Partington has been a constant figure at the NAB League club, building it into a breeding ground for AFL footballers.

Current coach David Loader, who has been involved at the Rebels alongside Partington for 11 of his 16 seasons, told The Courier he'd given everything to the development program.

"He's had great influence on the program, it's been running 22 or 23 years the TAC Cup (now NAB League) and he's been there for 16 of them, it's a big block of Rebels' history," he said.

"The influence he's had on people has been second to none and he's put his heart and soul into it and there'd be a lot of people that would be forever grateful for what he's brought to the region of the Rebels."

Since taking over in 2005, Partington has seen 64 former Rebels players enter the AFL system through the national or rookie drafts.

It has been a huge spike in draftees, nearly doubling the 33 players that were selected in the 13 years before his tenure. It's an average of four per season.

Between 2011 and 2016 was his most successful era with 29 players drafted, including six in 2011, seven in 2012 and six in 2016.

Included in these 64 players are eight AFL premiership players, three All-Australians and five club best-and-fairest winners.

Some of the high-profile names include Geelong star Jeremy Cameron, former St Kilda captain Sebastian Ross, Sydney's Jake Lloyd, the Crouch brothers - Brad and Matt -, Saints ruckman Rowan Marshall, 2016 number three pick Hugh McCluggage and recent Brisbane debutant Harry Sharp.

He has also seen coaches Chris Maple and Loader go onto AFL coaching ranks.

Maple is now coaching and operations manager at the Western Bulldogs, while Loader was a development and VFL coach at North Melbourne.

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.