So what does each coach need to do in 2015 to ensure they still have a job this time next year?

Adelaide - Phil Walsh (contracted until end of 2017): Coaches generally have to resort to high levels of neglect to lose their jobs in year one, but with a team perceived to have underachieved, the pressure will quickly be on. The Crows board showed they had a ruthless streak by sacking Sanderson, the man with the best winning percentage in the club's history. Safe for 2016 if: He wins six games and turns up to training.

Brisbane Lions - Justin Leppitsch (2016): The Lions, for all their big-name signings of October, are still coming off a low base. They are also not a club that can afford to be paying out coaches willy nilly, and even if there were serious struggles, Leppitsch would probably be fine - notwithstanding the impressive off-season signings. Safe for 2016 if: The Lions win six games and aren't generally deplorable.

Carlton - Mick Malthouse (2015): Malthouse enters his third season at Visy Park with a side in semi re-build, having now turned over the list significantly. Certainly has a heap of career credits in the bank, but another poor year will make it hard for the Blues to give him more time. His media performance remains the wildcard that could tilt him towards the departure lounge. Safe for 2016 if: The Blues nab eight wins and there are signs of improving youngsters.

Collingwood - Nathan Buckley (2016): The steady decline in performance each year since Mick Malthouse means that Buckley will face intense scrutiny if the Magpies flail in 2015. However, the loss of Dayne Beams is a mitigating factor, and as a club great it is difficult to envisage Buckley being canned while still under contract. Safe for 2016 if: He can prevent a civil war in the playing group.

Essendon - James Hird (2016): For all he endured, Hird steered his side to a very strong 13-win season in 2013. However, Mark Thompson returned the club to the finals, which means that the comparisons will not be flattering should the Bombers miss this year. They have also recruited heavily for the now. A raft of supplement-related suspensions would clearly be another factor that could see it all end. Safe for 2016 if: The side avoids the bottom four and the anti-doping tribunal doesn't leave the team ravaged.

Fremantle - Ross Lyon (2017): The Dockers have enormous faith in Lyon and rightfully so. But one does have to wonder what might happen if the AFL's oldest list falls off the pace like St Kilda did in 2011. It's hard to imagine Lyon would bail again, and the Freo board seem to think he's the man to oversee life after Pavlich. Safe for 2016 if: He wants to be there.

Geelong - Chris Scott (2017): A premiership in your first season and three finals series subsequent earns a coach CIA-level security. Even if the Cats had a monumental drop-off in 2015, Scott would be given the keys to the remodelled car. Safe for 2016 if: He doesn't get sick of living in Geelong.

Gold Coast - Rodney Eade (2017): New coaches are usually given time, but when they step into a job like the one Eade has inherited, it is clear that results are quickly expected. Gold Coast were in the eight when Gary Ablett went down, and if he can get on the park again, the Suns should make the finals. Safe for 2016 if: The Suns avoid the bottom four.

Greater Western Sydney - Leon Cameron (2016): Six wins in 2014 was a vast improvement, but expectations will rise again, especially with the acquisition of Ryan Griffen. If Guy McKenna lost his job after missing the finals in the Suns' fourth year, Cameron wouldn't want to regress in the Giants' fourth. Safe for 2016 if: The team wins seven games.

Hawthorn - Alastair Clarkson (2016): Clarko is one more premiership away from having his statue erected next to that of John Kennedy at Waverley Park. He'd be safe even if he declared that the Hawthorn board was full of a bunch of nuffies or wore an Essendon polo shirt into the box one day. Safe for 2016 if: He doesn't get tired of Brendon Bolton smiling all the time.

Melbourne - Paul Roos (2016): A little bit of a different case since he went down the Kirribilli path with Simon Goodwin. Things would probably need to revert to the levels of the Mark Neeld days for Roosy not to be given a chance to see out the final year before his tenure ends. Safe for 2016 if: The Dees win more than two games.

North Melbourne - Brad Scott (2016): Scott still has two years to run on his contract, and after a preliminary final appearance it seems things may finally have turned the corner after four years of mediocrity. But recruiting Jarrad Waite and Shaun Higgins aren't exactly moves that scream patience. Safe for 2016 if: North make the finals.

Port Adelaide - Ken Hinkley (2016): There will be those tipping Port for the flag, and understandably so. But even an incredibly poor season probably wouldn't end things for Hinkley. Rather, it would be seen as a blip, a right the coach of a team that is still an anomaly in the age ladder has earnt. Safe for 2016 if: He doesn't offend Kochie.

Richmond - Damien Hardwick (2016): This bloke's under the pump. Nine wins to finish 2014 was a handy fillip, but the goodwill generated from that was largely neutralised by the shellacking at the Adelaide Oval that followed. Five years into his reign and without a finals win, surely a finals spot is the bare minimum for Hardwick. Safe for 2016 if: Richmond win a final.

St Kilda - Alan Richardson (2016): The Saints are playing such a long game that even another wooden spoon may not spell the end for the second-year coach. The club will also be wary not to let go another coach after just two years. Safe for 2016 if: The club's percentage remains above 60.

Sydney - John Longmire (2017): A great season in 2014 was marred by the grand final day stinker. If things go awry, the pressure will rise a little, given the immense talent on the list, and the noose of the Franklin contract tightening up the airwaves of all those who allowed the move to happen. Safe for 2016 if: Buddy's excesses don't become a major issue inside the club.

West Coast - Adam Simpson (2016): West Coast were in no man's land in 2014. Simpson seems a bit like Sanderson, in charge of a club where the expectation is for a team to never be out of the mix for too long. Coming after a club favourite doesn't help, and he wouldn't want to miss the eight by much. Safe for 2016 if: The Eagles make the finals.

Western Bulldogs - Luke Beveridge (2017): Beveridge will be given time, especially after the Dogs traded out two of their best, seasoned midfielders. But if things don't go well in year one, then the board may come snarling not long after. Safe for 2016 if: The Dogs avoid the wooden spoon.