CAMERON Ling won't know whether he has what it takes to be a senior coach until he is a senior coach.
But the 33-year-old is in demand, with Melbourne coach Paul Roos confirming on Tuesday the Demons are interested in talking to him about being his successor after serving an apprenticeship.
Ling, a premiership captain and three-time premiership player with Geelong, knows decision time is coming.
"From now on I’m really going to start thinking about it and start talking to some people and start having some conversations with my family as well and see where they’re placed,” he said recently on radio.
But as he ponders where to take his career, the AFL Coaches Association and the AFL's football operations department are moving closer to establishing principles that might help Ling and others in a similar boat to fully understand their decision.
It is likely to recommend prospective coaches develop knowledge in specific area including physical preparation, sports science, performance psychology, program, strategic and people management, list management and recruiting.
These are skills very few, if any, players straight out of the game possess to the level required of a senior coach.
The proposed formula suggests that no one can step out of playing and be ready for the demands of managing a team as, in effect, the CEO of football.
That realisation came to a head at the end of last season when six coaches were replaced, including the Lions Michael Voss and Essendon's James Hird, who both became senior coaches without doing time as assistants.
Two who did do a 'traditional' apprenticeship, Mark Neeld and Scott Watters, were sacked, meaning a forensic assessment of what was required to prepare for and do the job was needed.
Michael Poulton, formerly of the Coaches Association and now part of the AFL football operations team, said a coach required a variety of attributes and experiences.
Despite popular perception, becoming a successful coach didn't just require working as an assistant coach in a successful system. Coaches could learn adversity.
"A successful coach is skilled in working with athletes and staff, as individuals and teams," Poulton told AFL.com.au.
"They must have a great ability to lead and manage others, understand the many factors of performance and have an acute awareness of themselves. All these attributes will be challenged constantly regardless of whether you are winning or losing."
Ling must consider all that before deciding whether to enter coaching full-time, putting on hold a burgeoning media career.
Does he attempt to become Paul Roos' successor at Melbourne, developing his skills under someone as good as his job as the Swans premiership coach?
Does he put his toe in the water in the familiar environment of Geelong, close to home and heart?
Does he extend his role at North Melbourne, where he has worked part-time this season as a leadership consultant?
Is Carlton still a possibility after his much-publicised exchange with Mick Malthouse, alongside whom he has worked before, in Sydney on the weekend?
Or does he move to an unfamiliar club to broaden his professional development?
He then needs to consider whether he can give himself a tick in areas including knowledge of the game, leadership, management, technical skills, communication, performance analysis, list management and recruiting, commercial acumen, sports science, strategic planning, resilience/work ethic, administration, opposition analysis and the ability to delegate.
Even Roos appeared uncertain how long someone such as Ling or the newly retired Lenny Hayes might need.
"I think Cameron (Ling) is definitely someone we'll definitely have a chat to, but is one year or two years too soon, depending on what I do, to be an AFL coach?" Roos said on Tuesday.
"I don't know enough about Cameron to say yes or no. But I think Cameron and probably Lenny (Hayes) are people you'd love to talk to, but is it too soon?"
Roos told the AFL Record a week earlier he thought he could teach someone the ropes relatively quickly: "If we pick the right person I don't think it is going to be that hard at all. That [picking the right person] is the critical part of it."
He said training would include such things as dealing with board members, medical staff and sponsors as much as the nuts and bolts coaching component.
North Melbourne has been impressed with Ling's performance in his part-time role but nobody there has been given a hint on what he might want to do next season.
Kangaroos' forward Drew Petrie told AFL.com.au's AFL Exchange podcast last Wednesday he thought Ling was smart enough "to realise that he is probably going to have to do some time as an assistant coach before taking the plunge".
Although in demand, Ling is not the only potential candidate for the Melbourne gig.
Brendan Bolton did a good job in charge at Hawthorn when Alastair Clarkson was ill. Luke Beveridge also has a great pedigree and success coaching in amateur football and at Collingwood and Hawthorn.
Blake Caracella, Brett Montgomery, Mark Bickley, Scott Burns and Brett Kirk are also mentioned often as being among the next wave. Kirk has the advantage of having played under Roos at the Sydney Swans.
Michael Voss is understood to be enjoying what is either a sabbatical from coaching or a new direction in life and Eagles premiership coach John Worsfold is also said to be happy away from the limelight.
Ling has some attributes but he is smart enough to know he does not have them all.
"If you look at Ken Hinkley and you look at Alan Richardson, maybe the longer apprenticeship is the better option," he said.
"I want to be successful and that’s a part of my competitive nature."
Most football people want him, and others like him, to be successful too.
It is part of why his decision is being so keenly watched.
