HAVING been immersed in the AFL for decades, filmmaker Peter Dickson thought he was immune to the "aura" of the industry's biggest names.
But his labour of love, The Chosen Few, a documentary offering stunning insight into the lives of the 2014 AFL senior coaches – out now on DVD – reminded him otherwise.
"The thing about working with these guys is there's still a palpable sense of an aura," Dickson told AFL.com.au.
"I don't think they crave that, but it's part of them and they can't escape it.
"If anything they try to play it down and be normal, but they can't.
"If they don't just define themselves as that person (a senior coach), they're the successful ones, I think."
Dickson's revealing doco features raw footage of the likes of Carlton's Mick Malthouse, who pondered the effect his 30-year coaching career had on his family, and Ross Lyon, who emotionally described losing his sister to breast cancer just days before he needed to front up to a match when he was coaching St Kilda.
Dickson spent months working with every senior coach, except Essendon mentor Mark Thompson, who declined.
He was granted unprecedented access to their lives at home, at work and in some cases the inner sanctum of AFL clubs.
The documentary includes never-before-seen footage from pre- and post-game meetings and the Collingwood coach's box on a match-day.
After filming wrapped, Gold Coast's Guy McKenna – a strong focus of the doco during his side's 99-point round four loss to Hawthorn – and ex-Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson were sacked.
Brendan McCartney resigned from the Western Bulldogs shortly after, with each of those events leaving Dickson feeling "gutted".
"Hopefully the message gets through via this doco that these coaches after their first stint shouldn’t be lost to the caper in the future - they have too much knowledge and ability to just be put on the scrap heap," he said.
While it is the harsh reality of being a senior coach, the men in the hot seat perceive success differently to the public and clubs.
They confided to Dickson that winning more games than they lost was one of the other indications of success for the majority who don't get to hoist the premiership cup.
Interestingly, most said a playing career at the highest level was irrelevant to becoming a senior coach, although some believed it was vital to earn the players' respect.
"There were a few that think it would be incredibly hard to keep the players when they can just go 'You haven't been there, how can you tell me that?'" Dickson said.
The Chosen Few, which aired on Channel Seven on Grand Final eve, was Dickson's 12th documentary for the AFL in four years.
Previously he was involved in other projects and documentaries with his late brother Robert, a former Hawthorn and Brisbane Bears player, who died tragically in a car accident in South Africa in 2009.
"I learned everything from him," Dickson said. "I miss him every day and went very hard a few years ago trying to continue his legacy and doing justice to it.
"I think though this documentary was the first one since I really felt that 'This is for me'."
Dickson hopes to create more documentaries for the AFL and is planning another in a similar vein to The Chosen Few.
The Chosen Few is available now at JB Hi-Fi, Target and www.sportsdelivered.com.
