Senior Assistant coach Stuart Dew has lived up to his billing as one of the best assistants in the game at Tuesday night's AFL Coaches Association Awards.

Dew, who has spent seven seasons working under senior counterpart John Longmire, was crowned the 2016 Assistant Coach of the Year during an official ceremony in Melbourne.

Dew follows in the footsteps of Longmire who won the honour in 2006 during Paul Roos' reign.

"It is obviously an honour, as you look at some of the names who have won it before me it is a pretty good lineup."

"I work within a really good group of coaches and when the players are playing footy like they have this year it makes us all look good."

A former midfielder/forward, Dew played 206 games for Port Adelaide and Hawthorn and won two premierships - 2004 (Port Adelaide) and 2008 (Hawthorn).

He explored coaching immediately after retirement, joining Sydney as an assistant following the departure of Brett Allison in 2009.

He was a mastermind behind the team's premiership success in 2012, earning a promotion to senior assistant the following season - a position he's held ever since.

As reported last week, young gun Isaac Heeney was awarded Best Young Player with the accolade officially announced at Tuesday's dinner.