The Rebels rooms are impressive with glossy action photos of the club's AFL draftees and honour rolls of achievement.

But great club characters, Loader says, is the key to great culture.

North Ballarat Rebels have expanded territory in an off-season TAC Cup rezoning, adding Hampden region development to their work in Ballarat, Warrnambool, the Wimmera and south-west about Hamilton.

Some players travel more than three-and-a-half hours to train at Eureka Stadium. Further to games.

The Rebels playing group trains together, as a whole, once a week. Metropolitans have the luxury of training together three times each week, often with regular access to AFL listed players for advice as part of AFL off-field programs.

Loader, entering his fifth TAC Cup under-18 season, says the Rebels are always striving to be the best possible development group in Australia.

The people behind the scenes are the foundation.

"You get great characters and when the players come in, everyone is buying into what you're trying to achieve really quickly," Loader said.

"Schools in our region offer a lot of support, even the guys driving the buses to training and games and supporting these young men.

"...We're evaluating all the time whether what we're doing is cutting edge enough, whether player welfare is good enough and whether these boys will be tough enough to survive in a professional environment.

"There's a balancing act in creating the right culture and good, strong characters can help do that."

Loader was named 2014 TAC Cup coach of the year.

He led the Rebels from a winless opening four matches into an eight-game winning streak.

The streak started with a breakthrough win against then-undefeated ladder leader Oakleigh Chargers and bolted the Rebels up the ranks into the top four. This is two seasons after the Rebels finished atop the TAC Cup ladder under Loader.

Loader said the honour was very much a group award for each Rebels coach and staff member and the unwavering support of his wife and children backing him, his club and his players.

The Rebels set strong expectations on the playing group but Loader encouraged anyone who bemoaned the "youth of today" to watch or interact with his players.

He is impressed with the players the Rebels assemble each and every year.

And things do change. The football environment is constantly evolving.

Loader started coaching the game in a lengthy stint with Mininera club SMW Rovers, then took up a few specialist coaching roles with some clubs before jumping into the Rebels program as an assistant nine years ago.

"There's no doubt about it - the game changes with something new to learn each 12 months. You've got to keep studying the game." Loader said.

"You've got to stay on the cutting edge of the game, or in some cases in front of the game.

"It keeps challenging you as a coach and I'm always combing over the game reviewing new ways we could be doing things better - it's all part of PD (personal development).

"We can't do what the AFL clubs are doing because we lack the time and resources but what we try and do is mirror it in a mini-AFL club environment."

Like all TAC Cup clubs, Rebels players are educated in AFL respect and responsibility standards.

Players are physically screened en masse before the season in similar fashion to AFL Combine fitness testing.

The Rebels, working with Federation University, build programs to ensure their players are at peak fitness standard for the pre-season screening and for the Combine period.

This year, the Rebels tested most agile and top-three, as a group, in almost all tests.

AFL Victoria closely judges each TAC Cup club on players that move to a higher level of the game - AFL or state league.

Loader as a coach, measures the Rebels success a little more than wins and draftees.

"If we get everything right, players go back to their clubs better players and better leaders - I'd like to think they pay their clubs back in spades from their time with the Rebels," Loader said.

"Presently, we have 48 boys on our list - we might play 45 through the season, we might play 50, that doesn't matter - it is absolutely necessary that each boy grows with their football.

"We want them to leave better skilled in football, better educated from football, with better endurance, speed, strength and better understanding and analysis of the game.

"We also want them to be role models in their communities. We hope they continue to live and show the behaviour we want them to live as Rebels players."

Loader hoped in that such leadership, like the skills and game-sense players developed with the Rebels, would filter back into grassroots club culture.

*North Ballarat Rebels open their TAC Cup under-18 season against Geelong Falcons at Simonds Stadium on Sunday.