You’re the Football Manager at a highly successful football club and your Recruiting Manager comes to you with a dilemma;

“I have two coaches at the peak of their powers that I can’t split,” he says. “We have the option to get a proven coach to lead our team but I need you to cast the deciding vote on who we go for.”

He throws some names at you which almost cause you to fall off your chair. With the success of the club dependant on your choice, which way will you go? Who will you decide to invest your faith in with thousands of supporters ready to scrutinise your choice?

Previous Shinboner Showdown's:
Schwass v Greig
Carey v Blight
Wells v Grant
Larkin v Simpson
Dench v Martyn
Swallow v Rock
Blakey v Rawlings
Schimmelbusch v Stevens
McKernan v Petrie

In this week's Shinboner Showdown, it's Denis Pagan against Ron Barassi.

Choose between the Shinboner’s below, but be careful...the ultimate success is within your reach, but could depend on who you pick.


  

Denis Pagan

  

Ron Barassi

Bio: Pagan coached North Melbourne's under 19's to five premierships and Essendon to a reserves flag before being appointed the Kangaroos' senior coach in 1993.

He had an immediate impact and amazingly took the side to eight consecutive finals appearances.

The longest serving coach in North Melbourne's history with 240 games, he also has an enviable a record boasting a winning percentage above 60% in nine seasons.

Pagan was a true player’s coach and a fine communicator who taught players to believe in themselves.

His greatest achievement of all was securing North’s third and fourth premierships in 1996 and 1999 respectively.

  

Bio: After much success at Carlton, Ron Barassi took on the head coaching job at North Melbourne in 1973.

Having claimed the wooden spoon the previous year, Barassi had a big job on his hands to turn things around. A grueling training regime and uncompromising approach as well as the recruiting of some big names helped the Kangaroos into a Grand Final in 1974 and in 1975 Barassi and North Melbourne experienced premiership success for the first time.

Two years later, some inspired positional changes brought the Kangaroos back from the brink of defeat to draw against Collingwood in the 1977 Grand Final. A week later there was another memorable triumph for Barassi and his great team.

Upon leaving the club in 1980, he would be remembered as one of the most respected coaches in league history.

Games: 240  Games: 198
Wins: 150  Goals: 129
Losses: 90  Losses: 66
Draws: 0  Draws: 3
Win %: 63   Win %: 65