of my life, aside from the day I married Danielle, my wife. 

"It brought home for us, beyond the football piece, there is a quality individual that is now going to be able to lead our football club."

Buckley needed more time to explore the opportunity with the Tasmania Devils, but Melbourne wasn't prepared to wait any longer. Guerra wasn't prepared to discuss other candidates at length on Monday, but is adamant the process found the right person for Melbourne.

"It's less about Nathan today," he said. "We all know Nathan is a quality person, quality coach, and if things go well this week, hopefully he becomes the coach of Tassie footy club. For us today is about Steven, rather than about any other candidate."

Like recent coaching hires Adam Kingsley and Craig McRae, King has served a comprehensive coaching apprenticeship. He started with two years under Ross Lyon at St Kilda at the end of his 240-game playing career, where he was a premiership player with Geelong, two-time Carji Greeves Medallist, All-Australian and captain for four seasons. 

King then spent a decade at the Western Bulldogs, working under Luke Beveridge to play a role in the drought-breaking premiership in 2016, before moving north to become senior assistant under Stuart Dew at Gold Coast in 2022 and 2023, where he stepped up as caretaker coach for seven games. King has spent the past two seasons working with two-time premiership coach Scott inside one of the most revered sporting organisations in the country. That journey made him believe he is ready. 

"Going through the process I felt more and more sure that I was the right fit for the job. I've had a wonderful experience in some great organisations in some terrific cultures and environments," he said. 

"I had the chance to reflect on my journey and get greater clarity around myself. I thought throughout the process, I'm going to be authentically me. The more I was, the more it became clear that's what the Melbourne footy club needed as well. 

"Without sounding full of myself, I feel I bring a unique experience and skillset that people want to be around. I want my players to drive to work every day with a massive smile on their face knowing they are going to be stimulated, have a lot of fun, but be challenged as well. I honestly believe that I want to play a brand of footy that is uniquely Melbourne and adapt it to the skillset that our players have got, tap into their experience as premiership players and create something that gets after the competition."

King made it down to the final three for the West Coast job this time last year, before the Eagles appointed Andrew McQualter. King missed last year's preliminary final loss to Brisbane after he collapsed at training during the process in the days after presenting. He made light of that episode on Monday, but only after pointing out how much he gained from his first experience at applying for a senior coaching position. 

"It is one thing to win a job, it's another thing to do it. When you hadn't gone through that process before, it's quite a journey. It does give you an opportunity to reflect on who you are as a person, as a coach and what shaped you. I feel like going through it this time I was really clear on who I am as a coach," he explained. 

"I didn’t want to try and win this job not being me; I wanted to do it my way by being authentic. Once I got the impression that the first interview went well, it gave me the confidence to double down on that. I'm sure I'll bring that authenticity to the club, as well, and the players."

As expected, King was asked about his plans with premiership midfielders Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver. Both explored moves at the end of last season, but both are contracted to Melbourne until 2029 and 2030 respectively. 

King revealed that he had exchanged messages with Petracca and is planning to meet with as many players as possible during the off-season. He was clear he wants to be part of the reason they return to the peak of their powers.

"They are both superstars of the competition for what they've done. To get the opportunity to work with those guys and get them back to playing their best footy would be something I'd pride myself on as a coach," he said.

"I'll be meeting with the list management team later today. I've done a lot of research before being in this position, so I really admire what has happened in the past. I want to try and keep those experienced players here for as long as possible because premiership players don't grow on trees. 

"To have them on your side when you're brining in the youth of tomorrow is going to be a really important part of the way I want our team to play."

Green defended the swift finish to the process, explaining that Melbourne spoke to over 30 coaches over more than a month and found the man they were looking for. 

"The process started five weeks ago. Thorough process, we spoke to over 30 coaches around the League to get down to six, then five," Green said.

"His communication, his coaching philosophy and his contemporary game style and the way he sees our side playing. He showed that in his presentation."

King's four children and wife Danielle returned to Queensland earlier this year with the new coach understood to have been exploring a coaching gig in that state, before landing the chance to run his own program for the first time. They sat in the front row, beaming with pride on Monday. Now they will return to Victoria to live under the same roof later this year.

After long commutes from Melbourne's inner-east to Geelong almost every other day, King will have no problem driving in the other direction to Cranbourne. But will the Demons be driving back towards September as soon as 2026?

"Absolutely. I think every club should be aiming to play finals and we're no different," he said. 

If history is anything to go off, Melbourne has stuck to a trend that has worked since the VFL become the AFL in 1990. Malcolm Blight is the only premiership coach of the modern era who didn't win a flag at his first gig. The Australian Football Hall of Fame legend went back-to-back with Adelaide in 1997 and 1998, but only after coaching Geelong first.