Between Fev and Fat Boy Slim in the forward line, Nick Stevens in the middle and a makeshift list stuck together with sweat, spit and Pagan discipline, they are a chance to beat most teams most weeks and perhaps play finals.

"The scariest thing is she can talk Japanese," Fevola said with a grin. "She can't even talk proper English and she is talking Japanese. Nightmare."

"He is pretty much just a genius," Fevola said. "He just gets so much out of his players. You can see from his North Melbourne days he didn't have the best team but his teams were always so successful

"Everyone knows what they have to do. He repeats, repeats and repeats until it is drummed in, and then he still repeats and everyone is on the same page. Half our players have been at other clubs and probably their coaches didn't tap into the skill of each player. Denis knows how to get it out."

"I haven't had a cook so far," Fevola said. "He just gets the player one on one, talks to him about it and I think he knows where he stands after that. He doesn't cook his players to the media because it is none of their business ... it is an in-house thing and he looks after his team that way.

For now, chef Pagan appears content to let Fevola keep bubbling along. Where Hawthorn and Richmond last year tied themselves in knots over the appearances of Shane Crawford and Nathan Brown on the Nine network's Footy Show, Pagan's only concerns are that Fevola promotes the club and holds his own in the blokey banter.