He started his AFL coaching career by tutoring Tony Lockett and Barry Hall, but John Longmire on Saturday will coach for the first time against the man who gave him his big break.

In his first season as Sydney head coach, Longmire will match wits on Saturday afternoon against Western Bulldogs mentor Rodney Eade at Manuka Oval.

Then-Sydney head coach Eade recruited Longmire as an assistant before the 2002 season.

The two men had previously spent time with North Melbourne where Longmire won a premiership medallion in 1999 and Eade was reserves coach.

Longmire admitted he came "wide-eyed" into coaching after spending the two previous years as the AFL client management executive of International Management Group.

Longmire said he initially had no aspirations to be an AFL head coach.

"Probably not then, I was just starting my coaching career. I'd left IMG and I saw the opportunity to come to Sydney as a great opportunity to work with Rodney Eade," Longmire told AAP.

"I went into it pretty wide-eyed.

"I was fortunate enough to have Barry Hall arrive at the same time, so working as a forward coach was fantastic.

"Also Tony Lockett made his comeback, so pretending to teach Tony Lockett a thing or two about forward line play was probably one of my first challenges."

Asked what he had learned from Eade, Longmire said: "When he sits down with a younger player, he teaches really well.

"He understands the game really well and he's got a good feel for it and he reads the game well.

"I knew him when he was reserves coach at North Melbourne for a few years and he had a bit of a different look on football compared to (then-North Melbourne senior coach) Denis Pagan.

"I think both have proved to be really successful."

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