Vain struggle with crocodilian pilot (9)

I believe the answer is:

navigator

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'pilot' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'vain struggle with crocodilian' is the wordplay.
'struggle' indicates anagramming the letters (letters move around or struggle).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'crocodilian' becomes 'gator' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'vain' with letters rearranged gives 'navi'.
'navi'+'gator'='NAVIGATOR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for navigator that I've seen before include "crew member" , "course director" , "Prince Henry, say" , "Person steering course" , "Co-driver" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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