After weeks of speculation, Tigers have announced Campbell as their coach for the 2016 season.

Campbell will replace Matt Rava in the top job at Tigers, with his time coming to an end after two years in charge of the young group.

Campbell spent seven years with Canberra club Ainslie and then moved south to Ballarat this year where he won the league medal playing for Ballan in the Central Highlands Football League.

Campbell, 25, had been in talks with Tigers for some time and will move to Wagga with one clear goal in sight.

“The goal is obviously to try and snag a flag,” Campbell said.

“I wouldn’t put the effort to go up there if I didn’t think we could win a premiership.

“It’s a young group, a talented group and it looks like it’s going places.”

Tigers were forced into a tough decision with Rava keen on continuing his journey as coach of the club.

Tigers president Scott Bance stressed the difficulty involved in going with Campbell.

“We looked at it in a couple of ways and were in the very envious position of having choices at the football club for a coach,” Bance said.

“We took a very measured, considered approach to it all and gave it due diligence.

“It was a very hard decision to come to.”

Bance said everyone at Tigers had much admiration for the job Rava done with the playing group.

“Matt’s got the highest respect at the club, and particularly over the back end of the season had some really successful results to the point where he had the boys four points away from a grand final,” he said.

“We hold Matt and his family in the highest regard, they’re great clubpeople and he was certainly disappointed. It’s not an easy decision.”

Nonetheless, Bance was thrilled to welcome Campbell to the club.

“It’s really exciting,” he said.

“He’s a contested ball winner in the midfield with a really high work rate and has played a fair bit of footy in the NEAFL.”

Campbell will move to Wagga in January and is looking forward to the new direction.

“I’m very excited, it’s a new venture for me,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to coach and at my age now, I’m a bit more mature than I was two or three years ago.”

Campbell was unofficial assistant coach under Mark Williams at Ballan this year.