Matt Colbert to coach Panmure in Warrnambool and District league game against Timboon Demons

The Bulldogs assistant has been handed the reins by coach Chris Bant for their match against Timboon, in a pre-determined move.

Colbert said he was looking forward to the opportunity to coach a Warrnambool and District league game..

"It'll be good to have a go at it," he said.

"I've been under Banty for the last two years and I've learnt a bit from him. It will be good to just have a bit of a go myself and see if I enjoy it and if it will be something I want to do in the future.

"At the start of the year we kind of had a little bit of a talk about it and just tried to find a week later in the year when I would take over for a game.

"And we just had another chat halfway through the year and this ended up being the game which has worked the best for us."

Colbert has been a playing-assistant coach with the Bulldogs since the cancelled 2020 season after moving from Hampden league club Warrnambool Blues.

He has enjoyed the role but understands the added workload that comes with being head coach.

"I definitely love talking footy and reviewing the games and building relationships with the players," he said.

"It'll be all the other added bits which I'm not sure about at the moment but it will be a good way to test it out."

The Bulldogs assistant said he would likely not play on Saturday which will lessen his responsibilities.

He has a lingering neck injury and suggested "a game or two off" would be good for recovery.

The Bulldogs are flying and sit second, having only lost two games for the year.

The Demons are at the other end of the spectrum and are winless.

Colbert said the side would be hoping to fine-tune its game ahead of finals.

"I think just trying to focus on a couple of areas against South Rovers we could have done better," he said.

"That will probably determine how well we play.

"Leading up to finals we just want to make sure we're really building some consistent form before we come up against one of those good teams in a really important match in the first round of finals."

Colbert hailed the Bulldogs' culture and their rising youth crop when asked about his time at the club so far.

"It's a really great club and great people to work with," he said. "There's no egos in the group and they're really easy to coach.

"Watching a lot of the younger guys who are 19, 22, 23 - we would have probably eight or nine in the team -(to see) how much they've gotten better since I came to the club, to where they are now, it's amazing to see how they've become such an important part of our team."

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