For Phil Mooney, it is not necessarily about wins and losses.
That is just a by-product of something else.
For Mooney, it is all about "fronting up" - every day, every training session, every game.
"If someone said to me you'll win 10 out of 14 games, then I'll say to them, 'What are the four games we are going to lose?' So for those four games, I won't bother to turn up and my family and I can go to Queenstown for the weekend," he said.
"To me it is about the team and the players being the best they can be every day. The best they can be at every training, today and then tomorrow ... we can't look too far ahead. Work hard today, and tomorrow and not looking too far back, nor too far ahead.
"The guys have got to make sure they get something from every session. And that is everyone.
"I don't think we are going to do well if we just leave it to the 22 guys going out on the field. The whole squad has to work hard to contribute towards the team. Sometimes the momentum is going to be with you and sometimes it is going to be against you but it is how you react to that that makes the difference.
"You've just got to front up."
He said that came from within the player and the coaches had to give players the systems and coaching to get the best out of themselves.
"It's all about improving and the players preparing for the next session."
He said Otago had both experienced players and newcomers, but what was needed was those players who had been around for a while to take the next step up.
"We need those guys to move it up and take the team along with them. Guys who have played for a couple of years."
Though he did not name players, big seasons are expected from the likes of No 8 Paul Grant, halfback Sean Romans and winger Ryan Shortland.
Otago's Achilles heel over the past couple of seasons has been the inability to win close games.
"I said to the guys at the start of the season that it was not a problem for us. Other teams have lost those close games, not this one."
Getting the basics right on the paddock was a fundamental for the team, he said, as was playing with cool heads.
Still, Mooney is well aware of the task that awaits him in the next three months.
"It is a tough comp. The Super 14, the NRL, the Plunket Shield - they are tough comps. It is elite sport. The reality is in any competition in the world someone has got to lose and someone has got to win.
"But the margin between winning and losing is very fine. Having been involved in both the grass-roots game and the professional game, there is a quantum leap between them. I don't think everyone has a complete understanding of what the players go through."
Mooney said not having any previous connection with the union was in some ways a blessing.
"I don't know all the past history. We may have not won a game up there in Counties for the past 10 years - but I don't know. What I do know is you can't change what has gone before.
"The whole test of this game is to front up, up there. To win games comes down to your ability to bounce back when something goes wrong. To do things right when you might be tired, and under the pump."
Mooney said he had been impressed by the talent on display in Dunedin and the club set-up, and in some ways it was the same as his home town, Brisbane.
"But here, rugby is the only game in town. I always knew when I was coming over here the deep passion throughout the province. And when we went on camp and played in Balclutha and got billeted out, I think that showed the guys what goodwill there is out there for the team."
He and his family had settled easily into Dunedin and now the real work is about to start.
"Otago is a really proud rugby province and this is a role I don't take for granted. That is what is great about having Crazy [assistant coach David Latta], a living legend of Otago rugby, involved. We're both really looking forward to it."
