Newly-appointed Western Bulldogs Development Coach Alex Johnson says he is excited for the opportunity to return to the AFL landscape.

Johnson played 47 career games with the Swans across eight seasons, before retiring in 2018 due to ongoing injury challenges.

He said he hopes to use some of those experiences to his advantage while working with the Club’s young and developing players.

“I’ve wanted to get back into the AFL since I finished up with Sydney. The opportunity presented here and I’m really excited about it,” Johnson said.

“I think I sort of dabbled with (coaching) a bit while I was going through those knee injuries.

“I didn’t have the ideal career - 47 games in eight years isn’t great – but I learnt a lot in terms of the off-field stuff like adversity and resilience.

“If I can impart what I’ve learnt over my career with Sydney – I had some on-field success and obviously had some off-field un-success I suppose.

“I think I’m really well-rounded and understand the perspective in terms of the game. Hopefully I can help (the 1-3 year players) with those sorts of things.”

Johnson said senior coach Luke Beveridge played a key part in his decision to join the Kennel.

“I think the opportunity to get back into (AFL) is huge – the Club instilled faith in me to come back into the system alongside Jarryn Geary,” he said.

“Ultimately it was Bevo though – we had a couple of conversations about where the list is at and the development side of things where I could add value, and it just fit perfectly for me.

“I’m looking forward to getting in and meeting the rest of the guys – especially the first, second, third years who I’ll be working really closely with.

“I think that was the biggest thing – the opportunity. I can’t wait.”

Johnson joins new coaching recruits Matthew Egan (coaching and performance coach), Jarryn Geary (development and player leadership coach) and Daniel Pratt (backline & defensive system coach) as additions to the AFL coaching panel.