Coaching in the AFL is a chalice that can be poisoned or make you immortal.
That's the deal made when someone agrees to become a head coach of an AFL club 99.9 per cent of the time: If you win a premiership, you are a success; anything less and you have failed. It's as ruthless a business as any.
The pressure internally and externally, the media scrutiny, would become all-encompassing. Just look at what Carlton coach Michael Voss is experiencing right now as people list the best person to become the Blues coach while he is still at the helm.
But for all its flaws, it is so heavily desired by the competitive few who seek eternal glory and have a deep burning desire to become a premiership-winning coach.
Having been born in the first year of the 21st century, that is where this ranking list shall begin. The work of coaches from 2000 to the present will be the main source of argument, but the ability to look further back in time at their exploits can be used as a form of tie-breaker.
To enter the top 10, a coach must have won a premiership, so St Kilda's Ross Lyon, despite leading two of the league's "smaller teams" to a total of three (four if you count the draw) grand finals, is omitted from the pool.
6. Mark "Bomber" Thompson - Geelong, 2007, 2009
The coaching game didn't go Bomber's way much during his first six seasons at the helm.
Geelong's rebuild was slow and filled with ups and downs, with the 2005 edition of the Cats looking promising, before the club plunged back down the ladder in 2006.
Thompson's seat was as hot as any at the start of 2007 when Geelong's consistency again shone through; however, that all changed within the blink of an eye.
All of a sudden, Thompson and his players had secured the biggest grand final victory in history (119 points against Port Adelaide). The Cats then made the grand final again in 2008, before securing a second flag in 2009 in a memorable tight grand final against a dominant St Kilda.
Yes, Geelong had a litany of stars, highlighted by the fact that nine Cats made the 2007 All-Australian team, but it is quickly forgotten how Thompson and his players broke the curse that seemed to plague Geelong in grand finals.
The Cats hadn't won a flag since 1963 and had featured in five grand finals in the 44 years following, failing in each despite their elite talent.
Bomber was an integral part of their rebuild following a mediocre end to the 1990s for the club.
