2015 Ladder predictions

[Gw2_James]

You should put some bets on. If you're right, you might become a billionaire.

LOL wasnt expecting a smart ass comment until at least tomorrow morning

 

[calaisking]

1. Carlton
2. Richmond
3. Collingwood
4. Essendon
5. Geelong
6. Gold coast
7. Sydney
8. Frementle
9. Gws
10. Brisbane
11. Western bulldogs
12. Saint kilda
13. North melbourne
14. Melbourne
15. West coast eagles
16. Hawthorn
17. Adelaide
18. Port adelaide

 

[Gw2_James]

Heyyy I put you as top 8! How about some appreciation!

 

[Go the Guts]

Port Adelaide
Sydney
North Melbourne
Gold Coast
Hawthorn
Richmond
Carlton
Collingwood
----
Brisbane
Fremantle
Western Bulldogs
GWS
Geelong
Melbourne
West Coast
Essendon
St Kilda
Adelaide

Lol.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

LOL wasnt expecting a smart ass comment until at least tomorrow morning

Does this response mean that your prediction was in fact serious?

 

[Sam95]

Why do some people rate as so low even below melbourne lol, will be unlucky to make the top 8

 

[Gw2_James]

Does this response mean that your prediction was in fact serious?

Well that depends, did you take it seriously?

 

[bluengold89]

Why do some people rate as so low even below melbourne lol, will be unlucky to make the top 8

Haha what?

 

[Coolangatta]

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

*Assuming ASADA ban, otherwise I'd rank the Bombers about 14th.

 

[go you pups]

6. Brisbane 14-8: They play pretty well at the Gabba. Midfield will keep them competitive

17. Bulldogs 3-19: Take Boyd out, and they have serious issues with their list. Will struggle no doubt.

So you are saying that 2 teams who both had 7 wins in 2014 with young promising lists will go in completely opposite directions?

Brisbane have a good midfield, some good ruck stocks and some young promising key defenders but they are still very raw, but how can you seriously justify them winning 11 more games than the Dogs?

The Dogs have Macrae, Bontempelli, Stringer, Dahlhaus and Liberatore who all stood up and won games off their own boots in 2014, we have got rid of some heartless individuals in Higgins, Jones and Griffen and we added Boyd to our promising young stocks, not to mention our VFL side who won the VFL premiership this season that have a number of players who will contribute to the team in 2015. 14 wins vs 3 wins??? Riteo

 

[go you pups]

For you, and any other Freo supporters, what's the thinking about a drop, or otherwise? If you have a better run with injuries and suspensions I assume you'll still be a top 4 contender.

Not sure if you can take him seriously dude, look at my above post.

 

[Big Fresh]

Went through the fixture and made some scores, and this is what came out. Obviously my prediction won't be what transpires, and since it is so hard to tip upsets, it will only give a bit of an idea of what the ladder will look like.. Just my opinion. And another thing, this is obviously without any players in the draft from this year, so things will definitely change from now to Round 1.

1. Port Adelaide 20-2: Not sure about this, since I have question marks over their depth. But their middle patch of the year is quite breezy, so i was very surprised to have them losing two games.

2. Sydney 19-3: Will be better than last year IMO

3. Hawthorn 16-6: Will drop off a bit with age

4. Gold Coast 16-6: Gave them almost every game at Metricon, would be a good effort for them to finish top 4

5. North Melbourne 14-8: Thereabouts, but i still think they're not quite top 4 material

6. Brisbane 14-8: They play pretty well at the Gabba. Midfield will keep them competitive

7. Geelong 14-8: Don't think they can compete with top 4 but still always around the mark.

8. Adelaide 13-9 - Should have a harder edge about them. Still think their depth is not great.

9. Fremantle 12-10: Will remain competitive but good teams will get us.

10. GWS 11-11: Expect to see some improvement, late in the year especially

11. Richmond 11-11: Think their list has holes in it.

12. Collingwood 10-12: Will struggle but they still have some very good players

13. West coast 6-16: Don't think their list is any good tbh. If midfield doesn't improve they will struggle.

14. Essendon 6-16: Now i'm assuming they will cop some sort of penalty from ASADA, so this is still up in the air.

15. Carlton 6-16: List has major issues, will not take them anywhere.

16. Melbourne 5-17: gradual improvement but still can't see them doing much

17. Bulldogs 3-19: Take Boyd out, and they have serious issues with their list. Will struggle no doubt.

18. St Kilda 2-20: Need to keep rebuilding.

Brisbane actually played really poorly at the Gabba this year. They beat North by 4 points and smashed a GAJ-less Gold Coast (and their third win there was over Carlton by a goal if that counts for anything, which it doesn't), but they also lost by 40+ points to GWS and a way out of form Richmond team.

 

[Go the Guts]

And lost to us by 105 points. Must've been all that heat......

 

[snooplions]

And lost to us by 105 points. Must've been all that heat......

No excuse, we were just horrible. On the other hand, wasn't Sanderson the one that used the heat as excuse for the following weeks loss to Richmond?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Well that depends, did you take it seriously?

I've seen a few of your posts, and have learnt not to take you seriously.

 

[Gw2_James]

I've seen a few of your posts, and have learnt not to take you seriously.

Yeah well, im an honest good guy, but my hatred for arrogant hawthorn supporters is strong. You guys are/were worse than when collingwood won their premiership!

And no I was not serious about that prediction.

 

[god of purple]

For you, and any other Freo supporters, what's the thinking about a drop, or otherwise? If you have a better run with injuries and suspensions I assume you'll still be a top 4 contender.

Its a tough one. At the moment I would say we are one of the tougher sides to get a read on in this off-season. On paper, we look like a top 4 side, and we still have some very good players such as Fyfe, Hill, Ballantyne and Walters, which will keep us competitive. Personally, the fact that we are a year older does worry me, and I don't have the utmost faith that our youth will keep us in a top 4 spot. Taberner looks pretty good, apexes building. But at the moment, our Key defender stocks are down or they're aging, and we still don't really have a dominant key forward. Until we fix these areas, I can't see us doing too much damage. I do think we have some good youth coming through, but whether they are top 4 quality it is yet to be seen. I also think there are sides that are better than us. I would put Sydney Hawthorn Port Adelaide and North Melbourne ahead of us at this stage. I think Gold Coast may overtake us throughout next year as well. Although I would not be surprised if we play finals again, my gut feeling is that we will drop.

 

[god of purple]

So you are saying that 2 teams who both had 7 wins in 2014 with young promising lists will go in completely opposite directions?

Brisbane have a good midfield, some good ruck stocks and some young promising key defenders but they are still very raw, but how can you seriously justify them winning 11 more games than the Dogs?

The Dogs have Macrae, Bontempelli, Stringer, Dahlhaus and Liberatore who all stood up and won games off their own boots in 2014, we have got rid of some heartless individuals in Higgins, Jones and Griffen and we added Boyd to our promising young stocks, not to mention our VFL side who won the VFL premiership this season that have a number of players who will contribute to the team in 2015. 14 wins vs 3 wins??? Riteo

Out of those 5 players, who else do you have? Personal opinion, but I believe Brisbane have more quality players than the Bulldogs. Who is the bulldogs' Dayne Beams? Who is the bulldogs' Pearce Hanley? I think Brisbane's established players are better than Bulldog's established players. Although the Bulldogs may unearth a couple more gems this draft.

 

[god of purple]

Brisbane actually played really poorly at the Gabba this year. They beat North by 4 points and smashed a GAJ-less Gold Coast (and their third win there was over Carlton by a goal if that counts for anything, which it doesn't), but they also lost by 40+ points to GWS and a way out of form Richmond team.

Yeah they can be pretty inconsistent I guess, but you get that with a young side. I was more thinking along the lines of that Geelong game last year, beating Adelaide and West Coast 2 years ago. the Carlton win this year wasn't too bad, although Carlton are shite. I thought the North win was pretty good though??? Usually when they get momentum at the Gabba, they tend to hold it for a while, and they can topple most sides when they're on.

 

[god of purple]

14 wins vs 3 wins??? Riteo

But yeah, I don't think the Bulldogs will win 3 games, they will probably win a few more than that. It's hard to tip upsets 5 months out from the season

 

[go you pups]

Out of those 5 players, who else do you have? Personal opinion, but I believe Brisbane have more quality players than the Bulldogs. Who is the bulldogs' Dayne Beams? Who is the bulldogs' Pearce Hanley? I think Brisbane's established players are better than Bulldog's established players. Although the Bulldogs may unearth a couple more gems this draft.

How can BL go from 7 wins to 14 wins with only a mosquito fleet in Zorko, Taylor and Green and raw unproven kids up forward?

Dayne Beams is a very unique player, there aren't many goal kicking nuggety inside types around, perhaps Luke Parker is the closest thing in the league, bit Lethal like, half foward flanker body but plays on ball. Hanley is a HBF turned onballer, has pace and a booming kick. I wouldn't be saying he is elite yet, struggles with a tag, reminds me of a smaller not as accomplished Dangerfield. BL have no genuine midfielders who can plonk a grab up forward as well, Rockliff has pinched hit up there in the past but he is wasted in that role as he doesn't hit the scoreboard enough. Perhaps Mayes and Paparone are these types in the future but they haven't shown what Bontempelli has already.

We have Wallis, Hrovat, Hunter, Crameri, Stevens, Johanissen etc who are all capable and Smith will be a gun if he has a good run with injuries. Our KPDs in Roberts and Talia have developed very well in the premiership winning VFL team and should cement themselves in the team next year, Tom Campbell is AFL ready now should Minson go down. Lin Jong and Mitch Honeychurch might also surprise a few in 2015. Minson, Boyd, Murphy, Morris and Picken will contribute still to the team.

BL might have a deeper midfield but we have a better forward line/better mix of attacking players, defence is similar maybe the Dogs defence is better now with Patfull leaving BL to GWS.

 

[PortBrillance]

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

Can't see anyone else besides Port, Hawks or Sydney winning the flag

 

[TN25]

The addition of Beams and Christensen does not make Brisbane a top 8 team. They'll finish 13th.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

hopefully a good run with injuries and Hawthorn's older brigade will begin to decline rapidly as the season draws to a close. They been up for a good 3-4 years in a row now and when you hit 30, 31, 32, it's tough to keep it together.
I also like our ruck depth now as McIntosh won't be needed and I think we will get nice improvement from some of our young players to make us a good show in 2015. The draw is tough but not quite as difficult as this past seasons' draw which is a bonus too.

Interesting take on 30-31 year olds. Do you realise that Bartel, Mackie, Johnson, Kelly, Lonergan, Enright, Stokes, Rivers and McIntosh are all 30+? That's 10 of your best players.

Meanwhile, Hawthorn have almost half that number.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Selwood, Hawkins, Duncan, Enright and Taylor were top 5 in our B&F this year mate. Enright the only oldie there at 32. Guthrie finished ahead of Kelly while McIntosh is virtually finished as a footballer. It is why we went after Clark and Stanley.

I said it very early on that we need Thurlow to play ahead of Kelly in the back half of the ground. Kelly's form dropped away significantly in the second half of the season.
They are no longer our best players. Johnson, Bartel, Enright (fading), Stokes, Rivers and Lonergan are still performing at a very high level but the rest have dropped away this past 18 months.
Only 3 guys out of that lot are still irreplaceable in my view, they are Johnson, Bartel and Lonergan.

You still have 10x 30+ footballers running about in your senior squad. It's ok to quibble about them being your best, but they are still almost 50% of your best 22.

Yet, you have queries of Hawthorn's 6x 30+ players being able to hold it together. I think your bias is being shown.