NORTH Warrnambool Eagles will use Saturday's upset win over premiership contender Terang Mortlake as a selling feature to lure a new coach for next season.
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Coach Leigh McCluskey, in his fifth year at the helm of the Eagles, said it was no secret he would finish up at the end of the season.
"I think I've done my bit," McCluskey said.
"They are set up pretty well to take them to the next stage."
McCluskey said the club was already "up and about" searching for a replacement.
He said Saturday's win highlighted the potential of the young list, saying his successor would have a lot to work with.
"The ideal (replacement) would be a good playing coach," McCluskey said.
"Good players are hard to come by and it would be harder to find good playing coaches," McCluskey said.
"Anyone who wants to come would have a good group of players, it would be a good place to come."
The Eagles, which stunned pundits in round one by holding reigning premier Koroit to a draw, have threatened to produce an upset several times this season, outplaying the unbeaten Warrnambool in round 12, only to be over-run in the final term, going down by 22 points.
Saturday's win brought the sixth-placed Eagles within two wins of fifth-placed Cobden. With four games remaining, North Warrnambool is an outside chance of snaring its first finals berth in the club's 14-year Hampden league history.
McCluskey said he had no plans to return to coaching in the future.
He said his start at the Eagles had been tough.
"The first year I remember saying I didn't care if we didn't win a game as long as we started doing things right," he said.
"The first games we played the top five sides and we were beaten by 20 goals in those five games. The next couple of years we very slowly started to show a bit and the third year we just missed the finals. Last year we lost a lot of players which wasn't anyone's fault, it was about work, going interstate to study etc.
"From the outside last year it looked like we had gone back but we had lost 10 players and no one can afford to lose 10 players."
McCluskey said he was proud he had stuck to his belief of teaching the Eagles to play the "right footy and not put people behind the ball".
"Rightly or wrongly, we are going to try and play the style of footy that wins you finals knowing we were a long, long way off it but the other day against Camperdown guys played on and handballed and we got over the line."
Eagles president Peter Doherty said the team which defeated the Bloods contained seven under 18 players, underlining the potential a new coach would have at his disposal.
"Leigh McCluskey's thorough work has set up a position which will be very attractive to any prospective coach," Doherty said.
He said McCluskey was the club's longest-serving coach.
"We have admired his capabilities, his dedication and his input to all areas of the club," Doherty said.
"Leigh has been determined to leave the club in a better position than when he began."
Doherty said McCluskey had endured a challenging stint, with the club's first win coming after about three winless seasons.
"He enjoys working with young players and has achieved great success with the youth that was already at North and the other quality youngsters he has brought to the club," Doherty said.
He pondered what North could have achieved with under 18 players Marcus Darmody, Zacc Ledin and Billy Smedts who were regulars with the Geelong Falcons and North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup competition.
McCluskey would leave a legacy off the field, he said, with other Eagles coaches Aaron Ross, Josh Parkinson, Graeme Twaddle, Matthew Buck and Nick Mills among a group who had learnt from him.
A subcommittee had been formed and was compiling a shortlist of candidates for the 2011 senior coaching position, he said.
