STUART Dew believes secrets in coaching are a myth.
The Gold Coast mentor says "X's and O's" – or game strategy – is over-rated and learning how to deal with players and staff as individuals and collectively has far greater value.
Dew opened himself and the Suns to outside observers as part of the Amazon Prime documentary Making Their Mark and also recently joined the other 17 senior coaches in a six-part webinar series aimed at community coaches.
He believes in sharing the knowledge.
"The main one is getting rid of some of the myths between the gap in coaching at AFL level and either juniors or local clubs," Dew told AFL.com.au.
"When you talk to those coaches they ask a lot about tactics and gameplan and I try and talk about everything other than that.
"Everyone is trying to stop the ball and kick as many goals, so everyone's got different plans, but I try and talk about how you deal with individuals and the team."
Dew spent a long apprenticeship as an assistant coach, learning from John Longmire and his right-hand man John Blakey.
He described himself as an "observer", taking elements from all around him.
Dew often listens to NBA coaches Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers, who openly share their thoughts on coaching.
"I think the X's and O's stuff is a little overrated because that’s what people would probably class as 'the secret' whereas I think if coaches in general - AFL, community, SANFL, QAFL - if you can share your knowledge on how to make it a better experience, there's nothing wrong with that.
"I don't think there's any secrets in that.
"It's all about how you get the best out of your players.
"There's no point me doing what Chris Fagan does, because he has a different group of players.
"I think if you're copying, you're barking up the wrong tree.
"It's not so much about 'where's the red smartie, the new and shiny thing that will fix everything', sometimes you might feel a certain way and then you hear a few coaches that have had success in the same wheelhouse, and you get confidence from that."
The webinar series was produced over two weeks in March, with three coaches appearing on a panel in each video.
AFL general manager of game development Sam Graham said more than 6000 community coaches learnt from the AFL's best.
"The feedback from community coaches has been fantastic and we are extremely appreciative of the AFL coaches giving their time on the eve of the season," Graham said.
"The series is now available on demand and is one of the many benefits that the AFL provides coaches through CoachAFL.
"The AAMI Community Camp Webinar Series is the beginning of a series of initiatives from the AFL to support community coaches which will include the launch of a Junior Coaching Curriculum in the coming weeks."
Check out the free seven-part AAMI Community Camp webinar series at Coach.AFL. The series is available to all community coaches, AFL School Ambassadors, club volunteers and anyone interested in coaching.
