Those who know champion Hampden league coach Adam Dowie explain why he's so successful

He's coached three Hampden league clubs - Terang Mortlake, Warrnambool and Koroit - to five premierships so the hype is warranted.

The astute mentor is now charged with leading North Warrnambool Eagles to their maiden flag.

He's made an ideal start to his tenure at Bushfield with the Eagles sitting atop the table with five wins and a draw from the opening six rounds.

No one is surprised. The Standard spoke to three people closely associated with Dowie about how he elevates his teams.

"You really notice when he speaks, everyone listens. He's obviously one of the most successful coaches around here. His ability to get things done, whether it be on the field or off the field with helping the juniors out or getting the facilities up and running, (is first-rate).

"He's just a great communicator really, he knows people, knows what to say. He's turned the club into more of a whole instead of ressies, seniors and under 18s and even the juniors on the Sunday he's made that into one-club mentality.

"Footy-wise his professionalism is second-to-none from what I've noticed with the work he does behind the scenes. He went away after the game on Saturday and last night (Sunday) he was sitting in his car bored so he decided to give a few players some calls and feedback. He's always thinking about it, he just seems to love it.

"Personally I have been talking to him the last couple of weeks, I just feel like my form has been struggling a bit and his main focus when your form is struggling is to simplify it. If you go and talk to him, he'll definitely give you the time and always give you more than you expect.

"He did say to me one day that most Saturday nights if the players go out to have a good night he'd be up until the same time in the morning just watching footage. Tuesday night we'll have a review which he's been mentioning we need to cut it back a bit because we wouldn't be leaving until 9pm. It's just his attention to detail.

"He does a team booklet that everyone gets weekly and you get your individual comments as well. The thing I have noticed the most is the thing he picks up from other teams you're playing in coming weeks, just the little things, how each player plays.

"He's a great coach and it's an honour to be playing under him."

"He puts so much time into his football club and puts 100 per cent in. He's just so thorough in everything he does and reviewing games, recovery. He likes to do it his way and it seems to work. He's a really good interacter with people and gets you on his side straight away. You could listen to him for hours. He's had a lot of success so people think 'do what he says because it works and it's proven'.

"He's really good with the juniors, he loves bringing juniors through and he proved with Koroit the guys he brought in have turned into really good senior players. For me as well, he probably turned my career around. I wouldn't be the player I am if I didn't have him as a coach. He helped me understand the game a bit more and a few more running patterns, he just made me a little bit smarter. With the review stuff he's very thorough and he gives you a sheet every week individually and tells you things to work on, that was one thing he was really good at.

"There is a style of play he likes to play and he introduced it with us and we've made a few little changes to it over time because you can't keep going the same every year. The game plan he tries to bring in, you train it all the time.

"During finals if we weren't playing he'd go and watch other games and talk to other coaches about the teams they played the week before and find out as much as he could about it. Generally on a Thursday night or a Saturday we'd have a big presentation in our team meeting and go through their stuff and how they like to play, so he was very thorough on the opposition as well.

"He just spends so much time on his footy and to do that and have four kids and a wife, he's doing pretty well."

"I think his preparation is first-class. He puts an enormous amount of time into it. I think he's a great innovator, he always seems to find a way to stay in front of the competition. He's got a super understanding of the game and I think when you watch his sides play, he knows the game style he wants them to play and they follow it out to a tee.

"I have only seen North play one game this year, that was against Warrnambool, I was (working) on the radio that day, and the way they were able to get numbers back inside their back 50 was pretty impressive. It was a little bit easier because they were on a small ground (at Bushfield). The way they used the spare man on the way out of the back line to keep possession of the footy was pretty impressive.

"He is pretty thorough in his preparation and he would've spent a lot of time pre-season implementing the style of footy he wants to play. He's pretty direct and to the point about the style. It's a terrific effort (to get them on top of the ladder). I am sure his appointment as the most successful coach in the history of the Hampden league really rose the enthusiasm levels out there. They recruited pretty well, got to give them credit there. I am sure his appointment as coach had a fair bit to do with drawing those recruits back to their club."

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