Schwarze, 29, was recently appointed the Saints' specialist midfield coach to work under new head coach Scott Watters.

Despite their triple premiership mentor's new job, Sharks president Garry Woodhams said they are prepared to allow Schwarze to juggle the two roles.

"His job [at St Kilda] involves match day and three days a week at this stage," he said. "He's available to take training and coach and play in a number of games. So depending on our draw and until otherwise advised he will be our coach."

There are likely to be times when Schwarze's commitments at the Saints mean he will be unable to coach on match day at Sorrento, with experienced Sharks assistant Nick Claringbold likely to take the reins.

Schwarze played 71 games for the Saints from 1999-06 and has since forged a reputation as an astute student of the game.

He also has a sound reputation in the peninsula community, which is another boost for the Saints, whose training base is at Seaford.

"Troy is a young, energetic and successful coach. He has a modern, holistic approach to coaching which complements our vision for the football department," Watters said.

Schwarze joins fellow former players Aaron Hamill (offensive) and Max Hudghton (defensive) in completing the newly created specialist coaching roles.

"Aaron, Max and Troy will play an important role in our restructured coaching team. Their knowledge and technical expertise will be invaluable to our player list and provide additional mentoring for our younger players," Watters said.

Woodhams believes Schwarze will make a success of his appointment at the Saints.

"It's sensational for Troy, it's fantastic news for him and shows we've got a good system [at Sorrento] and gives a good reflection on us," he said.

"I'm pretty sure he will be good for them - he's a quality sort of bloke and has been in the St Kilda system since he was 17 or 18 and played a lot of footy with them."