2012 is shaping up to be an intriguing AFL season. With the addition of Greater Western Sydney, we now have 18 teams that will battle it out over 23 home-and-away round and 198 matches.
The bookies currently have Collingwood as the early favourites for the flag. Geelong, Hawthorn and Carlton are all under single figure odds. West Coast and Sydney come next around the $13 to $17 range. As expected, Greater Western Sydney is a shoe-in for the wooden spoon.
For the non-Melbourne teams, West Coast, Fremantle and Sydney are at the top of the board as the most fancied interstate teams.
Who do you expect to play off in the grand final? Collingwood are favourites to either play the Cats or Hawks.
Once again, if the books are right, this year’s Brownlow Medal will be awarded to a midfielder. The top 10 names in betting all play on the ball.
Much has changed since the most recent Grand Final day, when the Cats proved their critics wrong by defeating Collingwood in Mick Malthouse’s final game as head coach.
Cameron Ling hung up his boots after nullifying Brownlow Medalist Dane Swan, as did teammates Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn and Mark Blake. What will Chris Scott pull out from his bag of tricks in the 2012 season?
In what has since been nicknamed the Kirribilli agreement, Nathan Buckley took over the reins from Mick and will have former Bulldogs coach Rocket Eade assisting as football and coaching strategies. Bucks, who played 280 career games, will not tolerate a drop-off from his players and we will see them once again in the last few weeks of the finals.
Brenton Sanderson signed as head coach of Adelaide and became one of several rookie coaches to take the head role at a clubs. St Kilda appointed former Pies assistant Scott Watters as their new coach and he was quick to have them standing knee deep at St Kilda beach, looking into each others’ eyes (probably not the best thing to do with a club in such a fragile state, mentally and physically). Mark Neeld was another to put his hand up; Garry Lyon and the Dees were impressed and duly signed him. The Western Bulldogs were the other club to go the rookie route when they gave Brendan McCartney a contract.
The big signing in the coaching ranks involved Ross Lyon and the Fremantle Dockers. After fives seasons with the Saints and three grand final appearances, Lyon signed a four-year contract and ousted Mark Harvey. The signing stunned the footy world – especially the media – as no one had any idea what was happening in the dark. Harvey would go on to agree to assist Michael Voss at Brisbane.
In 2012 we will also see the return of the master marketer. Kevin Sheedy will make a return to the coaches box, thanks to the AFL’s biggest experiment, Greater Western Sydney.
In addition to Sheedy, GWS have already claimed one of the final pieces of the puzzle leading up to the start of the season, selecting the 197cm key forward to be, Jonathon Patton.
I will be providing you with a team-by-team analysis for season. I will examine each list including the ins and outs, the coaches and his lieutenants, the team schedule, last season stats… it will be comprehensive.
But first things first, which club has your money for the flag?
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
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"They're not getting a lot of love from the umpires at the moment, the Blues!"
Kicked it like a backman!
