NEW Turvey Park coach Troy Maiden wants to bring a certain level of professionalism to Maher Oval as he tries to lead the Bulldogs back into finals.

The Bulldogs have not played a final since going down to Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong in the 2010 Riverina Football League (RFL) grand final but showed significant improvement this year.

Chris Cerato decided to step down after two years in the top job and Turvey Park unveiled Maiden as his replacement on Wednesday.

Maiden is no stranger to Turvey Park, having spent 13 years at the club, and has also coached Wagga Tigers and the RFL representative team in recent years.

He experienced one of his most enjoyable years of coaching this season at Ovens and Murray League club Corowa-Rutherglen and wants to bring back some of what he learnt down south to Turvey Park.

"Working with Bryce (Campbell), obviously Bryce has been in a professional footy environment for a long time and has some fantastic ideas around structure and game styles," Maiden said.

"At the end of the day, we will put a game style in place that suits our guys here.

"A real level of professionalism is something I want to bring back, but that's not just playing wise but off the ground as well."

Maiden agrees with the Turvey Park hierarchy that a return to finals is important but he is eyeing off more than just on-field results.

"Obviously that is the goal, to play finals, but my first goal first and foremost is to get the group super competitive every week," Maiden said.

"I want to get that respect back from the other sides, I want that real competitiveness about our group."

Turvey Park won four games this year, but lost another three games by 20 points or less.

Maiden is under no illusion about the job in front of him.

"Looking at the results of the past few years, we're coming from a little way back," he said.

"Having said that, there is enough young blokes here with plenty of talent, there is good juniors coming through, they just need to be pointed in the right direction.

"If we can get some guys around them then there should be big improvement."

Maiden is keen to keep Cerato, who is working in Griffith for six months, at Turvey Park.

The Bulldogs also hope to announce some big signings in coming weeks.

Maiden is confident Turvey Park is heading in the right direction.

"After meetings with the guys on the board now, I'm really impressed with what was spoken about," he said.

"They're determined to get the club back on track, back where it belongs."