New West Coast assistant coach Matt Rosa has revealed he kept a diary on his coaching likes and dislikes for six years to prepare himself for life after his playing career.

Rosa, the Eagles’ new stoppage coach after a 207-game career which included 168 for West Coast, said he had always aimed to move into coaching after his playing days.

“I got some advice six or seven years ago to keep a diary on coaches and what you might like about them or what you might do a little bit differently,” he said.

“It is something I have been doing for a while. Having seen four different senior coaches (John Worsfold, Adam Simpson, Rodney Eade and Stuart Dew) over the last six years I have been able to see some different styles.

“There have been some great assistant coaches through that period as well.”

Rosa was impressed with the development and improvement in Eagles assistants Jaymie Graham and Daniel Pratt, who he had worked with before leaving to play with Gold Coast at the end of the 2015 season.

“There are some coaches in there that have improved very quickly in the time that I have been away over the three years,” Rosa said.

“Jaymie Graham and Pratty were here when I was here and to see their growth as coaches has been impressive.”

Rosa said one of his first tasks would be to fast-track chemistry between new ruckman Tom Hickey and West Coast’s midfield, given the reigning premiers will be without Nic Naitanui at the start of the 2019 season as he recovers from his second knee reconstruction.

Scott Lycett has left, leaving Hickey and Nathan Vardy to take on the big-man duties.

“A lot of our discussions will be around picking their brains and finding out what they can and can’t do in terms of the ruckmen,” Rosa said.

“Every opportunity we have we will try to get them together and hopefully try to get them playing a lot of footy together through match practice.”

Rosa was comfortable with his decision to retire.

“The body was reasonably cooked,” he said. “I kept on doing hammies in the end and the body felt like it was falling apart.

“It felt it was the right time to pursue something else.”

Rosa saw light at the end of the tunnel for Gold Coast, despite their struggles.

“There is a good core of younger players. They might come on quickly,” he said. “The people they have started to put in place are good people and hopefully they can grow quickly.”