It seems the responsibility of coaching is working wonders so far for Dennington on-baller Tom Fitzgerald.
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At just 19 years-old, Fitzgerald has taken on the Dogs' under 18 coaching job and will also play senior footy this year.
Senior coach Mick Phillips has noticed Fitzgerald tearing up the track.
"He just hasn't missed a beat over pre-season," he said.
Talking to Fitzgerald, it becomes clear why he has taken his footy to the next level.
"I've probably put in the most effort that I have since I started playing footy," he said.
Fitzgerald said he wanted to work on his fitness and coaching had been helpful.
"Obviously because I coach the under 18s I get two extra sessions in a week so I work on my skills and fitness with them," he said.
He's also been going to a gym a couple of nights a week and for jogs outside of footy training.
Fitzgerald said he decided to take on the coaching role to help develop his leadership skills and help other players at the Warrnambool and District league club.
He said there were some benefits of being a young coach.
"It's good I can join in with them and try and show them a few things and help them out a bit," he said.
The first-time coach said the under 18s had been training for about three weeks and numbers were building.
"You can see them all slowly starting to improve which is always good to see," he said.
The young coach said he was starting feel more comfortable talking in front of his team.
Fitzgerald said it would be a challenge to juggle coaching with playing senior footy but said the extra responsibility would be good for him.
He said his goals for this season were to be better at running out matches and to hit the scoreboard more often.
The midfielder said the Dogs had a young team which would like to play finals.
"I think we'll be pretty exciting, a lot of teams might underestimate us," he said.
In the Dogs' 2015 premiership Fitzgerald was a substitute and came on in the final 10 minutes to help his team get over the line.
Fitzgerald is a first-year apprentice painter at Hammonds in Warrnambool.
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