"All senior coaches are weird. What I can’t work out is, were they always that way or does the job turn them that way?" he says on The Chosen Few, an exceptional documentary about the lives of AFL coaches, which screens on the Seven Network on Grand Final eve (Friday, September 26).
Every 2014 senior coach except for Essendon’s Mark Thompson features in the documentary, having granted filmmaker Peter Dickson unprecedented access to their lives at work, home and in some cases their meeting rooms and their coach’s boxes on game days.
After viewing The Chosen Few, it is hard to disagree with Scott’s theory.
They are unique beasts who lead often lonely existences, their lives shaped by success and failure on a weekly basis. But without fail, the coaches also come across as passionate about the game and doting with regard to their players.
"I underestimated the care and in some cases the love they have for their players," Dickson said.
The documentary particularly focuses on Gold Coast’s Guy McKenna on the day of his club’s 99-point loss to Hawthorn at Metricon Stadium in round four and showcases the deep friendship between Brenton Sanderson and Nathan Buckley in the lead-up to the Adelaide-Collingwood match in round nine. (Sanderson was sacked on Wednesday, several weeks after the final editing. Dickson only had time to add a note acknowledging the fact in the film).
Very little is off-limits in The Chosen Few, as the coaches discuss their relationships with the media, Gen Y footballers and the massive step up to becoming a senior coach, described by Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney as a "300 per cent" increase in responsibility.
Former coaches Michael Voss, John Worsfold and Scott Watters discuss frankly the trauma of losing their jobs, while in a fascinating revelation as part of a discussion about work-life balance, Ross Lyon painstakingly describes losing his sister Julie to breast cancer while he was coaching St Kilda and how the requirements of his job meant he had to front up to a game two days later.
The documentary also contrasts the views of the current coaches with those of coaching legends Denis Pagan, Ron Barassi, David Parkin, Leigh Matthews and John Kennedy snr, who take part in a fascinating roundtable. According to Dickson, Barassi indicated this would be his last appearance in such a forum.
Dickson has spent the past few seasons filming and producing various instalments of The Final Story, while also hoping to get The Chosen Few off the ground, but it took the powers of persuasion of former AFL Coaches’ Association chief executive Danny Frawley to get such buy-in from the senior coaches.
"Danny was instrumental in getting this done," Dickson said.
The Chosen Few will air in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth on Channel 7 at 9.30pm and in Sydney and Brisbane on 7Mate at 10.30pm, on September 26.
