Neil Balme’s journey through football’s elite level took another turn when he was appointed Collingwood’s Director of Football last month.

And although his return sees him take up the role he filled between 1999 and 2006, he is still taking the time to re-immerse himself in his new environment.

“It’s very exciting. It’s been a long time,” Balme told CollingwoodTV.

WATCH: Balme reflects on his return.

“It was a pretty tough decision but I’m really pleased to be here.

“I’m really just wandering around to see who’s doing what and how we’re going and making sure that everything’s in the right place.

“It’ll take a little while before I can really make some sort of judgement on that but it does look pretty positive at the moment.”

When Balme last took up residence at the Westpac Centre, Collingwood operated out of one side of the building, and the Victorian Institute of Sport was located on the other side.

The players trained at the now defunct Edwin Flack Oval, the club's membership tallied 38,038 (compared with the 80,000 of recent years) coaching panel was remarkably different and the club’s VFL team was aligned with Williamstown.

“There’s been a lot of change; it takes up a lot more space. That’s the way it is,” Balme said.

“It’s pretty impressive from that point of view, but the people seem to be in a pretty good place. They certainly know what they’re after, and although I’ve only been here for a short period in the lead up to Christmas where there are no great outcomes, they seem to be pretty focused.”

But as much as things change, there are some constants that remain which brought a smile to Balme’s face on his first day back in the job.

“Tracey O’Connor (executive assistant) is still here, and when I walked into the kitchen Ann was sitting there, and Brian was sitting there, Pricey was there, even Donny was there (Ann, Brian, Pricey and Donny are all members of the club’s support staff), so there are quite a few people and once the season gets going there will be a lot more people who have been there for a while I would think.

RELEASE: Balme returns to Collingwood.

“Things obviously change, the way we go about things changes, but footy doesn’t change all that much.

“It’s a very competitive game that depends on the attitude of your players and the people more than anything else. That bit hasn’t changed.“We play slightly differently but even the principles are still the same. If you haven’t got a competitive group of guys who aren’t prepared to put their head over the ball and work hard, then you’re not going to be there, and that hasn’t changed since 1858, really.”

The role of the Director of Football has only truly begun to attract a greater public profile in the past decade. It has steadily evolved since Balme first took over at Collingwood at the end of 1998, back when the club was based at Victoria Park and destined for only its second wooden spoon.

“Since I started in this role in the late ‘90s, there are a lot more people, a lot more professionals who are given their roles within it and there’s much more bringing together of all that, whereas we nearly cut the oranges in the old days,” Balme laughed.

“There are a lot more resources, which within that there’s a challenge to make sure everyone’s on the same page, but the opportunity’s obvious, we’ve got really good people doing their jobs. It’s certainly progressing.”

Together with Tony Shaw and then Mick Malthouse, Balme oversaw a team that rose from sixteenth 1999 to second in 2002 and again in 2003.

“We did come on pretty well,” he said when reflecting on his first stint in Black and White.

“It was a really very competitive group, and probably in the early part of the 2000s, while we weren’t super talented maybe, but we had really committed and really competitive players like Rupert Betheras and Paul Licuria came through, along with the more talented players, if you like.

“But that’s what the side was based on, they competed and they were some very satisfying times from that point of view.”

But that’s enough of times past. Balme’s focus is squarely on the present, and helping guide the Magpies through a pre-season that will run longer than any other in recent memory as a result of the Cricket World Cup.

“Certainly the attitude looks very, very good. Everyone’s very keen and are diving into the work and having a real crack at it.

“It’s a bit of a challenge because it’s quite a long period.

“The players have got to work very hard and they kind of look to ‘what’s this all about?’, and after doing the strong pre-Christmas bit and having a long period before you start playing, we’re going to need to be pretty imaginative to keep them on the ball.

“Going to Queenstown (in January-February) will help enormously; it will just break it up a little bit for them.

“They’ve just got to do the bulk of work. If they do the work and get themselves in the best nick, that’s all we want from them, but we’ve got to keep them motivated to make sure it’s not too long a period. They’ve got to work pretty hard.

“That’s what we’ll be doing and I’ll be looking to see what all the practices are like and how we’re going, but I think we’re in pretty good shape.”