The Magpies yesterday revealed Colac key position player Dan Casey would join the Leura Oval club as an assistant coach for the next two seasons.

The 29-year-old was an assistant coach at Colac Tigers in 2012 but missed out on the top job in 2013, with officials opting for Paul Lynch to take over from Matt Gibson.

Casey said he had ambitions to coach in the Geelong Football League down the track. But he said he would need to be a senior coach at major league level — something which is a possibility at Camperdown — before offers came his way.

He was open about wanting to succeed Bernard Moloney at the Magpies at some point, although a formal succession plan is not in place.

“I wanted the top job in major league football, I put in for the Colac job and missed out on the opportunity there,” he said. “I thought I definitely want to coach again and Camperdown gave me an opportunity to keep going with that.

“If I wanted to go back and coach in the GFL I had to go away and coach. 

“I’ll be looking to hopefully take over after Bernard is finished.

“That’s a wait-and-see (but) that’s the reason why I went.Hopefully I can get a job taking over after that.”

Casey arrives at Leura Oval with an envious country football resume and a reputation as one of football’s good guys.

He made his name as a forward at Colac before crossing to the Colac and District league, where he steered Irrewarra-Beeac to three consecutive flags between 2008 and 2010. 

He returned to Colac in 2011. 

Casey revealed he was close to signing with Cobden when Wayne Robertson rose to the helm in 2012, but stayed at Colac under good friend Matt Gibson.

He said he left the Tigers on good terms.

“The club was really good. They respected that I wanted to coach,” he said. 

“The reason they gave me was they wanted someone from outside.”

Camperdown coach Bernard Moloney said he was rapt Casey had signed with the club. 

“He’s coached before.  He’s a really good leader and an impressive young man. We’re really happy we’ve got him,” he said.

“We’re looking at him as more of a forward. We’re pretty solid as far as the defensive side goes.

“He’s got a great work ethic, and he’s the type of bloke who can be a game-breaker. 

“That’s something we’ve lacked over the last couple of years.”