A new season brings high expectations and fresh hope. Fans of seventeen teams hope for something greater, while one lucky fan-base hopes to saviour that special feeling for twelve months longer.
The beginning of a year does more to change our expectations than any other stage of the home-and-away season.
Some teams improve significantly, while others fall away. Certain players take their game to a new level, while for others, their bodies betray them.
After four rounds and 36 games three teams remain undefeated. Each have faced their own challenges and defied expectations. All three provide a compelling early-season narrative.
For Essendon fans, 2013 offers a chance for redemption. The second half of the 2012 season was a bitter pill to swallow.
After ten rounds the Bombers were in second place and set to put a wasted decade behind them; however, their season imploded among a combination of soft-tissue injuries, poor form and unfit players.
In the offseason the Bombers signed former Saints star Brendon Goddard and expectations soared.
Later they drafted gun father-son prospect Joe Daniher and expectations rose again.
And then February happened. The Bombers were implicated in a drugs scandal and an ASADA led investigation commenced. Suddenly, it was unclear whether the Bombers would even complete the season let alone feature in the finals.
Would the players be suspended? And what about the coach?
With their backs against the wall the Bombers faced their toughest Test. For the 2013 season every step on-field and off would be analysed, reanalysed and overanalysed.
The Bombers faced a torrid start to the season. Interstate trips against last year’s finalists Adelaide and Fremantle, as well as matches against Melbourne (who had won the last three games against Essendon) and St Kilda.
With so much focus on their off-field issues, the Bombers faced the prospect of a four game losing streak heading into the traditional ANZAC Day blockbuster against Collingwood.
However, despite these challenges the Bombers stuck together and won their first four games. They sit on top of the ladder with a healthy percentage of 180 (thanks to a 148-point demolition of the hapless Demons).
Rather than suffering another wasted season, Essendon heads into the ANZAC Day clash full of confidence, with a number of quality players pushing for selection in the VFL.
For Port Adelaide, the 2013 season offers fresh hope following another disappointing year for the Power and their fans.
Some solid early season performances became little more than a memory one ignominious afternoon when the Power fell to the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
I attended that game at Skoda Stadium with a couple of Port supporters. The afternoon began with unbridled confidence, as we discussed swapping ends after each quarter to see all of Port’s goals.
But that confidence vanished quickly as the Giants dominated from start to finish.
By becoming the first team to lose to both expansion teams, the Power had hit rock-bottom. Their coach Matthew Primus was sacked and the hunt began for someone who could take this once proud club forward.
At the time, the free agency and trade period appeared largely negative for Port. They lost valuable contributors Danyle Pearce and Troy Chaplin to free agency, not to mention John McCarthy’s passing.
In return they gained Angus Monfries, a talented forward who had seemed to stagnate in recent seasons at Essendon.
On 8 October, Ken Hinkley was announced as senior coach following a highly-regarded tenure as an assistant coach at Gold Coast, Geelong and St Kilda.
While a new coach always provides fresh hope, another difficult and disappointing season seemed inevitable for the Power. Certainly, there was no indication that their fortunes would change dramatically.
Four rounds in and the Power are playing like a completely different team.
According to ChampionData, the two most productive players in the league through four rounds are the Power’s Kane Cornes and Justin Westoff. Travis Boak and Hamish Hartlett have been sublime.
Youngsters Chad Wingard and Oliver Wines have established themselves as steals of the 2011 and 2012 National Drafts, while free agent signing Angus Monfries is in career best form.
For Geelong, the 2013 season offers another opportunity for greatness.
Their 2012 campaign would have been disappointing for Cats fans following three premierships and five consecutive preliminary final appearances.
Nobody could blame the Cats for entering a rebuilding phase. In recent seasons they lost club greats Gary Ablett Jnr, Cameron Ling, Tom Harley, Cameron Mooney, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn and Matthew Scarlett.
You cannot replace that level of talent, that experience or that leadership.
However, nobody told the Cats that. They brought in Jared Rivers to boost their backline and Josh Caddy to offer support through the midfield. Hamish McIntosh, though yet to play, will provide the size and influence around the stoppages that has been missing since Ottens retired.
Instead of fading the Cats are playing a terrific brand of football this season. They are moving the ball quickly and utilising the handball far more than in 2012.
Through four rounds they have excellent victories over last year’s grand finalists Sydney and Hawthorn.
In addition, they have victories over North Melbourne and Carlton, two teams that many expected pre-season to fight it out for a position in the eight.
So far Geelong is providing their fans with an additional season of greatness. Many expected the Cats to slide this year but the Cats are refusing to fade quietly.
I suspect that the Cats will fly under the radar this season, with many experts refusing to believe that they can mount another challenge for the flag six years after they claimed their first in 2007.
The 2013 season has only just begun but a compelling narrative surround these three undefeated teams.
Whether it is a chance for redemption, fresh hope or another opportunity for greatness, Essendon, Port Adelaide and Geelong have all captured their supporter’s imagination.
It is too soon to make predictions regarding whether these teams can feature prominently in the finals. For Essendon and Port supporters, they have been burnt too many times to become too optimistic.
While for Cats supporters, even they must question whether this ageing group of players has it in them to defy the odds one last time.
But for now all three fan-bases will simply enjoy their teams defying expectations.
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