AFL 2014 Ladder Predictions

[irish]

why is everyone so hard on the lions ?? come on people reality here , got within a couple of kicks of making the 8 last year , yes have lost a heap of kids but only one was in the seniors the rest were kicking the dew of the grass in the ressies , these have been replaced by even better kids anyway. leppa has the place bouncing , all the voss/roos debakle has moved on. lethal has the board settled

get off our case ! last , you people are on drugs , 8/12 at worst

 

[KillaKanga]

why is everyone so hard on the lions ?? come on people reality here , got within a couple of kicks of making the 8 last year , yes have lost a heap of kids but only one was in the seniors the rest were kicking the dew of the grass in the ressies , these have been replaced by even better kids anyway. leppa has the place bouncing , all the voss/roos debakle has moved on. lethal has the board settled

get off our case ! last , you people are on drugs , 8/12 at worst

So if people rate the majority of a very tight list above the Lions they are on your case and/or drugs?

Going to be a game or two between 5th and 13th this year.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Fremantle
Hawthorn
Sydney
Richmond

North
Geelong
Collingwood
Essendon

Port
Carlton
Adelaide
Bulldogs

West Coast
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Melbourne

St Kilda
GWS

 

[Lazar Goz]

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

Grand Final: Sydney V Hawthorn
Premier: Sydney

Coleman: Riewoldt/Buddy/Cloke/Tippett
Brownlow: Pendlebury

 

[NM bound]

Freo - even hungrier after last year
Sydney - rediculously potent fwd line
Hawks - should still be thereabouts without buddy
North - building a scary midfield and will learn from 2013
Richmond - should be very solid
Essendon - could be anywhere from 4th - 8th
Geelong - rebuilding but still have that winning mentality
Adelaide - should improve a lot on 2013

Collingwood - developing team
Port adelaide - tougher draw and need more time
Carlton - overrated list, slim chance of making 8
Gold coast - will build on a successful 2013
West coast - rubbish midfield
Brisbane - could finish higher (tough pick)
Bulldogs - another year from finals material
Melbourne - should improve with their additions
St kilda - in for some tough times
GWS - too soon for anything exciting


Brownlow - joel selwood

 

[Latour]

Fremantle
North Melbourne
Sydney
Port Adelaide
Hawthorn
Essendon
Richmond
Carlton

Adelaide
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Western Bulldogs
Geelong
West Coast
Collingwood
Melbourne
GWS
St Kilda

 

[Steve Prior]

Look for the mighty Gold Coast Suns to slip into 8th this year. Will be hard to beat a side where 3/4 of the team are all hitting their physical peak at 21 years of age and now over 50 games each they will be smarter, faster and stronger.

 

[Kimbo]

Look for the mighty Gold Coast Suns to slip into 8th this year. Will be hard to beat a side where 3/4 of the team are all hitting their physical peak at 21 years of age and now over 50 games each they will be smarter, faster and stronger.

Champion Data says the peak is 25-29yo. But yeah, I can smell what they're cooking.

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

The ladder can be broken into 4 categories:

1) Certainties:

Sydney
Fremantle
Hawthorn

2) in the mix:

North Melb
Geelong
West coast
Adelaide
Essendon
----------
Carlton
Port Adel
Collingwood
Richmond


3) doubtful but you never know

W Bulldogs
Gold Coast
Brisbane

4) no chance in hell:

Melbourne
GWS
St Kilda

 

[ManOfClay]

why is everyone so hard on the lions ?? come on people reality here , got within a couple of kicks of making the 8 last year , yes have lost a heap of kids but only one was in the seniors the rest were kicking the dew of the grass in the ressies , these have been replaced by even better kids anyway. leppa has the place bouncing , all the voss/roos debakle has moved on. lethal has the board settled

get off our case ! last , you people are on drugs , 8/12 at worst

Spin it the other way - you were also demolished by a bottom four side last year and were largely uninspiring away from home, have lost a heap of the guys who would come in to replace the senior brigade like black, brown etc and replaced them with a lot of kids bigfooty thinks should have gone higher but professional recruiters didn't, Neeld and Watters had their clubs bouncing and you have no evidence off field things will go well.

I'm tipping the Lions to go backwards or stagnate in development

 

[Simba Moyo]

Spin it the other way - you were also demolished by a bottom four side last year and were largely uninspiring away from home, have lost a heap of the guys who would come in to replace the senior brigade like black, brown etc and replaced them with a lot of kids bigfooty thinks should have gone higher but professional recruiters didn't, Neeld and Watters had their clubs bouncing and you have no evidence off field things will go well.

I'm tipping the Lions to go backwards or stagnate in development

The start of the year was quite uninspiring, everything went downhill after the NAB Cup, but then started picking up again around the middle of the season where we started climbing back momentum. We showed we can play strong at home and some solid performances away at Port and Geelong. We still have a way to go but we're not far off finals contention. Our group is still widely quite young and the guys that left besides Yeo didn't have a best 22 spot, only depth which we picked up in the draft and great kids they look too. Granted they have yet to play an AFL game, but they still look like great acquisitions going forward and in my opinion look to make the team stronger than Docherty, Polec, Karnezis etc, would have added.

I'm tipping the Lions to finish 8-13 with a much better percentage.

 

[irish]

Spin it the other way - you were also demolished by a bottom four side last year and were largely uninspiring away from home, have lost a heap of the guys who would come in to replace the senior brigade like black, brown etc and replaced them with a lot of kids bigfooty thinks should have gone higher but professional recruiters didn't, Neeld and Watters had their clubs bouncing and you have no evidence off field things will go well.

I'm tipping the Lions to go backwards or stagnate in development

as will the dogs !

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

Fremantle
W Bulldogs
Hawthorn
Gold Coast
Geelong
Brisbane
Sydney
West Coast

Richmond
St Kilda
Collingwood
Adelaide
Port Adel
North Melbourne
Essendon
Carlton
Melbourne
GWS

 

[ManOfClay]

as will the dogs !

So no reasoning, no discussion. Just pure spite because I offered a point of view as to why the Lions aren't as great as you say? cool.

 

[Janus]

Fremantle
W Bulldogs
Hawthorn
Gold Coast
Geelong
Brisbane
Sydney
West Coast

Richmond
St Kilda
Collingwood
Adelaide
Port Adel
North Melbourne
Essendon
Carlton
Melbourne
GWS

Bulldogs second? Gold Coast fourth? Brisbane fifth? St. Kilda above Collingwood, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton?

I'd like to see the reasoning behind this. Not saying you're wrong, cause anything is possible, but consider me Leonard Nimoy, "In Search of a Reasonable Explanation That Isn't a Troll"

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

Bulldogs second? Gold Coast fourth? Brisbane fifth? St. Kilda above Collingwood, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton?

I'd like to see the reasoning behind this. Not saying you're wrong, cause anything is possible, but consider me Leonard Nimoy, "In Search of a Reasonable Explanation That Isn't a Troll"

If it were a troll I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Freo and Hawthorn in the top 3 and GWS and Melboume in the bottom 2.

I honestly believe Gold Coast, Brisbane and Bulldogs are in for massive years while Carlton and Essendon will disappoint.

St Kilda will win plenty of games due to their choice of coach.

Unlike most people in this thread who simply cut and paste last years ladder, except for over inflating their own team, I'm predicting an 'outside the box' ladder. History will prove that some of my wild predictions will come true.

 

[ManOfClay]

Bulldogs second?

I had us top, to be honest.

 

[Janus]

I had us top, to be honest.

Yeah, but that's fair enough. If you can't rate your own team, who can you rate?

 

[ManOfClay]

Yeah, but that's fair enough. If you can't rate your own team, who can you rate?

I also have about three or four teams finishing last. Coincidentally they are teams I don't like.

 

[Janus]

If it were a troll I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Freo and Hawthorn in the top 3 and GWS and Melboume in the bottom 2.

I honestly believe Gold Coast, Brisbane and Bulldogs are in for massive years while Carlton and Essendon will disappoint.

St Kilda will win plenty of games due to their choice of coach.

Unlike most people in this thread who simply cut and paste last years ladder, except for over inflating their own team, I'm predicting an 'outside the box' ladder. History will prove that some of my wild predictions will come true.

Bulldogs I can see heading north quickly. Don't know if it'll be second quickly, but I won't be surprised if they make finals. Gold Coast ditto. Brisbane I'll be extremely surprised, because for Gold Coast to make it, they have to beat Brisbane twice, and vice versa. And I don't think they will. Agree about Carlton. Essendon will crash in August like they always do.

St.Kilda will be more competitive, but there's no escaping how poor Ross Lyon left their list. They aren't going to finish above Adelaide, Carlton, Collingwood and Port Adelaide. Richardson can only do so much, and if they do somehow manage to string some wins together, it will be counter-productive.

The issue that everyone has is quite simple: teams like Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney have been up the top for so long that they've been laminated in. So you have to find a spot for them. Then Fremantle, being premiership favourites, has to be there too. So it's four spots left (according to BF). And there are names for these ladder predictions:

The "Big Four"

Richmond
Carlton
Collingwood
Essendon

This prediction is the most prevalent, because it's the easiest. Variations include swapping out one club (usually the club the supporter hates the most) for an non-Victorian side that the opposition supporters club can either a) beat easily in the first week or b) will knock out the OTHER club they hate the most ie a Collingwood supporter will kick Essendon out of the eight and have Carlton playing Adelaide.

The "Can't Be Bothered"

Same top eight as the year previous.

The "Shock and Awe"

A variation of The Can't Be Bothered where a poster picks one club from outside the eight to 'bolt' into contention, usually replacing the side that did it the previous year. In 2012, it was Adelaide. In 2013, it was Port Adelaide. Who will it be in 2014?

and lastly,

The "These Teams are Too Good to Miss Out"

Includes sides like West Coast, Adelaide, North Melbourne and to a lesser extent, Gold Coast. People look at their list and think "How could these guys possibly miss finals?" But history shows that half of them will.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Bulldogs I can see heading north quickly. Don't know if it'll be second quickly, but I won't be surprised if they make finals. Gold Coast ditto. Brisbane I'll be extremely surprised, because for Gold Coast to make it, they have to beat Brisbane twice, and vice versa. And I don't think they will. Agree about Carlton. Essendon will crash in August like they always do.

St.Kilda will be more competitive, but there's no escaping how poor Ross Lyon left their list. They aren't going to finish above Adelaide, Carlton, Collingwood and Port Adelaide. Richardson can only do so much, and if they do somehow manage to string some wins together, it will be counter-productive.

The issue that everyone has is quite simple: teams like Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney have been up the top for so long that they've been laminated in. So you have to find a spot for them. Then Fremantle, being premiership favourites, has to be there too. So it's four spots left (according to BF). And there are names for these ladder predictions:

The "Big Four"

Richmond
Carlton
Collingwood
Essendon

This prediction is the most prevalent, because it's the easiest. Variations include swapping out one club (usually the club the supporter hates the most) for an non-Victorian side that the opposition supporters club can either a) beat easily in the first week or b) will knock out the OTHER club they hate the most ie a Collingwood supporter will kick Essendon out of the eight and have Carlton playing Adelaide.

The "Can't Be Bothered"

Same top eight as the year previous.

The "Shock and Awe"

A variation of The Can't Be Bothered where a poster picks one club from outside the eight to 'bolt' into contention, usually replacing the side that did it the previous year. In 2012, it was Adelaide. In 2013, it was Port Adelaide. Who will it be in 2014?

and lastly,

The "These Teams are Too Good to Miss Out"

Includes sides like West Coast, Adelaide, North Melbourne and to a lesser extent, Gold Coast. People look at their list and think "How could these guys possibly miss finals?" But history shows that half of them will.

Good post, but you could reduce nearly every ladder to just one formula:

-Select 1-2 bolters
-Select 1-2 sliders
-Everybody else finishes around the same place as this year, minor changes in position only
-Team you support rises 3-4 places, or wins the premiership if already top 4
-Top 4 all make the finals again, since it is inconceivable that they miss out
-Bottom 4 all miss the finals again, since it's inconceivable that they make the 8

 

[Coaster2012]

St Kilda will win plenty of games

It's not their new coach that is the issue, it's their general lack of any gun players that will see them barely win any. I would say GWS would have a better list atm

 

[KeSter]

Sydney
Fremantle
Hawthorn
North
Geelong
Collingwood
Richmond
Carlton

Essendon
West Coast
Port
Adelaide
Gold Coast
Bulldogs
Brisbane
Melbourne
St Kilda
Giants


Tough draw, new game style and a list strong in the emerging midfield but patchy up forward and older down back means a hard slog for my Lions I fear. We have lost depth (see exodus) no matter what some may try to tell you. I know in some ways the list structurally has actually improved with the types of players added, but overall the immediate upside seems much lower. The younger ones will mostly have little to no impact (nor should they be expected to) and the older one’s are mostly known quantities and will simply fill a role.

Bonuses are the ever present home ground advantage, the newly beefed up coaching staff and the inevitable bump a new senior coach brings to older players perceptions of their chances. These factors might all help us move up the ladder past the Bulldogs and some others might yet slide, or be infracted; but a stalled percentage over the last couple of seasons tells an unavoidable tale of impotence, even though courage can still win us some unlikely games (I credit Vossy for that attitude).

Overall we are a young side and it is only going to get more so with the recent exchange of ‘up and coming’ players for picks again. Unless our older backs have few injuries AND a functioning tall forward line can be constructed, it looks to be a long year for the boys. To finish 12th again would be a good result in my opinion but I will not be disappointed if we don’t. I would be delighted to be completely wrong as some other Lions supporters have posted here and make the finals, and that’s the beauty of the AFL; let’s never let our sport turn into the EPL, a land without hope.

Have a happy New Year, GO LIONS

 

[Deep Blue]

Respect NM, but just can't fathom why so many (and not just NM supporters) have them so high! Also, bias aside, I'd be very surprised if Carlton didn't finish a lot higher than the average position most BF experts have them finishing in - is it Carlton hate, not sure? Roll on 2014.

 

[Deep Blue]

Freo - even hungrier after last year
Sydney - rediculously potent fwd line
Hawks - should still be thereabouts without buddy
North - building a scary midfield and will learn from 2013
Richmond - should be very solid
Essendon - could be anywhere from 4th - 8th
Geelong - rebuilding but still have that winning mentality
Adelaide - should improve a lot on 2013

Collingwood - developing team
Port adelaide - tougher draw and need more time
Carlton - overrated list, slim chance of making 8
Gold coast - will build on a successful 2013
West coast - rubbish midfield
Brisbane - could finish higher (tough pick)
Bulldogs - another year from finals material
Melbourne - should improve with their additions
St kilda - in for some tough times
GWS - too soon for anything exciting


Brownlow - joel selwood

Carlton - overrated list?! Certainly not on BF or this thread! Anyway, good this year - not much hype to date and that suits just fine - looking forward to a very good year from the Blues!