Starting with the Rebels in 2005, Partington has been a constant figure in the program, building it into the successful organisation we see today.

Current coach David Loader, who has been involved at the Rebels alongside Partington for 11 of his 16 years, told The Courier he's been a stalwart of the organisation.

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"He's had great influence on the program, it's been running 22 or 23 years the TAC Cup (now NAB League) and he's been there for 16 of them, it's a big block of Rebels' history," he said.

"The influence he's had on people has been second to none and he's put his heart and soul into it.

"There'd be a lot of people that would be forever grateful for what he's bought to the region of the Rebels."

Since taking over in 2005, Partington has seen a huge spike in AFL draftees.

Under his tenure, 64 former Rebels players enter the AFL system through the national or rookie drafts, nearly doubling the 33 players that were drafted in the 13 years before his arrival

The stretch from 2011 and 2016 was his most successful era with 29 players drafted, including six in 2011, seven in 2012 and six in 2016.

Included in these 64 players are eight AFL premiership players, three All-Australians and five club best and fairest winners.

Some of the high profile names to have progressed under Partington's watch include Geelong star Jeremy Cameron, Sebastian Ross, Jake Lloyd, brothers Brad and Matt Crouch, Rowan Marshall, 2016 number three pick Hugh McCluggage and recent Brisbane and Collingwood debutants Harry Sharp and Jay Rantall.

Countless others have continued on to have very successful state league careers too.

Partington has also seen former peers and Rebels coaches Chris Maple and Loader step into the AFL ranks.

Maple is now coaching and operations manager at the Western Bulldogs, while Loader was a development coach at North Melbourne.

"You would say that under his tenure, the program's been relatively successful," Loader said.

"He always put the program in place and said 'you guys should be able to coach, I'll worry about everything else, we'll get everything else right.

"If you're able to coach in that environment, it becomes pretty productive. You don't lose focus of what you're doing."

Partington officially finishes up at the Rebels on Sunday May 23.

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