Dubbo Westside announced the pair as co-coaches for the 2018 Group 11 season on Monday with the club to have it’s first get-together and pre-season session on Thursday evening.

The Rabbitohs have won just one first grade game in the past two seasons so Gordon, who played with Bathurst Panthers in 2017, said expectations won’t be too high heading into next season.

“The opportunity has come up and we’ve got nothing to lose,” he said, before speaking about his relationship with Naden.

“We grew up as kids over in West Dubbo and he is a bit older but always looked after me and my brother.”

Despite knowing each for the best part of three decades, the duo have only played together once at a Koori Knockout.

The move across town is a massive one for Naden, who has been a big part of CYMS’ success in recent times.

The versatile Naden started the 2017 grand final win over Nyngan but a hamstring injury meant he couldn’t get through the first half.

The co-coaches will be the starting halves for the Rabbitohs in 2018 but are keen to keep the same core group around them.

“We sat down and had a bit of a look at what we’ve got,” Gordon said.

“We want to keep those core blokes who have been there, like Brayden Peachey and Nathan Ryan, but we’ve got to have a good spine.”

The two mentors have already identified the need for more size and depth up front in order to become a competitive outfit.

“You need that depth because … if you get one or two injuries you can kiss your season goodbye,” Gordon said.

While the playing roster needs some new additions, the biggest focus for Gordon and Naden is developing a strong culture off the field.

The new board at Westside, headed by incoming president Chad Parkes, is keen to continue building the club’s identity and the new coaches are on board with that.

“We want the culture to be professional,” Gordon said.

“Doing things right off the field, and getting the preparation right before the game and during the week if you’ve got a niggling injury. All those little things.”

In terms of the style of play, Gordon said he won’t be overhauling the system at all but he and Naden will be doing all they can to help their side compete.

Westside showed glimpses of ability at times last season and matched other sides for periods of games but often fell well short

“The boys like to throw the footy around and I’ve been playing in Group 10 where there’s a bit more structure and more about building pressure and ‘Nado’ has come from CYMS where it’s very similar so we’ll want to play a bit of that exciting footy but we need how to grind out a game, kick to corners and stuff like that,” Gordon said.

“We’ll just simplify it. We’re not miracle workers but we’ll be trying to get the boys to be competitive.”

Gordon added he was well aware of the strong support the club had and was hopeful he and Naden would be able to attract more fans to join the Rabbitohs faithful.

Naden was unable to be reached for comment on the move to the red and green side of the city.

Westside players will be holding their first get-together of the pre-season on Thursday from 6pm at the Riverbank Ovals.