To most in Kaniva he's only known as "Addis" - a nickname born from his sister's struggles to pronounce Alastair.

In football circles he's regarded as a future Hall of Famer. A groundbreaking coach who's drive and innovation guided Hawthorn to four AFL premierships.

IN OTHER NEWS: Horsham company charged over brick wall collapse that killed worker

Despite, his success in the city - and there's been plenty of it - the boy from the wheatbelt admits he misses the comfort of a small community.

"There are lots of things about cities that provide unbelievable opportunities, but you don't get that same sense of community as you do in a small country town," Clarkson told Tackle Your Feelings.

"In the small community I grew up in, I'll never forget those values and how is the whole town that assists in your development and growth as a young fella.

"Unfortunately you get into the city and you start coaching AFL footy that whole sense of community and helping each other out when times get tough (is lost).

"It's so tribal. It's so competitive. It's all about winning. We want to win, I like to win, but it should never be at the expense of a community or the health and wellbeing of the guys that are in involved in the club."

Tackle Your Feelings is a joint venture between the AFL Coaches Association, AFL Players' Association and Zurich, based on mental health training delivered to players, coaches and staff in the AFL.

The Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly is working to deliver the program to football-netball clubs in the region and will provide interested coaches a mental health education session delivered by a local psychologist, and further online learning.

MAKING NEWS:

Clarkson feared the special sense of community regional football-netball clubs shared had been lost.

"A lot of really unique features of Aussie Rules have been lost at the lost the elite level," he said.

"That's where the challenges come for senior coaches because they haven't got that sense of community or that tool, in essence, to be able to speak openly."

The Hawthorn Hall of Fame inductee revealed the AFL environment had a taxing impact on coaches' mental health.

"Now it's like 'oh we're too bulletproof. We're an AFL coach we can't be seen to show emotion'," he said.

"It's like water dripping on a rock. It slowly grinds people down. That's the tough part of the industry."

RELATED: Who did you crown the Wimmera's greatest AFL export of all time?

Clarkson said the death of close friend, and former Hawthorn coaching group member, Danny Frawley had had a profound impact on him.

"I'd known Spud for 35 years and you said to me that he was going to take his own life I would have said: 'you're kidding aren't ya'," he said.

"What we're trying to do is make people aware of (mental health). Let them know it's ok to be down in the dumps from time to time.

"We're all going to face challenges like that and have to help each other through it when the chips are down."

Did you know you can receive updates straight to your inbox? To make sure you're up-to-date with news from across the region, sign up below.