Just before Round 1 of the 2015 AFL season, I put in my pre-season predictions with an AFL playlist. I attached a theme song to each club, that of which I thought would represent their upcoming season.

Now that the 2015 season is done and dusted, I’ve gone back and looked at my pre-season predictions (through song), and attached a new theme song to each club.

The clubs are listed by their ladder position, and the songs may be attached due to title, and not necessarily the meaning of the song. It’s a bit of fun… so don’t take it too seriously!

1. Fremantle
Pre-season prediction song: Time is Running Out – Muse
End of 2015 season song: The Times They Are A’Changin – Bob Dylan

I posed the question at the start of the season that Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Luke McPharlin were all getting old and there was a cloud over Ryan Crowley. Was time running out?

Well, McPharlin has hung up the boots, there are question marks over Pavlich and who knows how long Sandilands and Crowley can go on for. Changes are needed and changes are coming. Harley Bennell looks to be donning the purple in 2016, but will Cam McCarthy from Greater Western Sydney and Aaron Black from the Roos be joining him?

Experts are pressuring Ross Lyon to change his game style – but one thing is for sure – the Dockers need options up forward. And if changes don’t occur, time may be indeed running out for Fremantle.

2. West Coast
Pre-season prediction song: Irreplaceable – Beyonce
End of 2015 season song: Guess Who’s Back – Rakim

Pre-season, I doubted the Eagles’ depleted backline – having no Eric Mackenzie, Mitch Brown, Darren Glass or Beau Waters (both retired) at their disposal. Hence, the irreplaceable theme song.

Surprise! The Eagles, along with the Bulldogs, were the two biggest surprises of 2015. The club went from finishing 13th in 2013, ninth in 2014 to placing second-best in the home-and-away season, finishing only two points behind fellow Western Australian team, Fremantle.

‘Guess who’s back’ applies to their stunning return to elite football in 2015, as well as where I predict they’ll be in 2016. They were absolutely out-done, out-worked and out-played on Saturday, but I see them being back in the final four next year.

3. Hawthorn
Pre-season prediction song: 3peat – Lil Wayne
End of 2015 season song: We are the Champions – Queen

Hawthorn became the fifth club in AFL/VFL history to achieve a three-peat on Saturday. They are a champion team, led by a champion captain, directed by a champion coach.

Four in a row? Sure, why not. They may be past their best, but that hasn’t stopped them from wiping the other teams aside in the past few years.

Just for a laugh, ‘The Horses’ by Daryl Braithwaite… anyone?

4. Sydney Swans
Pre-season prediction song: Second Best – Dolly Parton
End of 2015 season song: Pretty Good Year – Tori Amos

At the start of 2015, I predicted we’d see a Hawthorn versus Sydney grand final rematch. Sydney finished fourth, in what was an okay year. Unfortunately, the Adam Goodes booing debacle and the Buddy Franklin admission and rumour mill meant Sydney were never a realistic chance of making the grand final once September started.

It was a pretty good year, although next year will be tougher. No Goodes, no Rhyce Shaw and no Lewis Jetta. What will the Swans be able to do in 2016?

5. Richmond
Pre-season prediction song: Roar – Katy Perry
End of 2015 season song: Roar – Katy Perry

Like in 2014, Richmond roared into the finals this year, claiming major scalps along the way, and finishing in a very respectable fifth position on the ladder.

However, the roaring stopped once they met North Melbourne in the first final. The excuses are wearing thin and Richmond need to make moves in the off-season.

6. Western Bulldogs
Pre-season prediction song: The Show Must Go On – Queen
End of 2015 season song: Who Let the Dogs Out? – Baha Men

Pre-season, it was all about moving on from the off-season from hell, which saw the Dogs lose Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen and Brendan McCartney in a matter of weeks.

But seriously, in 2015, who let the dogs out? Where did this inspiring, fairytale team come from? Luke Beveridge, tick. Bob Murphy, tick. Jake Stringer, tick. And there are a host of other young Dogs that get the nod of approval for their awe-inspiring 2015 campaign.

7. Adelaide Crows
Pre-season prediction song: Danger Man – Elvis Presley
End of 2015 season song: Brave – Sara Bareilles and Something To Be Proud Of – Montgomery Gentry

You are the pride of South Australia and you made everyone proud in 2015. Dealing with unprecedented circumstances and such tragedy, as a football club, as players and as humans – the AFL community could not be prouder of what the Adelaide Football Club was able to do after the tragic passing of their coach, Phil Walsh.

Not only on the football field (finishing seventh and making a qualifying final), but as people – what you were able to this year was inspiring, emotional and very touching.

Well done to the Crows.

8. North Melbourne
Pre-season prediction song: No More Excuses – Kill The Alarm
End of 2015 season song: What Do I Have To Do – Martina McBride and Jump Around – House of Pain

Another season of inconsistency, poor losses, surprising wins and question marks over North Melbourne. What do they have to do to make it past a preliminary final and onto the biggest stage of all?

The Jarrad Waite and Shaun Higgins experiments worked, but surely Lindsay Thomas as a sub in the last few games wasn’t a great sign? Stop jumping around North. It’s getting very hard to believe in you as a serious contender.

9. Port Adelaide
Pre-season prediction song: Power Trip – J.Cole ft Miguel
End of 2015 season song: Wake Me Up When September Ends – Green Day

Pre-season, I had them making top four and Paddy Ryder as the All-Australian ruckman. Well, I was off. But I don’t think I was the only one. What a disappointment.

Don’t let the ninth place finish fool you, Port had a stinker of a year. Other teams figured out how to defuse their speedy game style, and Port were left looking like a second-rate team (maybe even third) for most of the season.

10. Geelong
Pre-season prediction song: Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
End of 2015 season song: Take a Bow – Madonna

2015 officially marked an end of a wonderful era for the Geelong Football Club. A dominant, successful and thoroughly enjoyable period which was highlighted by three premierships came to a close as club legends Steve Johnson, James Kelly and Matthew Stokes were told their services were not needed a the club in 2016.

Despite Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright and Tom Lonergan all going on for 2016, it was the general consensus that the great Geelong team of the mid-2000s was all but done and dusted.

Don’t worry though, you’ve only got Patrick Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson, Scott Selwood, Zac Smith, a refreshed Daniel Menzel and a returning Mitch Duncan and Mitch Clark to add to your line-up next season… only.

11. Greater Western Sydney
Pre-season prediction song: Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
End of 2015 season song: The Future is Now – The Offspring

2015 was travelling along very nicely for the Giants until injuries (as they do) ruined any intentions of playing finals for the first time in the club’s history.

It was all about the teen spirit pre-season, but most importantly the focus throughout 2015 was to secure that teen spirit on extended contracts into the future.

The Giants managed to sign young stars Jeremy Cameron, Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio, Devon Smith and Will Hoskin-Elliott. They will lose Adam Treloar, but will gain a nice pick in return, and there are questions marks over Cam McCarthy’s future at the club.

12. Collingwood
Pre-season prediction song: Pressure – Billy Joel
End of 2015 season song: Too Little, Too Late – JoJo

Pressure was the key word heading into Collingwood’s 2015 campaign. Pressure on coach Nathan Buckley. Pressure on Travis Cloke’s goal-kicking. And pressure to perform.

But unfortunately for the Pies, it was too little, too late in too many of their games mid-season. A host of ‘honourable losses’ would lead to their poor finish to the season. They came very close to beating the Hawks, Fremantle, Sydney, Port Adelaide and so on, but it wasn’t to be for the Pies in 2015.

Treloar is coming. Nathan Freeman and Paul Seedsman are going. Where will the Pies be in 2016?

13. Melbourne
Pre-season prediction song: Keep Ya Head Up – 2pac
End of 2015 season song: A Little Better – Gnarls Barkley

The last few years have been woeful for the Demons – so, seven wins, an improved list and the messiah and rising star, Jesse Hogan, made things a little better in 2015. I said pre-season, “the future looks okay, but the immediate looks gloomy”, and Angus Brayshaw, Hogan and Tom McDonald helped Melbourne fans see the light at the end of the tunnel this year.

14. St Kilda
Pre-season prediction song: Nice Guys Finish Last – Green Day
End of 2015 season song: I’m So Excited – The Pointer Sisters

‘I’m so excited’ pretty much sums up my feelings towards the Saints this year. Namely their comeback win against the Bulldogs and their thumping of Essendon later in the season had me laughing at my pre-season prediction – that they would be battling for the wooden spoon.

2015 was an exciting season for the Saints. However, that excitement needs to become consistent if they are any chance of moving up the ladder in 2016.

15. Essendon
Pre-season prediction song: On The Way Down – Ryan Cabrera
End of 2015 season song: Same Old Song and Dance – Aerosmith

Unfortunately for the Bombers, it was another ‘same old’ year for the club. The supplements saga and the mental toll on the players was the focal point of the season… again.

Injuries, stress, pressure and a lopsided W-L column meant James Hird was not the man for the future at the club. John Worsfold is the man left with the responsibility to dig this club out of its hole.

Highlight of the season: Cale Hooker’s goal to beat Hawthorn, Round 2.

16. Gold Coast Suns
Pre-season prediction song: Rocket Man – Elton John
End of 2015 season song: Here Without You – 3 Doors Down

Many would have had the Suns fighting for a top eight position pre-season. “Here Comes the Sun” would have been an appropriate theme song looking back now.

However, injuries, injuries and you guessed it, more injuries, crippled the Suns in 2015. Oh, and not to mention some off-field incidents which means the club will be without young stars Harley Bennell and Charlie Dixon come the trade period.

To name a few injuries – Gary Ablett, Jaeger O’Meara, Dion Prestia and David Swallow. Ouch.

17. Brisbane
Preseason prediction song: Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield
End of 2015 season song: Help! – The Beatles

Brisbane was another team which pre-season experts had vying for a finals spot. Enter: Dayne Beams, Allen Christensen and Mitch Robinson, and the team was looking rejuvenated.

However, a lack of forward power, injuries and rumours of another player exodus meant the Lions found themselves down the bottom of the ladder once again.

They asked the AFL for ‘help’ with a priority pick, which was refused, but did they shoot themselves in the foot by winning that last game against the Bulldogs and losing out on the top pick in the draft?

18. Carlton
Pre-season prediction song: Same Old Song And Dance – Aerosmith
End of 2015 season song: Shocking Blue – Venus

It was a shocking year for the Blues and there’s not much else to say to be honest. They need to rebuild and do it the right way, not the fastest or cheap way. First thing on the to do list: get Jake Carlisle and play hardball over Chris Yarran. Oh, and make the right decision for your club with the first pick in the 2016 AFL draft.

It was a turbulent year for the AFL, with off- and on-field scandals and tragedies hitting the game like never before.

Would love more suggestions for theme songs for each club, so give it a go!