Former Kolora-Noorat premiership footballer Ben Walsh embracing Western Bulldogs Academy coaching role

Warrnambool's Ben Walsh is alongside some of the AFL's recruiting heavyweights, watching as they scour for the next Christian Petracca, the next Jeremy Cameron or a Nat Fyfe clone.

It's an eye-opening experience for the Emmanuel College teacher who is at Geelong's GMHBA Stadium in his capacity as Western Bulldogs Academy coach.

Walsh - a 35-year-old father-of-three - boasts an enviable football resume himself.

He's a Warrnambool and District league playing premiership coach, having led Kolora-Noorat to the 2019 flag. But, as his profession suggests, knowledge is power and he is always looking for ways to develop his coaching nous.

"My background has been more coaching teams and it's different working with individuals more," Walsh told The Standard.

"One thing I tried to learn whenever I was down within the AFL program was little strategies for working with individuals in terms of craft stuff or language you can use.

"Even the use of vision - I have access to all of that now and all the edits. It sounds funny but there's an art to watching vision and watching individuals.

"I went and watched the AFL under 18 championships with the recruiters and sat with them for the day - and it sounds silly - to watch how they watch or see the notes they take.

"It's been great learning about how much detail and depth they go into in terms of recruiting and development."

The Western Bulldogs Academy encompasses its Next Generation Academy and potential father-son draftees.

Walsh, who took on the head coaching role this year, works with roughly 25 teenagers including South Warrnambool's Luamon Lual - a member of the AFL Academy entering his draft year - and Russells Creek's Jyah Chatfield.

Players range between 14 and 18 and those in the NAB League system are spread across four clubs - GWV Rebels, Western Jets, Sandringham Dragons and Calder Cannons.

Walsh has regular contact with the players who played in NGA games earlier this year and took part in a four-part training block across four weekends in October and November.

"The kids are so good and within our academy we have some Indigenous boys, we've got South Sudanese, a boy from East Timor, one from Madagascar," he said.

"We work with young kids from different backgrounds and even for them it's been a real positive - they are learning about each other."

The Bulldogs have a rich history with father-son selections too. A player's dad must have played 100 games for the club to qualify. A recent addition to the Luke Beveridge-coached side was top-three pick Sam Darcy.

Rhylee West and Tom Liberatore are also following their fathers' footsteps at the Kennel.

There's a new batch coming through the ranks too.

"Some of the father-son dads are around like Leon Cameron, Adam Cooney, Luke Darcy and Scott West," Walsh said.

"I have had some really good conversations with some of those guys which has been really good for my learning and development."

Cameron - one of south-west Victoria's greatest AFL exports - is connected to the club through son Harry.

"They live in Sydney but Harry came down mid-year and played in the NGA games and the Eagleton boys (Nathan's sons) live in Adelaide but have popped over a few times," Walsh said.

Opportunities are helping Walsh add to his repertoire.

"I sat in the coaches' box for a game - where Freo beat them late in the year at Marvel. I had full access for the whole day for meetings and in the rooms," he said.

"They have been really good and just said 'get involved as much as you can and learn as much as you can'."

Walsh commutes from Warrnambool for the role and has reduced his school days to four next year as he strives to immerse himself in the Bulldogs' pathway program.

"I'll try and get down and watch a little bit more of the NAB League if I can on some weekends and even a bit of school footy the boys are playing," Walsh said.

"It's not expanding but just taking a little bit more responsibility in this role next year."

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