AFTER recent experiences with regimented Russians and 400kg gorillas, Port Adelaide leadership coach Jan Stirling says fitting into the male-dominated world of AFL has been a walk in the park.

Stirling became the first woman to be appointed by an AFL club in any coaching capacity when she was entrusted with the job of overhauling the Power's leadership program in October.

For the former national women's basketball coach and player, the offer came after a challenging stint with the Russian Basketball Federation.

In Russian basketball only Russian citizens can occupy national head coaching positions, so Stirling took up a consultancy role with the sporting body.

"Russia is just a different culture. There were eight staff members. It was a privileged environment to be in. I was the only female and I was [just] Jan Stirling from Adelaide," Stirling said.

"They don't usually bring in outsiders and then again they brought in an outsider that was female and in their culture it's not usually done that way. Over there they have lots of rules and getting them to change rules in the best interest of the athlete was always a challenge."

Stirling and fellow new Port Adelaide employee Jenny Williams, sister of senior coach Mark, have had no such trouble implementing change at Alberton.

The Power's leadership group has been slashed to just three players, skipper Dom Cassisi and vice-captains Dean Brogan and Jacob Surjan, compared to nine last season.

Cassisi, Brogan and Surjan's names were put forward after extensive psychological profiling of the players and coaches conducted by Williams.

Stirling said the final decision on the make-up of the group, including the axing of veterans Chad and Kane Cornes, was a collaborative one.

"In the end athletes have got to lead themselves, but you're always going to have some people that stand out and show the ability to be able to look after some external things as well as managing themselves as an athlete," Stirling said.

"Dom, Dean and Jacob are some young men there that are going to shine in that real traditional leadership role, but a number of the others will be asked to do different things from time to time and that will test their abilities too."

The world championship-winning coach was approached to join the Power two years ago, but declined because of Olympic commitments.

Stirling predominantly coached women during her successful national and international career, but said she'd had no trouble adapting to working with men.

"The players are probably more conscious of Jenny and I being female if anything. If they swear they sort of say, 'Oh, sorry' - like girls don't swear - and we tell them not to worry about it," she said.

She describes Carlton and Hawthorn premiership coach David Parkin as one of her greatest mentors and is a confidant of current Adelaide coach Neil Craig, although she says football will be "off limits" when the pair next meet for coffee.

Coach Mark Williams describes Stirling as already having had "a dramatic effect" on the players and the way they communicate and the ex-Adelaide Lightning coach hopes to strengthen this bond by using her "women's intuition" to tap into the players' psychological and emotional wellbeing.

Stirling has embraced her part-time role, having recently returned from her first holiday in 25 years.

In February, she went on a guided tour through the jungles of Uganda where she fulfilled a childhood dream of standing face-to-face with the silverback gorillas.

"I decided I needed a holiday and ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to go and see the silverback gorillas. Trekking and seeing them 10 feet away in their natural environment doing what they normally do was just sensational. Some people even got a pat on the shoulder from one."