2010 Ladder Predictions

[The Sloane Ranger]

Clarke's attack on the ball and intensity can't be questioned, it's his skills that let him down. Certainly not soft. I never Schneider and Ray were top shelf did I? I was implying that they're young and still have plenty of years left in them.

Clarke's intensity certainly wasn't there on GF day, he is one player that let you down in that area

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Sydney will not make top eight
Geelong wont be on top, Adelaide or St Kilda will
expect essendon to be top 8, very good youth coming through
Bulldogs will start to slip
Collingwood will fall dramatically
carlton to just miss the 8
brisbane will be good next year, but a ageing team could see them fall in a few years

I too question whether the Bullies have hit their peak with this group

Collingwood chances will depend on the trading period as IMO they have some gaps in their list, Jolly would be a great start

Carlton's chances will also depend on the trading period and what happens to Fev

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

1) Brisbane - premiers for 2010. Voss is the man
2) Essendon - pace to burn. Will make the GF.
3) West Coast - will play finals. Great young talent
4) Carlton - Best midfield in the AFL
5) Sydney - Will have a renaissance year
6) W Bulldogs - B Hall will mean Dogs will have a great year.
7) St Kilda - A solid and consistent year. Probably will win a final
8) Geelong - Cats fans will be proud of their side again. May also win a final.

9) Fremantle - Lots of wins at Subi
10) Hawthorn - An improved year
11) Collingwood - Worst ruck department in AFL
12) Adelaide - Have to miss finals eventually
13) Melbourne - Young talent, will finally start winning games
14) Port Adel - Club in turmoil, but will win games at AAMI
15) Richmond - Have a good midfield.
16) North Melbourne - will have a good season but finish last.

Look, it's hard to pick out just one thing but I reckon the funniest part of this is that you think Hawthorn will have an 'improved' year, yet you've got us finishing lower than we did in 2009.

 

[-JCK-]

St Kilda
Adelaide
Hawthorn
Geelong
Collingwood
Western Bulldogs
Brisbane
Carlton

West Coast
Sydney
Essendon
Port Adelaide
Richmond
North Melbourne
Melbourne
Fremantle

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Most of the Saints players still have at least another 4-7 good years in them. Goddard, Riewoldt, Montagna, Dal Santo, Fisher, Kosi, Ball, Gilbert, McQualter, Ray, Jones, Schneider, Gram, X Clarke, R Clarke and Dawson are all in an age bracket or 23-28. Hayes, Baker, King, Gardiner and Blake are the only ones over 28, Hayes seems to be getting better with age(2009 his best year). I admit we will have a problem in the rucks as I'm not sure how well King and/or Gardiner can go next year, but we have McEvoy coming through who has shown good signs - which leads me to my next point. We have a lot of young promising players coming through, Armitage, Steven, McEvoy as I mentioned, Heyne, Geary, Cahill and Lynch + Goddard, McQualter, Ray, Gilbert and Dawson are all aged 24 or less.

I can't see any reason why we won't make top 4! Of course teams will adapt to our gamestyle and general improvement from other clubs will make it more even then 2009, but we should still be good for top 4.

Besides, Geelong aint' exactly a young side. Milburn, Harely, Scarlett, Mooney, Ling, Ottens, Wonjcinski, Chapman, Corey, Enright, Hunt and Rooke will all be 28 or over during next season.

I'd say the Saints have a good 2-3 more years before their premiership window closes, where as the Cats have 1 maybe 2 more years. Of course I'm not going to bag the Cats as at least they've done something with their chance - winning 2 out of 3, it's up to the Saints to do soemthing with theirs!

i am not saying your players will decline, players in the age bracker of 24-27 wont, i have my serious doubts whether riewoldt can hold up, from all reports his knees are crippled, just that they are not going to get any better than they already are.

i dont believe any of the st kilda players under 24 are going to be able to have much improvement in them next year to have an impact in your side, besides mcevoy.

harley will retire, but hunt will come in and take his place, my point is, that i just believe geelong have more improvement which can come from its players than st kilda has, i dont believe st kildas team has any room for improvement.
i am not saying they will not be contenders next season, i beleive they will be a top four side comfortably, they just dont have any room for improvement, where as geelong has several young players who i believe can get better and develop further such as Hawkins, selwood, varcoe, taylor.

 

[Michael_knoth]

1. St Kilda - After this years loss will come out harder them ever. Depends on how teams go about countering theyre game style (ie: hawthorn this year)

2. Footscray - Dont think it'll be Hall that make the difference but he'll help. I think it'll just be geelong dropping off that leaves No.2 open

3. Collingwood - Depending on Jolly trade, but think he'll make a much bigger difference then what a lot of people think.

4. Geelong - Will go through a couple of bad patches. Drop maybe 2-4 in a row each time. Hungers gone. Still massive premiership threat

5. Adelaide - Same as this year. Destroys the average and below sides but really struggles to get up over the better ones.

6. Brisbane - Will be a threat to a couple of the top 4 sides in september but no a legitemite premiership threat with ageing star players (Bradshaw, Brown, Black, Power)

7. Hawthorn - On the up again after a horrid season. Players just not quite to where they were in 2008 but looking very very dangerous

8. West Coast - Good things happen to them at the right times. Star players play well at the right times and younger players mature at an alarming rate

9. Carlton - With or without fev the team will begin to struggle with leaks in the backline and a one dimensional forward line. Judd to cop an injury after being the work horse for past 2 seasons.

10. North Melbourne - Dont cop a horrible run with injury this year. Harvey to still have one brownlow worthy season left in him. Mcintosh to have a stellar season as well

11. Essendon - Was a fluke this year. May pull off a couple of upsets but with lovett going its going to effect theyre 'racer gamestyle' a lot more then they think.

12. Sydney - Will try hard end up in the same boat as this year. Goodes to not have the same amount of influence he did this year.

13. Richmond - Hit a purple patch middle of the eyar to give their supporters some more hope which is taken away after loosing to Melbourne again the following week.

14. Port Adelaide - Burgouyne leaving effects them drmatically and theyre game style just doesnt cut it.

15. Fremantle - Another shocking season with no upside. A couple of Young guns coming through but with the aging pavlich they cross each other out

Melbourne - Melbourne supporters may get 3 or 4 wins next year. But theyre not going to be the huge jumper like they expect them to be.


Flag = St Kilda

Runner up = Collingwood

Brownlow = Hayes/Ablett/Pendlebury

Rising Star = Liam Anthony

Coleman = JOHN ANOTHONY!!!!!! (no seriously)

 

[Jonny27]

1. St Kilda - After this years loss will come out harder them ever. Depends on how teams go about countering theyre game style (ie: hawthorn this year)

2. Footscray - Dont think it'll be Hall that make the difference but he'll help. I think it'll just be geelong dropping off that leaves No.2 open

3. Collingwood - Depending on Jolly trade, but think he'll make a much bigger difference then what a lot of people think.

4. Geelong - Will go through a couple of bad patches. Drop maybe 2-4 in a row each time. Hungers gone. Still massive premiership threat

5. Adelaide - Same as this year. Destroys the average and below sides but really struggles to get up over the better ones.

6. Brisbane - Will be a threat to a couple of the top 4 sides in september but no a legitemite premiership threat with ageing star players (Bradshaw, Brown, Black, Power)

7. Hawthorn - On the up again after a horrid season. Players just not quite to where they were in 2008 but looking very very dangerous

8. West Coast - Good things happen to them at the right times. Star players play well at the right times and younger players mature at an alarming rate

9. Carlton - With or without fev the team will begin to struggle with leaks in the backline and a one dimensional forward line. Judd to cop an injury after being the work horse for past 2 seasons.

10. North Melbourne - Dont cop a horrible run with injury this year. Harvey to still have one brownlow worthy season left in him. Mcintosh to have a stellar season as well

11. Essendon - Was a fluke this year. May pull off a couple of upsets but with lovett going its going to effect theyre 'racer gamestyle' a lot more then they think.

12. Sydney - Will try hard end up in the same boat as this year. Goodes to not have the same amount of influence he did this year.

13. Richmond - Hit a purple patch middle of the eyar to give their supporters some more hope which is taken away after loosing to Melbourne again the following week.

14. Port Adelaide - Burgouyne leaving effects them drmatically and theyre game style just doesnt cut it.

15. Fremantle - Another shocking season with no upside. A couple of Young guns coming through but with the aging pavlich they cross each other out

Melbourne - Melbourne supporters may get 3 or 4 wins next year. But theyre not going to be the huge jumper like they expect them to be.


Flag = St Kilda

Runner up = Collingwood

Brownlow = Hayes/Ablett/Pendlebury

Rising Star = Liam Anthony

Coleman = JOHN ANOTHONY!!!!!! (no seriously)

Too old.

 

[Audacious]

St Kilda (will be premiers next year)
Adelaide (peaking this year as well. Porpz, Tippett and the loss of Birdman will see them better off)
Brisbane (Look scary with a half decent midfield and Brown and Bradshaw on the end)
Hawthorn (A disapointing season will see them prepare much better for 2010)
Geelong (Some older legs, and less hunger for success will see them drop)
Western Bulldogs (Treading water until they get a solid KPP forward)
Collingwood (Malthouse + Buckley will unsettle the side)
West Coast (On the improve with the changing of the guard almost complete)
-------------
Essendon (No Lucas, No Lloyd = who kicks the goals?)
Carlton (See above, but Substitute Lloyd with Fev)
North Melbourne (Will be better with Laidley gone)
Fremantle (Had a few injury setbacks in 2009 which reflected on their ladder position)
Melbourne (Liam Jurrah and Jack Watts to improve. Top 2 picks in draft. Gotta rise surely)
Port Adelaide (Lost a couple of star players and M.Williams will be sacked)
Richmond (Another tough year. Hardwick will realise how many pea-hearted players he still has to weed out)
Sydney (Absolutely the wrong time to be bottoming out. No Hall, McLoughlin, Jolly, Kirk too old = spooners).

 

[HibSam]

i am not saying your players will decline, players in the age bracker of 24-27 wont, i have my serious doubts whether riewoldt can hold up, from all reports his knees are crippled, just that they are not going to get any better than they already are.

i dont believe any of the st kilda players under 24 are going to be able to have much improvement in them next year to have an impact in your side, besides mcevoy.

harley will retire, but hunt will come in and take his place, my point is, that i just believe geelong have more improvement which can come from its players than st kilda has, i dont believe st kildas team has any room for improvement.
i am not saying they will not be contenders next season, i beleive they will be a top four side comfortably, they just dont have any room for improvement, where as geelong has several young players who i believe can get better and develop further such as Hawkins, selwood, varcoe, taylor.

I don't think we'll ever settle this as you're a Cats supporter and I'm a Saints supporter. So of course we are pumping up our respective teams up. IMO we've got good talent coming through - go have a look at Saints vs Hawks this year and watch Armitage and Steven shred it up! Plus, there's players who are yet to debut, but will make an impact once they break into the side. Anyway, like I said eariler we will have to agree to disagree.

 

[Michael_knoth]

Too old.

i suppose you think that mash and seinfeld are all 'too old' as well

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I don't think we'll ever settle this as you're a Cats supporter and I'm a Saints supporter. So of course we are pumping up our respective teams up. IMO we've got good talent coming through - go have a look at Saints vs Hawks this year and watch Armitage and Steven shred it up! Plus, there's players who are yet to debut, but will make an impact once they break into the side. Anyway, like I said eariler we will have to agree to disagree.

i hope armitage steps up, will be his fourth season, needs to begin to show something.

the improvement would have to come from your VFL players, because i doubt even you could argue, and it is fair to say, that the players in your best 22 starting line up from this season, their isnt any room left for improvement.

 

[HibSam]

i hope armitage steps up, will be his fourth season, needs to begin to show something.

the improvement would have to come from your VFL players, because i doubt even you could argue, and it is fair to say, that the players in your best 22 starting line up from this season, their isnt any room left for improvement.

Armitage has shown plenty, just can't break into the 22 for some reason. When he gets good gametime he performs well.

There's always room for improvement. Improving skills, having a better awareness on the ground, decision making, perfecting gameplan...you name it.

 

[nuttinbutapeanut]

St Kilda (will be premiers next year)
Adelaide (peaking this year as well. Porpz, Tippett and the loss of Birdman will see them better off)
Brisbane (Look scary with a half decent midfield and Brown and Bradshaw on the end)
Hawthorn (A disapointing season will see them prepare much better for 2010)
Geelong (Some older legs, and less hunger for success will see them drop)
Western Bulldogs (Treading water until they get a solid KPP forward)
Collingwood (Malthouse + Buckley will unsettle the side) - didnt affect the team when they were together in the past and wont anytime soon
West Coast (On the improve with the changing of the guard almost complete)
-------------
Essendon (No Lucas, No Lloyd = who kicks the goals?) - the players
Carlton (See above, but Substitute Lloyd with Fev)
North Melbourne (Will be better with Laidley gone)
Fremantle (Had a few injury setbacks in 2009 which reflected on their ladder position)
Melbourne (Liam Jurrah and Jack Watts to improve. Top 2 picks in draft. Gotta rise surely)
Port Adelaide (Lost a couple of star players and M.Williams will be sacked)
Richmond (Another tough year. Hardwick will realise how many pea-hearted players he still has to weed out)
Sydney (Absolutely the wrong time to be bottoming out. No Hall, McLoughlin, Jolly, Kirk too old = spooners) - melbourne above sydney ? come on......

there ya go

 

[Kimbo]

North Melbourne (Will be better with Laidley gone)

But I'm lead to believe by the media that he was a super coach who got the best out of an average list?! Surely this means we'll collapse in a heap.

 

[Danog]

1. St Kilda
2. Western Bulldogs
3. Hawthorn
4. Geelong
5. Collingwood
6. Adelaide
7. Brisbane
8. West Coast
--------------
9. Essendon
10. Sydney
11. Carlton
12. Richmond
13. Fremantle
14. Melbourne
15. North Melbourne
16. Port Adelaide

 

[Durham Hawks]

lots of things still to come, the draw, trade week and draft, but here is my initial prediction:

1. Geelong
Best 22-0, Worst 10-12
still a lot of quality and no issues with hunger

2. St Kilda
Best 22-0, Worst 8-14
a lot of teams that cannot go with them in this league and if they hit enough of them twice it'll probably mean minor premiership

3. Adelaide
Best 17-5, Worst 11-11
Hard to see any regression and the home ground advantage should still be pronounced

4. Hawthorn
Best 17-5, Worst 10-12
Will still drop games interstate so cannot really afford more than 3 Vic-vs-Vic losses to finish top four

5. Western Bulldogs
Best 16-6, Worst 10-12
Doggies will be in the top four mix unless Lake walks out

6. Collingwood
Best 18-4, Worst 12-10
Will make the eight and balance their games against VIC teams. their good record in away trips and walk-in-the-park games against non-VICs at the MCG could push them up.

7. West Coast
Best 13-9, Worst 7-15
Building something quite strong and should be able to use home ground advantage to make a sustained challenge for finals

8. Brisbane
Best 13-9, Worst 7-15
Good key forward structure to be the difference against the next two teams

9. Essendon
Best 13-9, Worst 7-15
Make-or-break on a lot of players in their team. Peak together and its finals comfortably, let down seasons from a few and its a bracket battle for 8th

10. Sydney
Best 12-10, Worst 6-16
Will not tank and should therefore pick up some cheap wins at season's end if they are in reality, a bottom 4 team

11. North Melbourne
Best 12-10, Worst 6-16
Needs a lot to go right but can definitely make the finals. Will probably need to pick up wins interstate and win all the 8-pointers to get in

12. Carlton
Best 12-10, Worst 4-18
If Fev stays they might make the finals, if he goes they might win the spoon. A lot of tough calls on their KP players at both ends even if the midfield is good. Judd goes down and that midfield is not even in the competition's best 8.

13. Port Adelaide
Best 12-10, Worst 4-18
Lowest team that has a chance of playing finals but would need injuries to strike a number of higher teams and would have to resurrect some semblance of a home ground advantage.

14. Melbourne
Best 8-14, Worst 4-18
Will probably consider not winning the spoon a great achievement...

15. Fremantle
Best 8-14, Worst 2-20
Still a second-banana club in every aspect. Will be satisfied keeping the derby streak alive.

16. Richmond
Best 6-16, Worst 0-22
A genuine chance to go winless because the cattle just isn't there. Dark days coming up for tiger fans.

 

[spina#39]

1) Saints (Lenny Hayes to win Brownlow and blitz the league)
2) Cats (4 years and still going strong)
3) Bulldogs (Will be one of the three teams in contention for a grand final berth)
4) Lions (Michael Voss: Champion player and coach)
5) Crows (Crowbots to miss out on top 4 narrowly. Again.)
6) Hawks (2009 was a slump)
7) Pies (By the time Bucks is at Collingwood, they will be bottom 4)
8) Roos (Brad Scott to make North into a force again)
9) Bombers (Bombers to narrowly miss)
10) Blues (2009 was a false dawn)
11) Swans (Your 7 years in the sun is over)
12) WCE (They'll take time)
13) Richmond (Hardwick to root out the spuds enough to make them rise a tiny bit)
14) Dees (Draft picks to help. Finals in 2012)
15) Port (Mark Williams to be replaced by Laidley by round 12
16) Freo (Mark Harvey will be give the Freo-heave-ho by Round 14)

 

[NYJetsfor2029]

1. Western Bulldogs - great defense, mids and med forwards, Hall may be the finishing touch.

2. Geelong - class act and a real flag threat again.

3. Adelaide - maybe the year to sneak a flag when the changing of the guard overlaps.

4. St. Kilda - doubt the saints will have as good a h/a season but will be all the better come finals time.

5. Hawthorn - get that hunger back and a couple of good trades will see a good rise by the hawks.

6. Collingwood - hard to place the pies, how will Jack and TC go in 2010?

7. Brisbane - the lions should consolidated this years overachievement.

8. West Coast - looking well rounded and home ground advantage should see us in the 8.


9. Essendon - team to resettle after retirements and may take a few rounds too many to click.

10. Carlton - maybe no Fev, and prob off to a bad start with no Judd sees the blues slide.

11. North Melbourne - not as bad as a lot say, some great kids coming on nicely.

12. Sydney - will be interesting to see how Roos goes in his last season, swans may finish a fair bit higher than this for their man.

13. Port Adelaide - ?

14. Fremantle - too many kids playing for any consistancy.

15. Richmond - another bad year for the tigers unless hardwick can turn the whole team into badasses...... which he probably can.

16. Melbourne - another spoon for the dees, will they even have a player over 22 in their first 22??

 

[deanBartel]

1. Geelong - Bias? No. If it weren't for St Kilda's dream run with injuries there was a chance we'd finish first this season (obviously a big "if"). With Hunt coming in for Harley i'm sure we will not slip, at least til 2011/12.
2. Adelaide - Excited about them next year
3. St Kilda - Will play the exact same as this year, but teams will have figured out how to combat their gameplan, and injuries may take their toll.
4. West Coast - Smokie. If Cox and Kerr can play > 3/4 of the season, with Lecras, natinui, Selwood and a few others to step up this team can win more games than expected.
5. Hawthorn - Will perform similarly to 2008 yet not as dominant. May be a threat come finals time however their actual premiership window is probably just opening (despite winning in 08). Still a reasonably young list..
6. Bulldogs - If they acquire Hall/Fev they will push for a top 3 spot again, however if not they will slip
7. Collingwood - Inconsistent, will not have the dream run they had in the 2nd half of this season, and will lose > 9 games. Forward line imo is a real worry, especially if Davis and Medhurst do not fire. Cloke is an absolute joke of a player in my eyes.
8. Brisbane - Will perform the same as this year, but teams like West Coast and Hawthorn will overtake them.
--------------
9. Carlton - Without Fev could see them dropping as low as 12-13th.
10. North Melbourne
11. Essendon
12. Sydney
13. Fremantle
14. Melbourne
15. Port
16. Richmond

 

[Carnthe]

1. Western Bulldogs
2. Geelong
3. St Kilda
4. Hawthorn
5. Brisbane
6. Adelaide
7. Collingwood
8. West Coast
--------------
9. Carlton
10. North Melbourne
11. Fremantle
12. Melbourne
13. Essendon
14. Richmond
15. Sydney
16. Port Adelaide

 

[Zahki]

1. St Kilda - You would think that they're not going to decline any time soon. Should put in another fantastic season.

2. Western Bulldogs - With Hall at the front they will have a much better season next year.

3. Geelong - Like St Kilda, hard to see them finishing anywhere but top 4. Might have a slightly worse season, but going unbeaten til round 14 is not something you can do every year.

4. Collingwood - Should make the top 4 again if injury doesn't ravage our forward line like it did for the first half of this year. The youngsters we blooded this year will be better for it.

5. Adelaide - Will be hot on the Pies heels all season. Really you can swap them around as is your preference, the two teams are hard to split.

6. Hawthorn - Back in force after an unfortunate 2009 season. They will bounce back, and most likely in top 4 contention with Adelaide and Collingwood.

7. Brisbane - Should be about the same.

8. North Melbourne - Brad Scott will be a fantastic coach and get the most out of this team in 2010. Underachieved in 2009, he'll crack the whip from day 1 and demand performance.

9. Carlton - No Judd in the first 3 rounds will make things tough, along with the possibility of no Fev. Might slip into the 8.

10. West Coast - They're on the rise, but will probably miss out on the finals again. Will come close though.

11. Essendon - Hard to see them improving much next year. They only just managed to luck into the finals this year, but with a renewed Hawthorn and other teams improving faster there will be no room for them this year.

12. Sydney - Losing a lot of their experienced players is going to hurt, a lot. Sydney is going to have to rebuild it's list over a period of years. It's culture will ensure that it never really 'bottoms out' though.

13. Melbourne - Going to come in with an arseload of top 25 draft picks. Extremely young team, will be an experimental season to see how they go.

14. Port Adelaide - Off field issues hurting them significantly. Players are fleeing like rats deserting a sinking ship, Port will go very poorly in 2010.

15. Fremantle - Hard to pick which team will be worse, Richmond or Freo. In the end I think Freo might end up slightly ahead, either by 1 game or %.

16. Richmond - A rabble. Have little to no talent, will be lucky to win 5 games in 2010.

 

[Cecil89]

I can't believe the number of people who expect Carlton to slide next year. If Fev stays then we will no doubt move up the ladder, and if he goes, at worst we stay at about the same level as this year.

Murphy, Grigg, Yarran, Joseph, Gibbs, Hampson, Warnock & Kruezer are yet to reach their peak and will lift our midfield to an even higher level.

Mclean will take the heat off Judd, by playing a protecting role similar to Stenglein during Judd's eagles days, allowing him to run and create more.

Waite & Jamieson will hopefully have full seasons in our key defensive positions, allowing Bower and Thornton to play on smaller forwards, and play a Maxwell type 3rd man up role. Dennis Armfield is finding his spot as a back pocket player, and Jordan Russell showed in the last 6-7 weeks that he could be a brilliant running defender.

Andy Walker will hopefully remain fit for the whole year and can play across half forward as a link man with the midfield. Betts, Yarran & Garlett are 3 of the better small forward prospects getting around.

If Fev is there then we have the best FF in the business, if not, we get a more even spread of goals with Kruezer, Waite, Walker etc. all kicking handy season totals.

Anyway, now that i've made that argument, here is my prediction.

Adelaide
Geelong
St Kilda
Carlton
Western Bulldogs
Collingwood
Hawthorn
Brisbane

West Coast
Essendon
Fremantle
North Melbourne
Melbourne
Port Adelaide
Sydney
Richmond

 

[AG]

I can't believe the number of people who expect Carlton to slide next year. If Fev stays then we will no doubt move up the ladder, and if he goes, at worst we stay at about the same level as this year.

What? At worst you stay at the same level? I think you mean at best you stay at the same level. You are underrating the importance of Fev in your side. Your whole team is pretty much built around Fev and Judd.

 

[54Dogs]

2. St Kilda
Best 22-0, Worst 8-14
a lot of teams that cannot go with them in this league and if they hit enough of them twice it'll probably mean minor premiership

Fair to say that would be a disappointing return.

 

[Cecil89]

What? At worst you stay at the same level? I think you mean at best you stay at the same level. You are underrating the importance of Fev in your side. Your whole team is pretty much built around Fev and Judd.

Which has often been our downfall. Mclean takes pressure off of Judd, while we re-structure our forward set-up so we are not so one dimensional. I honestly think losing Fev could be a good thing for our forward line.