Paul Roos won't be lost to Sydney at season's end after all with the premiership coach to take control of the club's fledgling QBE Sydney Swans Academy.
Last year when the Kangaroos had been chasing assistant coach John Longmire to become their senior coach the Swans confirmed that Longmire would in fact take the reins from Roos at the end of 2010.
Roos had been expected to step away from the game, having maintained for several years that he had no interest in taking another senior job once he departed the chair at Sydney, and he was forced to dismiss speculation linking him to John Worsfold's job at West Coast.
But the Swans have convinced Roos to stay on at the club in a different capacity, overseeing the establishment of the new academy which it is hoped will be built at the SCG, with the club's marquee sponsor of the past 24 years to be its major backer.
"I've now been in Sydney since 1995 and have a passion for developing the game in NSW," said Roos who will take charge of the state's finest juniors who will come to the academy as young as nine.
"I'm very excited to be involved with the QBE Sydney Swans Academy."
"Without overstating it, the Academy is the most significant development for the Swans in the 27 years since the club moved from Melbourne."
"QBE have once again shown what an incredibly supportive partner they are for the Swans, and their involvement with the Academy will ensure it becomes a real success story."
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou was present at the announcement in Sydney on Wednesday and lauded the club for its initiative.
"To have Paul Roos as head coach, identifying, guiding and nurturing the next generations of young sporting talent is a fantastic result for the Sydney Swans and for the growth of the game," said Demetriou.
The academy was set up earlier this year and has been run by former Swans player Dennis Carroll, with more than 700 New South Wales youngsters between the ages of nine and 18 spending time training there.
According to Sydney CEO Andrew Ireland the idea to set up the academy came after visits to overseas football clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich.