A stint with country town club Ocean Grove is fast becoming the unlikely must-have addition to any aspiring AFL coach's CV.

With Brendan McCartney earning the top job at the Western Bulldogs on Monday, just 48 hours after Mark Neeld was handed the reins at Melbourne, Ocean Grove can lay proud claim to setting two AFL coaching careers in motion.

McCartney - who becomes one of the few men in the modern era to gain an AFL head coaching position despite never having played at the top level - took charge of the club on Victoria's scenic Bellarine Peninsula back in 1993.

Within two years he had delivered their long-awaited first flag, ending a long and frustrating run as perennial bridesmaids.

It was to be the first of four on the trot for the Grubbers - the origin of the nickname is something of a mystery - before McCartney moved to Richmond as reserves coach after the 1997 campaign.

Neeld arrived at Ocean Grove in 2000, having spent time working as a teacher after a 74-game playing career with Geelong and Richmond.

He also delivered Ocean Grove four premierships in succession.

"It's a huge story," Grubbers president Geoff Cunningham told AAP on Monday.

"Just from one club like Ocean Grove in the Bellarine Football League to have two people credited with AFL coaching positions is sensational.

"Everyone here is just so rapt and happy for them."

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Cunningham - who was reserves coach when McCartney first joined Ocean Grove - said it was clear both men had something special.

"Even though Macca didn't have the AFL background you just realised quickly what a great coach he was," he said.

"We knew he was destined for bigger and better things, he had a clear vision and I remember him saying at the time that if he was good enough he'd love to coach AFL football.

"Not having played in the AFL it put him behind the eight-ball in some areas but he's carved his own path with Richmond, Geelong, Essendon and now the Bulldogs.

"Neeldy was a bit different as he already had the AFL background when he came here.

"He was grooming himself a for a possible AFL assistants role and at Collingwood it looks like Mick Malthouse has got the best out of him.

"He's a great communicator and a great educator."

Long-time local football watcher David Hose recalls the large crowds that would gather around McCartney during the quarter and three-quarter breaks to hear him address the players.

"There were often twice as big as the huddles for the other team and it wasn't that Ocean Grove had more supporters, it was just that people wanted to hear what he had to say," said Hose, whose grandfather was also a former club president.

"He was great to listen to, really inspiring."

At his inaugural media conference as Bulldogs coach on Monday, McCartney took great care to thank all of his previous clubs, beginning with Geelong Football League outfit Newtown, where he played 87 games and spent one year as reserves coach before being snapped up by Ocean Grove.

That attention to detail has been a constant in a career where he has earned the respect of all he worked with.

Mark Thompson rated McCartney's role as an assistant coach in Geelong's 2007 and 2009 premierships so highly that the pair moved together to Essendon in 2011.

Neeld earned similar praise from noted tough taskmaster Malthouse at Collingwood, where he famously postponed brain surgery last year until after the Magpies won the flag.

So with St Kilda and Adelaide still in the market for a new coach, perhaps Cam McGregor should expect a call.

After all, he's the current Ocean Grove coach.

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