The former Tier 1 captain will trade his boots for a whiteboard this season after being named the club's first grade coach this year.

Taking over from Terry Lyons, the new Demons coach hasn't wasted anytime making his mark on the side who will be looking to improve on their poor campaign 12 months ago.

"It is an exciting challenge," he said.

"We've got a good leadership group there already, Joey Hedger is staying on as captain for 2024. Matt Purse and Adrian Hickey will be our vice-captains.

"It just shows that we have strong leaders internally at the club and some role models for the younger guys."

Fairall knows replacing Lyons will be tough after the latter coached the Demons to the semi-finals in 2021 and 2022 but his final season in charge was a tough one.

The Demons won just one game in 2023 which came in the final round.

Regardless, Fairall knows his former coach has given everything to the club for more than two decades.

"Every coach is different to their predecessor so I'll be slightly different to what Terry has done over the last three years," he said.

"He has laid a great foundation, he helped get our tier 2 side back a few years ago and brought a lot of players to the club."

The Demons missed the finals last season with just a single win while the Bathurst Giants went on to win the premiership.

With the first round of the new AFL Central West season to begin on April 27, Fairall believes they can finish in the top three.

"As cliche as it is, every team's goal is to make a final," he said.

"That's no different for us, it's going to be about starting the season well and then hopefully building into something come the back end (of the year).

"We don't want to have an early exit which is the goal for the season."

In just a four-team competition, the Demons will play the other three sides five times this season.

"Hopefully our brand stacks up because if we are getting beaten each week against the same two or three teams then it can be hard to get the boys to come back," Fairall said.

The likes of Hedger, Matt Purse and Bevan Charlton-White have been excellent for the Demons over the past three years but where is the next generation coming from?

Well, Fairall is confident a young gun or two could be ready to thrive in 2024.

"I think everyone that has been to training is setting themselves up for a positive year," he said.

"Young Jake Egan is someone who everyone forgets is young because he is so big. I'm looking for some big things from him.

"We've got a new bloke from Broken Hill who I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do.

"Throw in your blokes that have been there for a while and who I'm keen to see continue to improve."

The Demons will open their season at South Dubbo Oval on April 27 against the Bathurst Giants.