Collingwood’s new midfield coach Robert Harvey has been impressed by what he’s seen in his first few months at the club, and is particularly confident in what reigning Brownlow Medalist Dane Swan is capable of producing in 2012.

Swan has set incredibly high standards for himself over the past six seasons, marked by three successive Copeland Trophies and last year’s Brownlow Medal.

He is likely to encounter the increased attention that most Brownlow Medalists are usually afforded, but Harvey, the winner of the 1997 and 1998 Brownlows, is confident that Swan’s easygoing demeanour and intense approach to training will mean he is capable of producing another memorable season.

“I think that with his personality and his character he’s pretty unfazed,” Harvey told collingwoodfc.com.au.

“He’s been going about his work as he would have, which I think is a positive and I don’t think anything like that is going to affect how he goes about it. He’s in really good shape.”

No one is better qualified than Harvey to pass comment on the issue of consistency. The St Kilda champion not only won back-to-back Brownlows but was named in the All-Australian team in six seasons without a miss between 1994 and 1999.

“He’s put in the work, which is the most important part. He’s hardly missed a session, so he’s all ready to go for another good year. He’s got his routine and he sticks to it and he knows what works for him which is important.”

According to Harvey, Swan, along with other senior players such as Luke Ball and Scott Pendlebury, will have an important role in coaxing the best out of rising stars in the form of Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams.

Ball has already spoken of the need for these players to find another level, and Harvey agrees.

“The senior players set the standard, so they’re responsible for driving it. I’ve been keen to try and get them to help these next guys through like Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams and Sharrod Wellingham,” Harvey said.

“They are some young midfielders who can come through and really help the team so these older guys - and ‘Pendles’ is only 24 himself - have to help the younger guys take us where we need to go.

“The good thing is that talent isn’t an issue. That’s a massive plus. Hopefully by giving them the plan and ways and means to go about their improvement is going to be really important. All those guys have shown a real desire to do that.

“They’ve shown that they want to take their game to the next level and I think that’s where we see the improvement will come. ‘Bally’ and those guys are willing to help and get them there, which is good.”

Harvey played in a losing Grand Final for the Saints in 1997, and returned to the club only weeks after they lost the 2010 decider to the Magpies. The 383 game superstar believes that it is difficult to compare one Grand Final loss to another, although he cites the turnover of coaches at Collingwood as something that has worked in the team’s favour.

“It’s hard to compare because there’s a lot of change here, where as at St Kilda there probably wasn’t. They had the same coach.

“This year, it’s mostly a fresh coach with new people around so it’s hard to compare. The players seem really keen to make amends, but that was no different to St Kilda. The only big change is the coaching situation and having a whole different approach. That hasn’t been hugely different here so far.

“It’s just a tweaking of things that I think the players will get used to, but it’s a freshen up as well, and it’s what I think will be a big positive.”

Arriving at Collingwood in November, Harvey travelled to Arizona with the senior team as one of five new members of the club’s coaching panel. He is enthusiastic about the decision to bolster the development program under Craig McRae and Tarkyn Lockyer, and says that the coaching structure has made it easier for him to hit the ground running.

“Collingwood hasn’t been any different to what I’ve thought of it,” Harvey said.

“It’s a really professional place and well run. I’ve been really welcomed in. It’s a young coaching group and they’re keen and enthusiastic so it’s been easy to try and fit in and do your job.”

For now, he’s busy preparing the midfield for the NAB Cup series which begins on February 18 against the AFL’s newest club - Greater Western Sydney.

“The next three weeks are still going to be pretty high volume because we’re still trying to squeeze all that footy stuff in post-Arizona. It’s still going to be a pretty high workload for the players and they’ll obviously be rotated through the NAB Cup in certain ways.

“Training still becomes important in terms of getting the volume in but we obviously want to balance that with being smart about it and not losing anyone.”