Ben Cunnington reveals reasons behind signing at Warrnambool for 2024 HFNL season

Cunnington went through a thorough process with his recruitment, speaking to several clubs around the region before making his decision to join the Blues.

"I gave everyone a clean sheet, I heard everyone out, gave everyone the time and effort and respect and that's why I can rest easy and that's why I'm that excited to give back to the Warrnambool football club because I've done my due diligence," he said.

Cunnington revealed while the process was full-on, his final decision ultimately came down to where he and his family's - including wife Belinda and kids Xavier, Stella and Kobe - best interests lay.

He said the hope was for the club to become "a second family" for him and his family.

"Warrnambool in the end definitely got our attention," he said. "For me and my family's personal needs we felt Warrnambool was the best fit for us to give our full commitment and effort and to succeed on-and-off the field.

"We loved it up in Melbourne and had a good run but me and Belinda, we're both country people and we love where we grew up. To now take our kids home and do the same thing, live on the land, be around the family and to still be able to play some football - because we know how much local football is huge in the community - and give back and have that second family.

"We'll be down there for the rest of our lives and are going to make friendships and relationships and obviously football clubs are a huge part of our lives, that's where that decision making (comes in), we wanted to take our time.

"We don't want to be there for a couple years, we want our kids to come through as well."

He said Blues coach Dan O'Keefe - a former VFL coach - paid a key role in his decision to sign at the club.

"He's very professional and knew what he was talking about," he said. "It's a bit of an advantage having an AFL background."

"But also the way he conducts himself off-field ... he was very impressive."

Cunnington said his body was "still feeling good" after calling time on his 14-year, 238-game AFL career at North Melbourne in August.

At the time, the 32-year-old had said he lost the drive to get fight for his spot back in the Kangaroos' best 22 following his health battle with testicular cancer.

Instead he was ready for his next chapter "home on the farm".

"I was still keen to continue on (with football) and just have some fun," he said. "When I did make the call the expectation and pressure just falls off your shoulders and I got excited about playing for fun again and coming home and helping a club, which has ended up being Warrnambool, but also the league in general."

Cunnington said he was both committed to and confident in the Blues' ability to improve on-field and rise up the ladder, while he is invested in helping across the club's various programs.

"If I was to have any impact and help the club, getting more juniors to Auskick or to help with the under 18s if some are trying to get drafted, whatever it is, I'm pretty excited to help out in any way I can," he said.

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