The former Bomber, who was announced as the club’s new coach on Wednesday, has nine years’ experience.

Courtney, 38, spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Colac and District league club Simpson before leading it to two premierships during a three-year stint as senior mentor.

He’s used the past three seasons to enhance his skillset as an assistant at Geelong league outfit Colac Tigers.

“The assistant coaching roles helped me improve as a person and my confidence and knowledge of football,” Courtney said.

“It was a great learning tool for me and something I will take into coaching Hampden league footy.”

Father-of-three Courtney – he has three daughters Tatum, 8, Daisy, 7, and Emerson, nine months, – will take a whole-of-club approach.

The Camperdown-based dairy farmer wants to immerse himself in the club, including watching the Bombers’ under 14 and under 16s on a regular basis.

Courtney believes Cobden, where he played 140 senior games, has the talent to build sustained success.

“I really want to put in a solid structure with game plan for the players and really push team-based football,” he said.

“I believe I always played as a team-first player, so it’s something that I took to Simpson and it’s something I will definitely put in at Cobden.

“We just really want to change the culture and really want the boys to work hard on the track to be able to get those benefits because Hampden league is a very good standard of football.

“You can see with the sides at the top of the ladder the hard work they put in to get where they are.

“There’s an unbelievable amount of talent at Cobden. The junior structure has been amazing at the club and now we want to translate that into senior success.”

Cobden football manager Brett Taylor said Courtney brought the attributes the Bombers wanted to guide their young playing list.

“He’s had good success in creating a club culture and the development of a team and that was what we were chasing,” he said.

“We’ve got some younger players – a lot of our list is still under 23 – and we were keen to get someone in to develop and teach them the right way.

“He’s got a proven record from Simpson where he created that culture down there and was very successful and that is what’s got him over the line.”

Colac Tigers coach Kane Leersen, who worked with Courtney in the Geelong league, said Cobden’s new leader would embrace the challenge of coaching a major league side.

"All successful coaches I have worked with display many similar behaviours,” he said.

“They lead by example with their work ethic and commitment, driven by a passion for helping develop and nurture resilient, successful young men.

“This allows an ability to engage in regular, open and honest conversations with the people around them.

“Adam displayed this ability in his time at the Colac Tigers.

“When you couple this with his keen understanding of the game and the fact that he unashamedly loves not only the Cobden Football Netball Club but Cobden as a town and community, I feel like Adam's appointment is a fantastic outcome for everyone involved."