You can rarely take the smile off the face of Brad Johnson, but he’s grinning from ear to ear to be working with the Cats’ fleet of small forwards.

Announced earlier this week as Geelong’s new specialist forwards coach, the Western Bulldogs champion is now decked out in the navy blue and white, ready to roll up his sleeves.

“We can certainly have an impact over the time that I’m here,” Johnson told Cats Media.

“I’ll be working in particular with the small to medium forwards – there is a number of them. There’s probably ten to twelve guys that will roll through there and even more with the amount that have been drafted now.”

After 364 games, six All-Australian selections and three club best and fairests, few boast the footballing resume of Johnson.

And having been a Geelong local himself for the past few years, the 40-year-old says he’s kept a close eye on the likes of Nakia Cockatoo, Lincoln McCarthy and the many other small forward options at Simonds Stadium.

“Living locally, I’ve looked at the club closely over the past three or four years,” Johnson said.

“Seeing the type of calibre that does flow through the forward line here, it is really, really strong.”

“They’re young guys too so the competition for spots is going to be strong, but they’re going to play together for a number of years as well.”

“Hopefully we can work on a number of things – outside of goal kicking, which is the finishing product. But also some crumbing and running patterns to help them best utilitise the way Chris [Scott] wants them to play next year.”

Watch the full interview with Brad Johnson via the video player above.