Who is the best coach of modern era?

Alastair Clarkson has changed the way we think about AFL coaches. Picture: Colleen Petch. Source: News Corp Australia

THERE was a time not that long ago when a relative dill, at least in an academic sense, could land a coaching job at an AFL club.

In some instances the said species actually coached for a healthy duration, surviving on their footy smarts and basic rat cunning, skills sets unlikely to see them achieve honours in the Classical and Mathematical Triposes at Cambridge or the Literae Humaniores at Oxford.

Then times changed and types such as Alastair Clarkson forever buggered up the hopes of an uneducated AFL champion winning a senior coaching job. Bloody Clarkson, with his Bachelor of Sports Science and Masters of Business Administration from Monash Uni.

As if that wasn't enough then he went and completed a two-week leadership and management course in glowing fashion at that toffee joint called Harvard University in Massachusetts. You know, the one where "them" Roosevelts and Kennedys went.

And once Clarkson took Hawthorn from 14th to first in four years from 2005-08, the blueprint for an AFL coach in the 2000s had been written. Yes, there have been occasional unsuccessful dalliances with the blue over white collar since, but clubs that turn over millions of dollars want someone mentally agile enough to be the public face of their organisation. A Paul Roos, John Longmire or Nathan Buckley.

Clarkson is very much that person and one who has a genuine claim to be rated the finest coach in the AFL era from 1990. So on a day where Mike Sheahan has produced his final Top 50 for this newspaper, in this instance the finest players of that era, who is the coach deserving of controlling that group?

Is it Kevin Sheedy, who coached two premierships in the era we are speaking of and was desperately unlucky in both 1996 and 1999 when key injuries arguably robbed him of another two flags? When assessing Sheedy I judge him only on the 18 years he spent as Essendon coach from 1990-2007 given his two years with GWS were all about development of a young group.

Mark Thompson learnt from master coach Kevin Sheedy. Source: News Limited

He was able to continually reinvent the Bombers until his last three seasons in 2005-2007, which he now admits were three too many.

Or his one-time Richmond teammate Mick Malthouse took a West Coast outfit from 11th to third in his first season, winning a premiership two years later and positioning the Eagles in September action for all of his 10 years in charge. When he joined wooden spooner Collingwood 2000 the naysayers were sitting in judgment to see how he would improve a so-so list given West Coast had some serious talent to work with.

After his first four years Malthouse took the Pies to a couple of losing Grand Finals, a nine-point loss to super side Brisbane in 2002 being arguably his finest coaching achievement. The Pies then bottomed out before he again rebuilt them into a challenger, going all the way in 2010 and runners-up a year later.

Who is the best coach of the AFL era?

Or maybe you like the work of eccentric genius Malcolm Blight, his CV lacking the longevity of Sheedy and Malthouse but boasting similar highs, taking Geelong and Adelaide sides to Grand Finals in 192-94-97-98 that contained a sprinkling of champions and good numbers of journeymen?

Others would point to Mark Thompson with a winning percentage of 61.8 per cent or Denis Pagan (63.6 per cent) who only missed the finals once in 10 years with the Kangaroos. You could make cases for all five but my choice comes down to two, Leigh Matthews or Clarkson.

The former has won flags with different teams in the era we are talking about and the first was with a club in Collingwood that had been tortured by a succession of near misses for 32 previous years. Then he took wooden spooners Brisbane to 4th and 5th before three straight Premierships followed by a loss to Port Adelaide. The only knock on Matthews is he left both clubs when they were very much on the slide.

Mick Malthouse was a happy man once. Source: News Limited

Then there is Clarkson, who has been able to change or sometimes remain ahead of and ever-changing AFL landscape. A measure of Clarkson was his ability to take over the Australian International Rules campaign last year with instant success after a recent history of failure.

Like Matthews, he has a rare finals strike rate, in his case 13 wins against five losses (Matthews is 17-6). Compelling figures are 17-6 and enough reason for me to nominate Matthews at No.1. But as they say in the music industry, Clarkson is closing fast with a bullet.

Name / Grand Finals / Premierships / Winning rate

Leigh Matthews / 5 / 4 / 60.1%

Alastair Clarkson / 4 / 3 / 61.2%

Mick Malthouse / 6 / 3 / 59.4%

Kevin Sheedy* / 4 / 2 / 59.7%

Mark Thompson / 3 / 2 / 61.8%

Malcolm Blight / 4 / 2 / 55.3%