The Nirranda export became the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association club's third first-class cricketer this past Saturday, debuting for Victoria in a Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales.

It capped a stunning rise from the Nirranda Recreation Reserve's hard wicket - where the now 21-year-old was establishing himself as a top-order batsman capable of ruffling a few feathers with the ball just five years ago - to the hallowed turf of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It was a fairly rapid climb. Couch earned selection in the Melbourne Renegades' Big Bash League squad this past summer before he was called up to the state's Marsh One-Day Cup outfit in March.

After all that - the realisation of a childhood dream happening in the space of 18 months - he'd have been forgiven if his laid-back persona fell by the wayside.

But it hasn't. Couch is still the same kid who grew up on a farm just outside Warrnambool playing backyard cricket with his four siblings.

His younger brother, Jackson, said Couch's quiet nature was a big asset in his rise to the penultimate level of Australian cricket.

"He's always been that quiet achiever," Jackson, a teaching student, says.

"He's just that humble sort of person who goes about his business and gets it done. You don't really see him talking himself up or anything but he just seems to tick the boxes and get it done.

"I think Brody has always been a really good leader. He's one who has had a good mentality for sport and he's been working hard to get out of things.

"He's never, ever been boisterous or anything but he knew he had the talent to back himself in."

Jackson, who travelled with mum Karin to watch Couch's first over this past Saturday, said the occasion was special for the family.

"Mum was absolutely pumped," he said.

"We found out we could get up there and we were hoping to get Pop up there too but it was a bit of a rushed decision in the end. We got up there and it was pretty rewarding to see it."

Jackson, who most recently played for Nestles in the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association, felt his brother's work rate - which has been well-noted by Victorian officials - would set the tone for a strong career.

"He has so much self-determination and such a strong work ethic. Some guys get told 'you're a freak' or 'you're a gun, go for it' and don't go very far if it doesn't happen for them," Jackson says.

"For Brody, he's always had that self-determination and desire to want to play the highest level.

"We spent so much time as kids in the backyard and at the nets training and having fun, whether it was bowling or throw downs.

"We'd have all five of us throwing balls and it was a really competitive environment but a lot of fun."

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For Stephen Field, the former Western Waves region manager, Couch always had the tools to succeed at the elite level.

"When he first entered the Western Waves as a young fella, he was always playing a grade above," Field, who lives at Dunkeld, says.

"I think he debuted in division one at about 14 and was really able to hold his own with the ball. That's not ignoring his talent with the bat either.

"He's one who if he was playing a division one level, he'd comfortably be a top three or four batsman. But he's always had good ball speed and has been a strong, big lad with broad shoulders.

"Getting overs into his legs and strength training and the right application, it should all come together."

Field said Couch's decision to ply his trade with Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket prior to his Victorian contract had proved the correct decision.

"He was able to work with Dom McGlinchey as an opening bowler who has played at a high level and I think he was able to see the work ethic required," he said.

"He had great support form a good coaching panel at a club which has plenty of people from the western district so it was comfortable as well.

"I think that really just set the tone for him and showed him what was required from a work rate perspective."

Geelong coach Nick Speak said Couch's technical action and ability was evident from his first session at the club.

He said the next step that could be crafted was his mental game on field.

"That's the part that needs to be rounded out now," Speak said.

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"I think mentally he would say he could be quite naive in that space at this stage, but from an attitude point of view, he does everything he should do, he looks after his body and he maintains that.

"He has a very, very good attitude towards playing professional cricket. The mental side will develop. That's a whole different thing, but it will develop in the environment he's in now."

Speak said experienced campaigners in the Victorian dressing room would help his progression.

"Just sharing a dressing room with James Pattinson, that's probably three or four months worth of work at Geelong or off the track," he said. "He wants to learn so that's the main ingredient."

Warrnambool and District Cricket Association chairman Gordon McLeod, who managed Western Waves teams featuring a young Couch, said physical development had helped him fulfill his potential.

"As he got bigger and stronger, he was always a good cricketer, that helped him," he said.

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