How to deal with the end of AFL season blues - and predictions for 2014

Well there is was, the AFL grand final. Hawthorn versus Fremantle. Not quite a classic, but a good spectacle.

The Dockers wayward, the Hawks hold their nerve and win and Brian Lake claims the Norm Smith Medal.

There it is, and now it’s all so yesterday – well a couple of days before yesterday actually, but, you get my idea.

It’s done, gone, finished. Time to move on.

As of today, September is gone.

The first day of October doesn’t mean pack the scarves and beanies away.

It means there are just 165 days until March 14. That’s just 23 and a half weeks, only five and half months.

Wow, March 14 is almost here and while the official draw hasn’t been released yet, that is the rumoured date of the first match of the new season.

See, the start of the 2014 season is almost upon us.

If you’re like me, you miss the footy already and next weekend. There is not a single live game on the box or to attend.

The staple of AFL 360, On the Couch, After the Bounce, have all even come to a halt.

But before you lock yourself in the bathroom, don’t despair.

I know it’s not the same, but every game played throughout the 2013 season will be replayed on Fox Footy throughout the spring and Summer.

But wait, there’s more.

Trade week – which now actually stretches for three weeks – is almost upon us.

If you think we have had signing rumours flying around throughout the season – particularly surrounding one Hawk named Buddy – just wait until now when everyone seems to be interested in signing every potentially available player.

Trade week is just what is needed after the emotional deflation of realising the season has come to an end.

If almost makes you feel like the footy is still on, and, depending on which players your club attracts, you can then ponder where, and how well they will fit in.

It does make you wish the new season was starting in five days not five months.

But it’s not all about the end results and who ends up where.

The speculation makes the three weeks of the trade period enthralling and entertaining.

Already there is so much speculation, and so much conflict.

Depending on which source you believe, Shane Mumford is likely to leave the Swans, stay with the Swans, go to GWS, be signed by Geelong, or join the premiers at Hawthorn.

His Sydney teammate, Jesse White, is off to Collingwood, or is it Fremantle, or was that Brisbane, or possibly the Western Bulldogs, where he will join Carlton’s Chris Yarran who is also off to the Dogs, or possibly West Coast.

And as usual, the Giants are tipped to be the big wheelers and dealers, with Heath Shaw and Paul Chapman both tipped to be joining Buddy Franklin to wear the orange in 2014.

What an intriguing and enjoyable time it is, especially for those fans whose teams missed the finals and have been thumb twiddling for a month – on the bright side, their teams are only another month away from starting their pre-seasons.

I can’t emphatically tell you who will end up where, and anyway, I wouldn’t dare spoil the fun of the trade weeks if I did know.

It will be over soon, then comes the early pre-season, then the national draft, and then, the New Year will begin, and footy will be just around the corner.

After a year where the news was dominated by supplements, maybe next year we will see some very different headlines.

What about some of these for 2014?

• Brent Harvey announces his retirement – after one or two more years.
• Ryan Crowley wins selection in the All Australian team when Andrew Demetriou announces taggers can now be included.
• Jonathan Brown leads the Lions into the finals.
• GWS don’t win the wooden spoon.
• The Bombers reach the finals, welcome back James Hird.
• Dane Swan wins the Brownlow, despite the Pies missing the final eight, and has his medal tattooed around his neck.
• Geelong lose twice to the Hawks in the home-and-away season, as the Kennett reverse curse continues.
• And finally, in a major upset, Paul Roos gets the win with the Demons over the Swans…but still no apology from his former chairman.