But he settled on the Eagles' juniors because of his passion for developing young players.
The 39-year-old played 69 AFL matches for Geelong between 1994 and 1997 before he was struck down by persistant knee injuries.
He has had 13 operations to date but found a new passion when he stepped into coaching after the abrupt end to his playing days, having recently coached Busselton in WA's south west as well as Cairns Saints.
"I had a couple of senior jobs offered but I wanted to get back to grass roots and work with the kids and fast track them as much as I can," Tanner said.
"I'm origuinally from SA and I've travelled a bit but WA was a bit far away in terms of coming back for functions and family things. I really loved it over there but you were coming back every second week for things and it was a three-hour drive to the airport. I like to be a bit closer to the action and now I can whip home to Adelaide in 40 minutes on the plane if I want."
A phonecall from Eagles stalwart Terry Bright secured Tanner's move to Newtown & Chilwell
"In my last year at Geelong in 1998 I helped Terry with the reserves and we got along really well. He rung up when he heard I was back and I said I was happy to help.
"As long as the kids listen that's the main thing but I've been told they're a good bunch of kids."
Last Modified on 27/11/2010 08:23