Stuart Dew says teenagers need to get off the internet and PlayStation and start kicking footballs if the standard of the AFL is to flourish long-term.
In a week when the skill level of the game has been questioned, the Gold Coast coach said clubs did not get enough time to develop their players' skill sets.
"What dictates that is the Players' Association at times, but also the game is so physically hard a lot of players can't train during the week," Dew said.
"There's not as much touch as there used to be."
Dew said there was an adjustment period of eight to nine weeks at the start of each season as players adapted to the pace and new trends of the game.
However, his biggest concern came with the state in which draftees came into the league.
"Ideally, you'd like less internet and PlayStation and more kicking through the teen years, to be honest," Dew said.
"When you think back to your teenage life it was outside kicking footballs. It just doesn’t happen as much these days.
"You almost get them and they are what they are. It is really hard to change.
"The amount of hours you need to put in to get better at skills is significant, and coupled with game loads (and subsequent rest during the week), it's a hard balance.
"That's why when you see players at 18, their skill level is hard to change."
Dew wasn't stopping there, saying that hard work was the only way around the goalkicking plague that has enveloped the first six rounds.
One of the first things he implemented at Gold Coast was specific practice in front of goal.
"Goalkicking is and always will be between the ears and it's just who can handle that pressure and who can't," he said.
"You've got to want to kick the goal.
"If you're lining up thinking 'I hope', you're half way to a miss in my opinion.
"You've got to do the work and feel comfortable … so that when you get in a game scenario you can visually put yourself back in that positon on the ground.
"A lot of people might think less is more, but you get confidence out of actions not talking about being confident."
