It is crunch time for Michael Voss and his struggling Brisbane side, as the Lions coach finds himself in strangely unfamiliar territory.
Ever since he burst onto the AFL scene as a player when he was virtually best on the ground in his debut game in 1992, Voss has been destined for greatness.
Sure there have been some setbacks along the way - his infamous broken leg sustained against Fremantle in Perth in Round 11, 1998 the most noticeable - but until now nothing has prevented Voss from conquering every challenge thrown his way.
By the time his 289 game career had ended following the 2006 season - Voss was a triple premiership captain, a Brownlow Medallist, a four-time best and fairest winner and five-time All-Australian including having been named captain on two occasions.
But there was more to the Voss playing record than just mere accolades.
It was also everything he stood for.
Quite rightly lauded as one of the most courageous players of his era, Voss also simply refused to accept defeat - who can ever forget the way he lifted his team to victory in the dying stages of the 2002 grand final - while at the same time being regarded as merciless on those who did not share his fanatical on-field commitment.
As well as being regarded - along with North Melbourne's Wayne Carey - as the best captain of his era and the game's most inspiring player, Voss was also the game's greatest on-field sledger as he regularly terrorised opponents with verbal barbs any time he felt their commitment to win the hard ball had been anything less than his own 110 percent.
With such a distinguished playing career combined with his sheer passion for his club as a native Queenslander, Voss was long seen as the heir apparent to long-serving Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews - the man with whom he held up three successive premiership cups from 2001-03 as the Lions became the first team to achieve that feat since Melbourne in 1957.
So when the Lions went into decline following the retirement of most of its all-conquering team from 2005-2008 it was only a matter of time before Voss eventually replaced Matthews.
But to many it was still a huge surprise when Voss suddenly found himself in the coaching hot seat for the 2009 season despite having done no coaching apprenticeship and indeed having gone straight from the television commentary box to being an AFL coach.
The last man to try that in Essendon legend Tim Watson had been spectacularly unsuccessful with St Kilda lasting only two years before being sacked.
And although many of the game's great players had been failures when it came to coaching - Royce Hart, Graham "Polly" Farmer, Bob Skilton, Kevin Bartlett and Darrel Baldock are just a few that spring to mind - Voss just seemed destined to join Malcolm Blight and his mentor Matthews as men that became great coaches as well as great players.
And when Voss immediately steered his team into the finals for the first time in five years in charge in his first season in the job last year, many felt it would only be a matter of time before the same kind of premiership glory he attained as a player would come to Voss the coach.
But perhaps even Voss got ahead of himself and fell for the trap of believing the Lions were much closer to a premiership than they actually were.
Instead of going for youth in one of the last uncompromised drafts ahead of the imminent introduction of new clubs Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, Voss instead tried to "top up" his list at the end of last season.
Troubled Carlton star Brendan Fevola signed up along with a host of discards from other clubs in St Kilda pair Matt Maguire and Xavier Clarke, West Coast's Brent Staker, Sydney's Amon Buchanan and Richmond's Andrew Raines.
And when the Lions won their first four matches this season and Fevola and skipper Jonathan Brown were threatening to become the most imposing key forward pairing since Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall and Dermott Brereton in the 1980's - Voss was being hailed a genius.
But now some three months later and Brisbane has won just one of its past 13 games amidst constant rumours of unrest amongst the Lions' assistant coaching staff and football division generally.
This is due to insiders claiming Voss has delegated too much power to his right hand man - the little-known Dan Collins - with club physiotherapist Nathan Carloss the latest in a long line of key off-field personnel to have departed the club.
Already assistant coaches Justin Leppitsch, Chris Johnson, Matthew Kennedy and Craig and Wayne Brittain have all left since the Voss-Collins partnership took control of the club at the end of the 2008 season while the Lions' long-time football operations manager Graeme Allan also left to join new club GWS.
And there are rumours three more assistant coaches in Craig McRae, Adrian Fletcher and Craig Lambert will depart at season's end.
All this means Voss finds himself under genuine scrutiny in terms of people legitimately asking, 'Is he the right man for the job?', for the first time in his decorated career.
And while Voss is not in imminent danger of getting the sack, a loss this week at home to reigning wooden spooners Melbourne - a team on the improve but which has still only three of its past 12 games - could push Voss into the danger zone as far as his coaching tenure is concerned.
The Lions also have other winnable games in the run home against three more teams unlikely to make the finals in West Coast, Adelaide and Essendon - all games Voss badly needs to win to restore his rapidly diminishing credibility as coach.
So just how a man who has never failed during his magnificent AFL career to date responds to this huge challenge now in front of him promises to be one of the most fascinating aspects over the concluding stages of this season.