Never? How about Denis Pagan? Alastair Clarkson? Boomers coach Brian Goorjian? Neil Craig?
Not had a chinwag with any of those blokes about how to make your side better?
If you'd been at the AFL National Coaching Conference at the MCG on the weekend you could have done just that.
Not to mention the other luminaries who were attending and presenting – Nathan Buckley, David Parkin, Brad Scott, Chris Scott, Justin Leppitsch, Stan Alves, Chris Johnson, Craig McRae. The list goes on.
As an AFL journalist, I have pretty good access to people from AFL clubs. But absolutely nothing like the access I had over the weekend.
Just like every one of the other 450 people at the conference, I could walk up to anyone there and have a chat, something that does not happen in my normal working life.
Former Saints coach Stan Alves was the master of ceremonies and facilitated workshops, and he pointed out that it was an experience that simply could not be duplicated.
"I think the thing for me is that it's probably the best opportunity for anybody who's involved in any level of coaching to come along to a coaching program, over two days and a couple of nights, that has some of the best people involved in all forms of coaching, who are going to provide insights into how you can be a better coach," he said.
"The thing that stands out to me is when I speak to people involved in other codes, they cannot believe how open and how giving coaches are at that elite level with their desire to share with other people.
"It's just so exciting – the buzz that's around at the breaks, when you see guys who have come down from Rockhampton, and somebody's over from Western Australia, and somebody from up the country who's coaching an under-12 side because his son's playing – all these guys just mixing and sharing the excitement ... it's one of the best coaching experiences that's available to anyone who's involved in coaching."
But the fact that so many come back, year after year, that is perhaps the greatest testament to the value of the event.
"One of the things that people tell me is that the fact that they keep coming back because each year when they go there, even though the day is jam packed with keynote speeches and electives, they say they pick so much up that they wish they could go to several in the same timeslot.
"There's so much information – it's just a wealth of knowledge and experience from different people who are sharing with others.
"I think that's the thing for me."
