by Eighth – Carlton
“Robbie Williams just posted your column about Michael Voss with a poo emoji,” my partner told me last September. Excuse me? I really need a new line of work. Robbie doesn’t have a good song since “She’s The One” but he had a point: Voss and his Blues made mugs of so many of us.
For about 20 minutes last September, the prospect of a Rand Collingwood-Carlton final, and everything about our society, was very much in play. The atmosphere was like an early 80’s game at Prince’s Park. But then the fever subsided, the red core ran out, and the Lions went to work. Carlton had the crowd, twice in the 50s and the smell of history about them. Brisbane had Keidean ‘Kiddy’ Coleman, his gimlet eye, pencil moustache, cobalt blue boots and deadly left boot.
The Blues now have to ride that wave again. After a tough opening task against the Lions, his draw opens up for several months. But keeping Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering on the field will be key to their season.
Seventh – Brisbane
No one left the MCG on the grand final day with anything but respect for the Lions. So many non-MCG tenants have given up on the big dance. A slip here, a questionable advantage call there, and it was snatched away from them.
Chris Fagan says the same things every September. We will get better every year. We will solve the problems. We will accept to learn’. We will fail our way to success. Every year, it feels like the rest of us say: ‘this is their best chance’. They are always competitive. They are always difficult to wear at the Gabba. And they improve year after year. Five years in a row now, they have won more than 14 games. They won 42 of the last 47 at the Gabba, and 13 last year. I think they have a little correction to make, but they deserve another shot at it.
Sixth – Melbourne
Melbourne had six months of ‘what ifs’. What if Caleb Marchbank filed his mayor. What if they lowered their eyes against Collingwood. What if Angus Brayshaw hadn’t been knocked out cold. What if Clayton Oliver wasn’t in trouble. What if they are just kicked.
They let Oliver’s story get out of hand. Rather than putting a hose to the fire, the strategy seemed to be to stand in front of him spraying the word ‘culture’ many times. In football, the word crumb is redundant. It is the new ‘learning’.
Goodwin calls them blue-collar staff. They protect from the high ground. They patrol and gobble. They compete like angry ants. But their connection to their front needs to be cleaned up. There are too many blasters in the middle of that field. Get that right and keep Gawn in one piece, and this extremely consistent side can challenge again.
Fifth – Fremantle
In the summer of 2022/23, St Kilda were my bowler, and I put them in for a double chance. I then saw them in a practice game which was honestly the worst football game I’ve ever watched. The Saints won, but I dropped them about eight ladder positions.
Which brings me to Fremantle, which I’ve been toying with all summer. They were dreadful in their practice match against Port Adelaide, with tedious, creeping ball movement and limited options up front. Christ, I thought, nothing has changed.
I am standing firm, however, perhaps foolishly. The Dockers had four players in their Under-22 squad, the most of any club, including Luke Jackson and Jye Amiss, who both sat out the warm-up game. They were broken around the ball too often last year, but they changed their mix in midfield. The talent is there but they need to change the way they move the ball. If they can’t, Justin Longmuir will be the coach under the most pressure.
Fourth – St Kilda
Ross Lyon squeezed every ounce of ability out of the Saints last year, but the elimination final came to an abrupt end – and a reality check. It was 6th against 7th but they were in different leagues. The Giants went into hyperdrive and St Kilda showed up.
The Saints are strong down back, conceding fewer points than anyone last year, including the highly-rated Melbourne and Collingwood backlines. But he is a simple, one-pace midfield and Lyon knows it. They were the 15th most powerful team, which is the story of his career.
Lyon didn’t have much to do with him though, with Tim Membrey and Max King playing together twice. Now both of those are fit and healthy he has plenty of pace and good ball users out of half back. The second season is often the sweet spot for Lyon-coached teams, and he will be hoping this list finally emerges from footy’s middle class.
In third place – Port Adelaide
Whenever I look at Port Adelaide, I think of Chris Scott’s pre-2022 teams who were always in the mix, but never quite good enough, of seasons that showed huge promise, but went up in smoke in September in about a quarter of it. an hour.
Sometimes there is this assumption that Port are an older team, and this is their last shot at a flag. But in reality they were the youngest of the eight sides in the first round of the finals and were beaten by two top teams. They were ravaged by injuries and backline woes, but it was the midfield that let them down.
Port has good recruitment and seems to have very good traction for the first few months. They will have a blast in midfield, but the challenge will be to stop the leak.
Second – Collingwood
In this competition, you are always vulnerable. Geelong won two finals by a combined 23 goals and were miles off the pace the following year. And this Collingwood team still has holes and vulnerabilities.
Collingwood is always hated. For all the loyalty and insanity they inspire, twice as much wants them to fall in a heap. Ok, your coach is good, it’s great to see your team, you got your flag, now go and be in your cursed club again for another few decades thanks very much.
The Magpies were never going to make Hawthorn at the end of 2008 and went back to training. Nick Daicos doesn’t exactly present himself as the type of young man who goes on summer meanderings and lets himself go wild. “Save room for more tattoos,” McRae told his players in the best and fairest way. One is never enough. They want more. It’s like a drug. The question remains – how long can they continue this highwire act?
Premiers – GWS
In the year 2023, Adam Kingsley took a few months to develop his preferred style and adapt it to the stress of the job. But the season is long, and it would fit a list like theirs. They locked in their style. You could see them coming from the back of the field, picking off stragglers, one by one. By September, his nostrils were flared. They were just the kind of team you didn’t want to draw.
The Giants are still dirty they let the last bias. They sprayed a lot of kicks, missed some great chances, were well beaten at stoppages and overcame some interesting imitations. Kingsley spent his first preseason teaching the roster and his assistants. This time around, they have backed up their in-list. They have not added. They are confident and ready to take the next step and I am eager to agree.
