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Brendan Fevola gets a hand pass away under pressure from Daniel Bradshaw during the AFL Women's Round 11 match between the Brisbane Lions and the Carlton Blues at the Gabba.The Slattery Media Group
Off-seasons are normally dull, uneventful things. Rarely do they involve actions that will have any dramatic effect on the ensuing season. Or at least that’s how they are supposed to play out.
Needless to say, this off-season has been different.
The Coleman Medallist found himself up for trade. A much sought-after midfielder from the minor premiers found himself in the draft. Recycled players were in vogue like never before.
Heck, there were even trades taking place during trade week. They weren’t all backlogged until the Friday for once.
The past few months have been a complete contrast to years past. The end result is that anticipation levels for the 2010 season are growing larger by the day.
A sizable batch of premiership contenders has already formed, and who’s to say there isn’t a dark horse or two hiding behind the pack?
At the top of the list, for obvious reasons, are last year’s grand finalists.
Sure, both Geelong and St Kilda have a slight air of vulnerability about them. Both sides first rose to prominence with their preliminary final appearances in 2004. They’ve been up for quite some time, and it’s natural to ponder when they’ll fall.
But this year the Cats were able to do what they did despite being decimated throughout the season with a wave of injuries. Even in that environment, they were still able to win 18 games in the home and away season and go on to claim the premiership.
As for the Saints, they’ll be hungrier than ever. And it’s not as if the likes of Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Brendan Goddard and Nick Riewoldt are close to hitting 30.
Add to that Ross Lyon’s annual influx of recycled players – which seems to unearth a gem or two every year – and another season at the top is a very real possibility.
Then there are the preliminary finalists from last year.
Historically, teams that fall one game short of the grand final don’t rebound well. That wasn’t the case this year, however, and if we’re using off-season recruitment as an indicator, we may yet see a repeat of that.
The Western Bulldogs caved in to the largest criticism of their list during trade week, by bringing in a key forward – Barry Hall. It’s a risk, sure. He’s well past 30 and his on-field attitude problems have been well-documented. But if it does pay off, it will be huge for the Doggies.
The other side to fall short, Collingwood, also made a splash during the off-season. Multiple splashes, actually. They plugged a glaring hole by bringing in ruckman Darren Jolly from Sydney. They also plugged a glaring hole by bringing in midfielder Luke Ball from St Kilda. The moves may take the Pies up a level.
Then there are the 2009 semi finalists, Adelaide and Brisbane.
The Crows have stuck by the youth that largely drove their improvement last year by returning to the draft table. The Lions, meanwhile, picked up Brendan Fevola, signed a bunch of recycled players and traded away a number of their own players.
Michael Voss is building his list his own way, and only time will tell if the large turnover of players was worth the risk.
Not to be forgotten, of course, are the 2008 premiers, Hawthorn. They, like Collingwood, set out to plug some holes, and they did that through the signings of defender Josh Gibson and midfielder Shaun Burgoyne.
Everything that could’ve gone wrong this year seemingly did for the Hawks, and a return to prominence next year would not be unexpected.
At the opposite end of the ladder, the “new coach factor” at Richmond and North Melbourne, and the expected improvement at Melbourne, makes the wooden spoon race pretty intriguing, too.
It’s still a few months away, but 2010 is looming as an exciting season all round.