AFL North West: Nathan Vaisey and Ben Mitchell to coach Kangaroos men in 2021

At times that has meant playing both sports on the one weekend.

But this season it will be all about AFL with the former Sydney Swans reserve grader stepping up to coach the Tamworth Kangaroos men's side alongside Ben Mitchell.

Part of the premiership-winning Manilla Tigers league side two years ago, the main reason behind the midfielder's decision to devote his focus solely to the Kangaroos was the young talent coming through.

READ ALSO:

He had seen Jack Dadd, Bill Tydd and Luke Sing all make their senior debuts last season.

"The idea of coaching was thrown up and I took it as a bit of challenge to see what we could do with the group of young fellas coming through," Vaisey said.

"There's just a good group of them and there's some good talent in amongst them too."

Growing up in Newcastle, the 25-year old's early inclination was towards league. He only really took up AFL for "a bit of fitness with a couple of mates that were playing".

"Because it was on Sunday's down there, I'd play rugby league on Saturday and AFL on Sunday," he said.

About 13 at the time, he showed a talent for the game and as he started making representative sides - he was part of the Swans junior system and played state 16s and 18s - AFL started taking on a bit more prominence.

He relocated to Manilla about two-and-a-half years ago to work in the mines and be closer to his partner's family after welcoming their first child - Cydi. They have since welcomed another daughter, Ivory, who is nine months old.

Initially spending alternate weekends in Manilla and Newcastle, in 2018 Vaisey suited up for the Kangaroos every second weekend, playing league back down in Newcastle the other weekend.

He linked up with the Tigers in 2019 mainly because he was with his work roster only going to be available every second weekend, and to be a bit closer to home.

It was an enjoyable season and coming into last season Vaisey was admittedly undecided whether he was going to suit up for the Tigers again or the Roos.

But then COVID hit and the decision was pretty much made for him with the AFL North West competition going ahead and Group 4 not playing.

It is no secret that the Kangaroos are in a rebuilding phase but they aren't there "just to make up numbers" and "want to develop a successful culture within the club".

"The biggest thing for this season is about the core group being professional and putting in the work to develop their skills. The ability is there," Vaisey said.

The last couple of seasons struggling for consistent numbers the signs so far have been encouraging. They've been regularly getting 15-20 to training.

"Numbers have been pretty promising.

"But it's just about building that stability and getting a bit of competitiveness for spots," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: