Brett Ratten says he feels like he's just been stumped by England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow after finishing his senior AFL coaching career with 198 games under his belt.
Ratten's 10-match stint as North Melbourne caretaker coach came to an end on Sunday when his side suffered a heartbreaking five-point loss to West Coast in Perth.
Alastair Clarkson, who stepped aside in June to deal with the fall-out from historical racism allegations during his time at Hawthorn, will jump back into the hot seat for Sunday's clash with Melbourne in Tasmania.
Ratten was stunningly axed by St Kilda last year less than three months after signing a two-year contract extension.
The 52-year-old is resigned to the likelihood he won't have another chance as a senior coach.
"I did say it felt a bit like the Dumb and Dumber scene where he looks at the good looking girl and says, 'I'm a chance - one in a million'," Ratten said of his odds of finding another senior gig.
"That's what it feels like going forward. It would be very surprising. And I've really got not that much ambition to be a senior coach.
"I'm on 198 and Jonny Bairstow has just ripped the bails off and I’m about that far short."
Clarkson's coaching return is set to dominate headlines this week, and Ratten feels the veteran is up for the challenge.
"He's raring to go," Ratten said.
"He's been up and about grabbing groups of players and chatting to them and looking at vision of how we want to go about things."
North's 17-match losing run is their worst since 1972.
Their overall losing record is 35, set between 1933-35.
The Kangaroos (2-17) are 17 percentage points ahead of West Coast, but another win to the Eagles would put North Melbourne in the danger zone of collecting a third straight wooden spoon.
Ratten says he will miss the head coaching role, despite the challenges it presented.
"Sometimes it was hard decisions to put players back into the reserves or not elevate them," Ratten said.
"But I think we’ve seen some growth from individuals and that’s the bit about coaching that you’re there to try and help people.
"Sometimes you actually have to deliver the bad news and hopefully they grow from it and become a bit sharper and get their game right.
"That’s some of the things that I’ve really enjoyed in this period."
Ratten went 0-10 during his stint at the helm of North Melbourne.
But the Kangaroos could have easily won four of those games, with tight losses to Sydney (three points), Essendon (six), St Kilda (eight) and West Coast (five) tough to take.
Ratten hopes the Kangaroos can follow in the footsteps of Collingwood and learn how to win the close games.
