So, you’re a seasoned Victorian coach who’s been offered an interstate job – you’ll be parachuted into a plum gig with the most exciting list in the country, with a premiership a matter of when, not if.

Are you?

a) Mick Malthouse in 1990
b) Leigh Matthews in 1998
c) Ross Lyon in 2012
d) Rodney Eade in 2014
e) All of the above

Malthouse and Matthews delivered premierships, two and three respectively, and Lyon got very close for Fremantle. He may still deliver.

For Eade, only time will tell, but he should be in no doubt that a big silver cup is the only pass mark – nothing less will do.

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The Gold Coast Suns are about to enter their fifth season (a year older than the Eagles were when Malthouse replaced John Todd).

Just as the Eagles were in 1990, the Suns are chock-full of young talent and are ready for a breakout season.

Malthouse arrived at West Coast with John Worsfold, Don Pyke, Peter Sumich, Craig Turley, Michael Brennan, David Hart, Chris Lewis, Chris Mainwaring, Guy McKenna, Chris Waterman and Dwayne Lamb – all future premiership players – on the club’s books.

Like Eade, Malthouse’s most recent success as a coach before being given the West Coast job was to take Footscray to a preliminary final.

He hadn’t won a flag, but his eyes must have lit up when he looked at some of the young talent on offer out west, the same way Eade must surely feel the young Suns are on the cusp of something great.

Eade’s wife told 3AW on Tuesday night that he couldn’t resist the lure of trying to help Gold Coast’s young stars into September and beyond.

“I know Rodney’s passion to coach is still there and the list is fantastic on the Gold Coast,” Wendy Eade said.

“Rodney’s passion for coaching is overwhelming and I just want him to be happy.”

Don’t worry Mrs Eade, Rodney will be happy. Gary Ablett, David Swallow, Dion Prestia, Harley Bennell, Jack Martin, Tom Lynch, Tom Nicholls and the rest will see to that.

What middle-aged man could resist the offer of a brand new Ferrari?

What Eade is feeling right now would be similar to that experienced by Leigh Matthews when he took a phone call from the Brisbane Lions in 1998.

Imagine ‘Lethal’ casting his eyes down the list at his disposal: Voss, Akermanis, Black, Power, the Scotts, Johnson, Ashcroft, Dickfos…

Ross Lyon must have felt a similar rush knowing he’d have Fyfe, Mundy, Barlow and Hill at his disposal for the next few years.

In fact, Lyon and Eade’s quests to deliver maiden premierships for not only their clubs but themselves, may intertwine in coming years.

The examples of Malthouse and Matthews show flags are as much about timing as anything else.

Malthouse proved himself a good coach at West Coast – winning two premierships and never missing the finals in his decade there.

But there are other men who could have done just as well, if not better. There is an argument to be made that, given the list at his disposal, he underachieved.

It was timing that saw Lyon able to take on the Fremantle job. If he’d stayed at St Kilda he might have been in the running for the Gold Coast gig a few years later.

In the sliding doors world of AFL coaching, timing is everything. If Fremantle and Gold Coast meet in a final anytime soon, we’ll know which grizzled Victorian coach made the right interstate move.