AN END of an era recently drew to a close in elite junior football, with Vic Metro coach David Dickson stepping down after 12 NAB AFL Under 18 championship campaigns – including a fitting title-winning farewell against Western Australia at Telstra Dome.

Dickson, who first guided Vic Metro in 1997, said it was a difficult decision to call it quits after eight championships and a staggering 34 victories from 38 matches to his name.

"I think my time's up – it's a younger man's game. To be quite truthful, you've got to know when your time's up. I've been doing it for 12 years and I'm really proud of what I've achieved," Dickson told afl.com.au.

"Where I really struggle is in the selection process. I find it really difficult to tell the kids they've missed out – I really find that hard – and I think you've got to have more skills in the computerisation, post-match and analysis of games.

"When I was first appointed, I walked into [former VFL chief executive] Ken Gannon's office and the first words he said were: 'If you don't win the national championships this year, I'll sack ya!'.

"We've won eight national championships out of 12 and that's a great achievement, but we've averaged 17 [drafted] players a year and in 11 years we've had 180 players enter the AFL ranks, so no-one has ever got near that."

For the 56-year-old, it caps off an outstanding football story.

Hailing from Preston, a then 19-year-old Dickson played in Carlton's 1972 premiership in his debut season. He debuted in round three of that year and played in each of the Blues' remaining 24 matches.

A wingman with an eye for a goal, he played 66 matches with the Blues from 1972-76.

His ability to overcome adversity at such a young age – both of his parents tragically died by the time he was 16 – and forge the career he has achieved is a testament to his character.  

"I never really wanted to go to Carlton because I never thought I was good enough. But Bert Deacon and John Nicholls talked me into going there and they became like surrogate parents to me, because I lost both of my parents at a young age," Dickson said.  

"Bert Deacon died when I was at Carlton, and it was just like losing another parent and that really set me back a bit. Then I had a cartilage operation and then I was swapped for Peter McKenna at Collingwood and that was really emotional for me.

"When I finally went to Carlton, my heart was in Carlton and I didn't want to leave and then one night you're told, 'there's the door, you're going to Collingwood' – that really was emotional.

"All of those experiences only strengthened me to make sure that when I coached young players, I was never, ever going to treat them in some of the ways that you were put through situations. Whatever happens, [I make] the players feel good about themselves."

It was these tough experiences that gave him the fighting qualities to survive in a "judgmental" industry, particularly when it came to balancing title victories and producing draftees.

"It really has been the hardest thing – there's no doubt. No matter what you do, someone is going to debate it and say: 'You were wrong with this and you picked this kid'," Dickson said.

"Coaching Victoria has been difficult, because some recruiters will ring you up and talk about your players and openly discuss them and others will say: 'He's just in it for the wrong reasons and he's just trying to pick certain bodied players.

"That's been pretty hard I must admit – I've had that from certain clubs, two or three, which tend to do it every year – but you get to know who they are and that's their opinion and they can have their opinion.

"I'm trying to do the best thing by both of them – balancing between developing players and winning the national championships – because I still believe that if you win, you're developing players and the fact is if you lose five games, no-one wants to know you and  when you win five games, everyone says: 'You've got a good bunch of players'."

Dickson highlighted Jarred Moore, Nathan Jones and Richard Douglas as "prime examples" of former Vic Metro players who answered their recruiting critics.

"They weren't rated before they went into the carnival and Richie really stepped up and I thought the carnival really made him – in my opinion he should've made All-Australian that year," Dickson said.

"The one thing that people don't realise is that I have no agendas and at my age I don't want to go to an AFL club … this is why I get upset, when people have a shot at me, I've always tried to do the right thing by the kids."

Attempting to select his best Vic Metro was difficult, as they were all "special".

"We've had three super sides – I believe in my 12 years of coaching – where they just coached themselves, but when you coach a team that wasn't rated and they win it, that's more special and we've had a few of those," Dickson said.

Leading up to his final match as coach, Dickson conceded it had been a "pretty emotional" time.

"It's the end of 12 years of my life – it just seems strange – but you have a look at the other part of your life and my wife has put up with [my involvement in] football and I've been playing since I was 10 or 11, then at Preston, then at Carlton and then coaching for 28 years," Dickson said, who also holds a full-time job at Rinnai as state manager.

"You get to the stage where you start to think: 'I've got to give something back and I've got to start doing a few trips and a few things in my own life, before it all starts getting too bloody late'."

From a players' perspective, Dickson was summed up best by arguably the best key defender in this year's draft pool – Michael Hurley.  

"He's just always there. You can talk to him and he's a good mentor," Hurley said.

"Anyone who has any questions, they're not afraid to approach him and he always gives you a great answer – he's a great coach with his experience," Hurley said.