With the home and away season coming to a close, former Fremantle coach Chris Connolly has ranked his coaching ladder from one to 18.
Some of the factors he has taken strongly into account are ladder position, percentage, injuries and the difficulty of the draw.
1. Leon Cameron – GWS
"They’ve had incredible injuries, they have an incredibly tough draw, considering even some of their home games are played in Canberra," Connolly said on Hungry for Sport.
"They hardly had 25 players to pick from at times. They’re seen as a talented team and clubs go after them, and he’s got them into the top four.
"I think it’s been a great effort."
2. Chris Scott – Geelong
"They’ve had their ups and downs Geelong, but he’s got them going well at the right end of the season."
"This is a club that has had to beat the system and give themselves another chance of winning a premiership.
"If Geelong win this premiership I think people will look at the long rebuilds a little bit differently and try and make them a bit quicker."
3. Don Pyke – Adelaide
"He’s had them up and about, he’s had them playing really exciting footy. Because they played such dominant footy earlier in the season they have become the most hunted."
"I think he’s done a pretty good job."
4. Damien Hardwick – Richmond
"The only reason I dropped Damien down is because they had a great draw, and their injuries have been mid-range."
5. John Worsfold – Essendon
"To get them into the finals, it was like the foreign legion, players had come back from suspension and all over the place."
"He’s brought them all together to play some really exciting footy.
"It’s been a great effort."
6. John Longmire – Sydney
"They had the second most talented side in the competition."
"We saw they couldn’t win a game early in the season, but since then he’s hardly had any injuries and he has had them playing in a hungry way.
"Many people would see them as the premiership favourite."
7. Ken Hinkley – Port Adelaide
"Hasn’t beaten the top eight teams often, so that’s why he drops down the rung a little bit. They’ve hardly had any injuries, so that’s been a big winner for them."
"They’ve done a great job Port Adelaide."
8. Simon Goodwin – Melbourne
"The poor first quarter against Collingwood is the sole responsibility of the senior coach. He did not have them on in that big game, that was a major disappointment."
"They had a lot of injuries and a mid-range draw, but I think he did a pretty good job."
9. Alastair Clarkson – Hawthorn
"They had the second toughest draw in the competition, they had incredibly great players missing, they retired some terrific players, and they are still the team that’s hunted."
"I thought there’s some pretty good things to come out of Hawthorn."
10. Adam Simpson – West Coast
"They are in the finals, but my mail is if West Coast had been beaten by Carlton at Subiaco he would’ve been moved on this season."
"Adam got them into the finals and moved up the rung a little bit there."
11. Luke Beveridge – Western Bulldogs
"I just don’t think any coach could have got their club up with the honeymoon period they had after that incredible premiership."
"They just weren’t mentally there as a group…but I think Luke kept them in the hunt long enough, so I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt there."
12. Alan Richardson - St Kilda
"They’ve got some enormous decisions to make at St Kilda."
"He’s going into his fifth year and spoke at the end of the season about trading players in, but they should probably keep their picks.
"They haven’t had enough growth of their younger talent to start topping them up with seasoned players.
"They weren’t the most disappointing, but they just don’t seem to have x-factor."
13. Chris Fagan – Brisbane
"He had a tougher draw than Carlton, had a tougher draw than North Melbourne, so they were pretty competitive."
"It’s pretty difficult travelling with a young group."
14. Nathan Buckley – Collingwood
"I think they’ve certainly had their ups and downs, their inconsistencies, by their own admission."
"I wasn’t surprised in the end he got two more years."
15. Brad Scott – North Melbourne
"He’s rebuilding also. They’ve had their ups and downs, they knocked Melbourne off twice which played a big role in them missing finals."
16. Brendon Bolton – Carlton
"They had a good draw, they hardly had any injuries, and they’ve been competitive."
"You can mount an argument they’re on track because there is a long view with the club, but the end of the day I’ve rated him 16th."
17. Ross Lyon – Fremantle
"The percentage of Fremantle is disgraceful."
"The two 100 point blowouts towards the end of the season they looked a shambles. They would be really concerned about their performance, and their injuries have been really poor in the last two years.
"That comes back to the senior coach who does the programming with the conditioning coaches."
18. Rodney Eade – Gold Coast