Roos, in his first year with the Demons, will coach at least until the end of 2015 but said he would only make a decision about a third year when the Demons' executive sets a deadline for a response.

The Demons hierachy confirmed on Tuesday night it had not set a deadline but was comfortable with the current situation.

The former Swans premiership coach is clearly taking a long-term view with many of his personnel and cultural decisions at his new club but there is no confirmation yet that he wants to capitalise on his early work.

''It's something that I haven't really thought a lot about. When you are actually involved in the coaching, you are involved in day-to-day meetings. It's probably more if the club said: 'We need to know by [a certain] date', then you actually start [thinking],'' Roos said on Tuesday.

''At the moment I am here for another 18 months anyway. I know what I am doing. At some point I understand I will have to make a decision. It's probably just the club coming and saying: 'Paul, we need to know by a certain date'. That's not dissimilar to how I started the job.''

Roos said the Demons would likely have a chat with Ling, the three-time Geelong premiership player, and Lenny Hayes, the St Kilda star who retired on Tuesday, about their coaching ambitions.

Hayes has expressed an interest in coaching at the end of this season and was even touted as a possible Demons assistant in late 2012 after Mark Neeld was sacked. Ling is set to announce within weeks whether he will leave the media and seek a coaching role. Several clubs are understood to have expressed an interest in Ling.

However, Roos isn't sure whether even a two-year apprenticeship under him would be long enough to have a possible successor ready for the senior challenges which would await.

''I haven't asked Cameron [yet]. I think Cameron is someone we will definitely have a chat to but, is one year or two years, depending on what I do, too soon to be an AFL senior coach?'' Roos said.

''I don't know enough of Cameron to say yes or no. But I think Cameron, probably Lenny, would be someone you would love to talk to. But is it too soon? At the last coaches' association meeting, a lot of the coaches were concerned about that as well – trying to create pathways for assistant coaches. Is one year, two years long enough?''

The Demons pursued Sydney assistant Stuart Dew late last year but he opted to sign a three-year deal to remain with the Swans.

Roos said the Demons were still at the stage of ensuring all applicants wanted to progress into the top role. ''The next real list that we come up [with] will be a list of people that we think are competent and want to do the job. At the moment it's just finding out who those people are who are interested in being a senior AFL coach,'' he said.

Former Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss and former West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold, the latter once co-founded a sports management company with Demons president Glen Bartlett, have been touted publicly as possible successors to Roos should a younger candidate not be found.

The Demons have yet to announce a contract extension for chief executive Peter Jackson but he is expected to agree to another 12-month term.

As the Demons prepare for Sunday's clash with Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, Roos defended the performance last weekend of Jack Watts, who had his commitment questioned by AFL greats Leigh Matthews and Matthew Lloyd. Watts had just 12 disposals against Geelong on a dirty afternoon for the club.

Roos said Watts had enjoyed a ''really, really good'' season in terms of consistency and adhering to team instructions.