during an Melbourne Demons and Richmond Tigers AFL pre match press conference on April 23, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia.
Nathan Buckley's men are travelling well at the moment. Despite suffering a plethora of injuries in the forward half, Buckley has re-invented and remastered his side's attack.
Long gone are the days when Collingwood would bomb the ball inside 50 in hope, now looking to hit their targets or go in with speed and efficiency.
Buckley has surrounded Mason Cox with dangerous spark plugs like Jordan De Goey, Josh Thomas, Jaidyn Stephenson and Will Hoskin-Elliott.
He has embraced rotating more players through the midfield and changed up his matchups or thrown names around the board when things have not gone to plan.
Players are developing in Buckley's system too, with Brodie Grundy, Tom Phillips, Matthew Scharenberg and De Goey all taking their games to new heights in 2018.
Brad Scott has got the North Melbourne Football Club on the same page in 2018, and the results are showing.
The Roos have recorded big wins over flag fancies Sydney, Hawthorn and GWS, and nearly took the Tigers all the way at Etihad Stadium.
Jack Ziebell's move forward has been a masterstroke, while Ben Brown has emerged as the premier power forward of the competition, leading the Coleman Medal after nine rounds with 31 majors for the season.
The kids are contributing too, Jy Simpkin and Ryan Clarke are doing work at opposite ends of the ground, holding down the Roos in both the forward and back line, respectively.
Maybe the most impressive showcase this season is from Ben Cunnington, who has been playing elite level football and is thriving within coach Scott's current system.
Simon Goodwin has coached the Melbourne Football Club into a pleasant surprise in the early stages of the season, sitting on a comfortable 6-3 record after nine rounds.
Goodwin has coached the team well this season, an unexpected concept following his pre-season turmoil with the team when he allegedly threatened to leave after a training camp debacle.
Melbourne have collected some exceptional young talent through the draft and have built them into a very strong core over the past few years, and Goodwin has used his chess pieces wisely.
The likes of midfield stars Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca have become players for the future and they are continuing to choose wisely as second round draft pick Charlie Spargo out of Albury has started to hit his straps and find some form in the AFL too.
Big man Max Gawn's efforts haven't gone unnoticed either and has been a big reason for Melbourne's resurgence and is dominating the ruck position against all opposition, leading the league in hit-outs.
Damien Hardwick is a proven premiership coach, and if you can take your club to their first flag in 37 years, you get a spot on this list.
Until round nine, Richmond were right beside the West Coast Eagles as the only teams to have suffered just one loss this season, so their form has been even more impressive than last season.
Hardwick has been a careful operator when it comes to injury rehabilitation of his players this season. Premiership players Daniel Rioli and Nick Vlastuin, Josh Caddy and even their captain Trent Cotchin have been forced to miss time this season due to injury.
Despite having these important players sidelined, Hardwick has kept the ship on course and is ensuring that his players are not brought back too early.
Hardwick has implemented a cohesive system of team football where the team doesn't have to rely on superstar performances from their star players every match to effectively win games.
Adam Simpson is behind the wheel, steering the most consistent AFL team so far to a top of the ladder position after nine rounds.
West Coast have been the team that ruins opponents' form this season. Right as Geelong, Collingwood and Port Adelaide all started to find form, the Eagles cut them off at the roots.
However, maybe their most impressive win this year came on their most anticipated match of the season against top of the table rivals Richmond.
Their system is working right now, after a dominating performance against their rivals last weekend, doubling the Tigers in hit-outs and despite seeing the ball go into their forward line 13 times fewer, they were able to get 30 shots on goal to the Tigers' 23.
The Eagles are the real deal, led by leaders Elliot Yeo, Andrew Gaff and Josh Kennedy, while Jack Darling is in a rich vein of form.