ST KILDA has appointed Collingwood assistant coach Scott Watters as its new senior coach.

Watters was officially unveiled as Ross Lyon's successor on Sunday morning at Etihad Stadium, after winning the position from Carlton assistant coach Alan Richardson and Gold Coast assistant Ken Hinkley.

"It is exciting. It's a group I've admired from an opposition, competitive point of view for the last two or three years, [with] their spirit," Watters said on Sunday.

"Now to be a part of that, and have the opportunity to work with that type of group, it's fantastic and I can't wait to get into it.

"I want to be part of a team here, [I want my trademark to be] making sure we can build a really positive environment, we've got some great assistant coaches already there making sure that we're a really empowered group, and we've got opportunities within our development area to really improve in that area.

"We've got a strong leadership group, so it's probably bringing all these factors together in making sure we move forward not just as a footy team but as a club next year.

"I think with any change, there's great opportunity and I'm just excited about that opportunity and everyone can embrace that."

Watters learned he had the position over coffee with CEO Michael Nettlefold and head of football Chris Pelchen late on Saturday afternoon, after what he described as a "really thorough and really professional" process that gave him confidence to move forward.

He said he wasn't planning on completely overhauling the Saints' game-plan and would keep parts of the defensive aspects the team had made its trademark over the past few seasons.

But he said he would "add some different layers" to the plan over the pre-season, and would manage the balance between rebuilding and remaining competitive in 2012.

The 42-year-old joined Mick Malthouse's coaching panel ahead of the 2010 season and was charged with overseeing Collingwood's backline.

Watters, Hinkley and Richardson were the three that made it to the final stage of the Saints' interview process, which was overseen by a sub-committee that included former Western Bulldogs star Brad Johnson and Coles managing director Ian McLeod.

Watters played 109 games in stints at West Coast, the Sydney Swans and Fremantle.

He was appointed senior coach of WAFL club Subiaco in 2007 and masterminded the Lions' premiership that year and again in 2008.

Watters will be one of five former Collingwood assistants to hold a senior coaching position in 2012, joining Brad Scott (North Melbourne), Guy McKenna (Gold Coast), Nathan Buckley (Collingwood) and Mark Neeld (Melbourne).

Waters said Malthouse had been an encouraging mentor, and thanked the Magpies - in particular the recently departed coach - for their support over the past two seasons.

"I can't speak highly enough of Collingwood, the people there, the quality of people," he said.

"Mick actually puts the faith in you to come across and coach at a football club he was running, so he's been a great mentor for me and I'll continue to have that relationship with him because he's just such an outstanding individual.

"I have fond memories of the Collingwood Football Club and I'm really keen to build some great memories with St Kilda."

Watters also said he "absolutely" wanted club great Robert Harvey, who was appointed as caretaker coach following Lyon's shock departure last month, to keep a role at the club, and said he "respected" Dean Laidley greatly and the club would be "diligent" in filling the roles that remained vacant.

"There's always a place for Robert Harvey at this football club," he said.

"I really look forward to sitting down with Robert and discussing the opportunities that we want to put in front of him.

"We want to fill [the vacant roles] relatively quickly but we also want to be really diligent in the way we bring people into the club.

"We want quality people involved and Dean [Laidley] is an example of a quality person that is out there. I've known Dean for a long time and I respect him greatly but we'll go through our process and make sure we get the right people involved, and the right mix of people."

Club captain Nick Riewoldt said, despite only knowing Watters for "about 16 hours", the players were excited by the appointment and the new coach's direction.

"I'm just rapt he's on board," Riewoldt said.

"Even just sitting here now, the way he's handled your questions and the outlook he has for the football club …  when the change happened and we were in the interim, as a senior player you wonder what direction a new coach would want to take - rebuilding or trying to contend again.

"Scott's saying they're not mutually exclusive and that we're going to be aiming to be as competitive as possible puts a lot of faith and enthusiasm back into the playing group after a challenging month."

St Kilda president Greg Westaway described the appointment as "exciting for all at the club".

Westaway also hit back at any criticism over the length of the process the Saints took to find their new coach, saying, "If you can get someone of this quality anywhere in four weeks, I think you've done a brilliant job".