THERE'S a team photo that now sits in Kevin Sheehan's office, itself already filled with mementoes from his decades as the AFL's talent manager tucked away in drawers or cupboards. Until recently, the photo hung above Sheehan's bar at home, taking pride of place.

It features the League's first under-18 squad to tour Ireland, back in 1991. In the front row sits fresh-faced pair Mark Mercuri and Scott West. At the back in the middle is David Neitz, with Joe Misiti to his left and Ben Hart to his right.  

Sitting beneath Hart is Brenton Sanderson, who would go on to play 209 games across three clubs, be an esteemed assistant coach and then spend three years as Adelaide Crows coach. Most recently, Sanderson was appointed the first full-time senior coach of the NAB AFL Academy, completing a full circle footy story.   

Sanderson has seen the photo since settling into his new desk at AFL House, across from Sheehan's office in the talent department, and realises how much the past can be a lesson for his future mentoring the most talented teenagers in the country.

"That was a fantastic trip. In that team there's some great names," Sanderson told AFL.com.au.

"But when you also look at that photo, and this is the reality of the academy every year, unfortunately some guys don't go on and have successful AFL careers for whatever reason. 

"And that's the thing, whether you're in the national or state academy, it's no guarantee you're going to get drafted. And if you do, it's also no guarantee you're going to go on and have a long AFL career. We [at the academy] have just got to do our best." 

Sanderson was named the senior coach in January, taking over from Brad Johnson, who will be the academy's senior assistant. The move came four months after Sanderson was surprisingly axed as coach of the Crows, which re-directed his coaching path to oversee 60 highly rated draft prospects (35 in level two and 25 in level one) around Australia.

"I think it appeals to a lot of coaches in the industry," he said. "The opportunity to work with the best young kids in the nation is just too good to pass up."

In his five weeks in the role, Sanderson has travelled to Western Australia and South Australia to meet with the state leagues and academy players from those regions, and chatted to the Victorian players.

This week he will head to New South Wales and Queensland to do the same, an important part of the introduction process ahead of next month, when he will coach the level two academy (players eligible for this year's NAB AFL Draft) in two AFL curtain raisers against VFL teams.

He is planning new ways to stay in direct contact with the players outside of scheduled academy camps. 

"The biggest challenge for me is I'm a hands-on coach. I actually want to coach these boys every day and what I'm used to is having players with me full-time. That's going to be the biggest challenge for me – coaching remotely," Sanderson said.

"With 60 kids in the program at the moment, I want to be in 60 places at once.

"But there's some really great people working in the industry in each state and I just have to develop a relationship with them and communicate as best we can to make sure the kids are getting better and better as the season goes on." 

Part of that process has seen Sanderson help create individual development plans for all of the academy members, designed to focus on three key areas: the player's on-field traits, his physical make-up, and off-field life.

It offers a streamlined approach for the player's many coaches around him – be it at school, club, state or academy level – to concentrate on the same things. Is his kicking up to scratch? Has he got the balance of his contested disposals against uncontested right? Has he improved his speed? What's he doing for study?

"We've also acknowledged player welfare is an area to beef up," Sanderson said.

"We're also looking to educate the players on things like culture, values, leadership, media training, time management and the off-field elements that go with becoming a really successful AFL footballer."

Sanderson has already noticed how receptive the group is to learning, and he will draw on his own experiences as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide and Geelong, and his time in charge of the Crows to also work closely with coaches at junior level.

Throughout his time he has seen the marked difference between some draftees when they step into an AFL club and are ready to go, and those who get overawed by the experience. 

He was at the Cats when Joel Selwood made his debut in 2007, played 21 games for the season, won the Rising Star and was a member of the club's premiership team.

"That's the fairytale when a player gets drafted," he said, "but the reality is there's going to be challenges, setbacks with injuries or a drop in form, or fighting for a position with three or four other talented players.

"We've got to ensure the players are ready to take that jump and when they step into the club it's not a massive shock for them. That's the key part for me, that a drafted player drafted who's come through the academy system knows what's coming." 

The 41-year-old knows he is young in coaching terms, and that a return to an AFL club down the track is always possible. But it's already clear to him that seeing academy prospects graduate to the top level through the draft and then succeed will be a new thrill.  

"This is a role I'm loving, I've only been in it five weeks, but I'm really passionate about this role and where we can take it," Sanderson said. 

"As good as the program's been, I think it's ready to take the next step and now having a coach full-time, I think the players will definitely get a lot more out the program having a mentor who's accessible to them a bit more."