New Port Fairy coach eager to ignite Seagulls hidden potential

And there is a connection the new Port Fairy leader can make between one of the Marvel Universe's popular characters and the team he recently inherited in his third stint as a senior coach.

The 40-year-old provided an analogy about the two that could be the code to finally breaking the Seagulls' 62-year Hampden league premiership drought.

"I have been reading about the Incredible Hulk, as I am a bit of a Marvel man, and the way I see it is sometimes the Hulk, when he has absolute strength and in terms of harnessing that, can be a liability," the 40-year-old said.

"When he turns green he can hurt the people that he is actually fighting for.

"Port Fairy has a whole heap of talent, it's immense, but sometimes the boys branch out because they feel they need to.

"If they just stick tight to the game plan and the systems we create then we will see an exciting group that can play defence really well and then counter attack really well also."

The Heywood-based secondary teacher is no stranger when it comes to premiership drives.

The father-of-one has previously coached Portland and North Gambier to premierships in 2008 and 2016 as well as featuring in six flags as a player.

But at Port Fairy Imbi knows the key is to harness his side's true strengths while continuing to back the foundations set by former playing-coach Dan Nicholson and his predecessor Brett Evans.

"Dan has done a terrific job with the list previously and the coaches before that as well and also the committees behind them," he said.

"The list retention has been good and we were and are developing a system in terms of how we want to play.

"A lot of that will continue on with just a couple more things to be added and refined and we will see how that pans out."

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The 2019 Seagulls assistant coach also hoped Nicholson could show the competition his true potential next season after stepping down from the role at season's end.

"I hope he enjoys his football as well, that's the most important thing," he said.

"Hopefully he is mentally and emotionally right because coaching can be a really draining gig and he carried a big load for a long period and that showed in 2018 with his footy and in 2019 we started to see snippets of his best footy.

"Now hopefully the shackles will be off in a sense and that he will just be able to play a game that he is really good at."

The former Essendon and North Melbourne rookie said the players had already got a glimpse of what style of coach he hoped to be in his stint at Gardens Oval.

His analogies and hidden messages would also again form a big part of what he instills within the playing group.

"You have to try and communicate the best you can," Imbi said of the his preferred coaching method.

"I played for our defenders, because I was in charge of them last season, the Cornelius Brothers' song 'Too Late To Turn Back Now' and it's a bit of a love song but we were listening to that in the change rooms before we ran out.

"It obviously had a message about trying to get the boys to relax and that's what it is about and in the end it didn't quite work out because we lost the game (second semi-final against Warrnambool) in overtime but to keep an opposition to eight goals, that was the positive.

"We (the coaching panel) will always try and mix it up and keep the boys on edge.

"There were times last year where I deliberately sought out Tom Sullivan, Dan Nicholson and Sandy Robinson (at training) and made a point of putting them to the ground because that's what you try and do, you try to make it fun."

The devoted Fremantle fan, who is happy to wear the colours of his favourite AFL club, takes his coaching inspiration from a legendary mentor that halted his Dockers on many occasions and also from a number of key influences throughout his life and playing career.

"Paul Roos is someone that I like because of the simplicity in the way he talks," he said.

"He wrote an article for The Age and he talked about the dysfunction of the Australian Rugby Union team and he always seems to makes a lot of sense and I also like his defensive mindset.

"But I think I can also take inspiration from my under 14s coach because when I got introduced to the game he brought an old washing machine head that had a hole in it to training and that's how I practiced my handballing.

"You take those little things on board and then I had coaches who believed in me when they should have cast me out and I also had a lot of lessons where people gave me a hard time but it was only for the best.

"I'm probably an amalgamation of all those coaches, my parents, my teachers and also my faith. I'm a bit of everything."

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Imbi also likes to tap into the communities of the towns connected to the clubs he leads.

"It's not just the playing group, it's the supporter base, it's the old men who are in Rebecca's Cafe every Thursday that have been hanging out for a long time (for a premiership)," he said.

"This community wants to do really well and it's really building. There is a process that needs to be put into place and it's no certainty we can win a flag but I am here for the playing group and also for the community."

With or without a new premiership flag hanging from the rafters of the S&S Pavilion at the end of his tenure, Imbi hopes to be remembered as a leader who impacted the club for the better.

"I want to be a coach who cared for the community and also the playing group and also as someone who feels empowered, trusted and believed in," he said.

"These boys will play good footy but it's also about helping them off field as well. It's also as someone who wanted to invest really heavily in raising good human beings and good quality men."

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