ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has received a timely confidence boost with two of his counterparts rating him their most challenging opponent.

In an exclusive AFLCA/afl.com.au survey, all 16 coaches were asked, 'Which of your colleagues is toughest to coach against and why?'

Reigning premiership coach Mark Thompson led the list of positive responses with four, but Craig - whose Crows are yet to win a game this season but made a semi-final in 2009 - received the next most votes with two.

St Kilda's Ross Lyon, Collingwood's Mick Malthouse and Hawthorn's Alastair Clarkson also received two votes each.

Rounding out the list were coaches who each received one vote. They were Paul Roos, Dean Bailey, Mark Williams and Damien Hardwick.

The survey, commissioned exclusively for afl.com.au and prepared with the support of the AFL Coaches Association, was conducted anonymously, but it's a fair bet that Clarkson cast his vote for Hardwick with the accompanying comment 'knows our stuff' alluding to his previous employment as a Hawthorn assistant coach.

There were also some surprises contained in the list of coaches who failed to garner a single vote.

Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs) and Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions) were widely thought to be in charge of teams headed for the top four before the season started, but didn't rate a mention.

Neither did Carlton's Brett Ratten, Essendon's Matthew Knights, Fremantle's Mark Harvey, West Coast's John Worsfold or North Melbourne's Brad Scott, who is only in his first year as a senior coach.

The comments accompanying the votes for Craig were 'good defensive structures' and 'great game plan and well-structured team'.

While Thompson would be happy to have come out on top, the comments of his peers point more to the quality of his side rather than tactical superiority.

'Best team', 'he has the best players', 'good team' and 'because of the flexibility of his team' were the four responses he received.