OUTGOING Vic Metro coach David Dickson has seen many of his players go on to become superstars of the AFL during a 12-year tenure, but he rates his final title-winning group among the very best he's led.

That's high praise from a guy who has coached the likes of Chris Judd, Luke Ball, Brendan Fevola and Luke Power, but Dickson is adamant the squad that swept all before it to take the 2008 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships will produce elite-level players of a similar calibre.

"We had 30 players in the squad this year because we played extra games and I would be very surprised if we didn't get 23 or 24 of those boys drafted," Dickson says.

"I coached Vic Metro for 12 years and the first year we had quality players like Luke Power, Trent Croad, Kris Massie, Travis Johnstone, Nick Stevens and Jason Saddington and out of a squad of 25 we had 22 drafted.

"It was an exceptional squad and some of those blokes like Nick Stevens and Luke Power are still superstars now.

"About four years after that we had our second special group go through with the likes of Chris Judd, Sam Power, David Rodan, Brent Reilly, Campbell Brown and James Kelly, and we had about 21 drafted out of that group of 25.

"This group will be similar, we had a lot of players that I feel have really high draft potential, and it was up with the very best squads I've coached over the years.

"We've had squads where we've sat down at the end of the carnival and you'd probably say that we might get 10 or 12 lads picked up, but this squad was exceptional in terms of how I rate them over that 12-year period."

Dickson's role during such a crucial development phase for young players cannot be overestimated. He admits he has had to walk a fine line between winning and helping his kids grow as players.

His Vic Metro squads have won eight of the 12 championships they've competed in and Dickson believes involvement in such a winning culture at a young age is a key factor in a player's development.

"To go through undefeated like they did was special," he says of his latest squad which featured potential top-five picks Jack Watts, Michael Hurley, Tyrone Vickery and Jackson Trengove.

"South Australia has never beaten us in all my years of coaching, but in saying that, we've had some pretty hard scraps where we got up by less than a goal. This club belted South Australia on their home turf by nine goals.

"We beat Western Australia, which was supposed to be a superstar side, by five goals and I thought we could have even beaten them by more.

"This squad took all before them and continued to improve and get better and better. Players like Taylor Hunt, Rory Sloane, James Strauss – all of a sudden people are now saying: 'this kid will probably get drafted'. The squad overall was a very, very strong squad in the end."

Dickson made the tough decision for the 2008 championships to be his last in order to spend more time with family, but he says the memories of his time with Vic Metro will stay with him forever.

"It certainly does have an impact with you," he says.

"Even something small like on mad Monday when you get guys like Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Nick Stevens calling you up and telling you to come down for a beer. Those sorts of things might sound a bit funny, but it really is an emotional thing for me for them to be thinking, 'Oh, I wonder where Dicko is?'

"We've always had a strong culture among the Metro boys and I could just tell you stories for hours.

"You're with them during some tough times and they never forget that so it's a good feeling to be able to have some sort of impact on them and it was a great experience.

"I've been lucky to coach them for 12 years."