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2013 AFL season - club by club review

1st October, 2013
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Roar Guru
1st October, 2013
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As the 2013 AFL season finished on Saturday, I will review every club on how their season has gone. I will rate each club’s season out of ten, list each team’s best emerging player and each team’s best player for the year. Enjoy.

Adelaide Crows
Had a sub-par year compared to 2012, where they narrowly missed out on a Grand Final berth.

They have unearthed some great talent this year though, with the likes of Brad Crouch being a brilliant young player and with Lewis Johnston filling in for the injured Taylor Walker and the departure of Kurt Tippett.

They had some solid performances against Geelong and West Coast, and nearly got over the line against Collingwood and Port Adelaide.

Rating: 6.5
Best Emerging Player: Brad Crouch
Best Player: Patrick Dangerfield

Brisbane Lions
After being crowned NAB Cup Champions, the Lions didn’t live up to the expectations placed on them as they crumbled against the Bulldogs in Round 1 before slowly building their season back up.

They are now a club in disarray though, as they have only recently gotten a new coach in Justin Leppitsch.

Hopefully they can lift more next year, with the young talent of Pearce Hanley and Tom Rockliff looking great to help out Daniel Rich, Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.

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They had some great performances against Geelong twice, and only just missed out on a finals spot.

Rating: 7, only because they nearly made finals.
Best Emerging Player: Sam Mayes
Best Player: Tom Rockliff

Carlton
With new coach Mick Malthouse Carlton looked like they were going to finish even worse than 2012, but a late rally and Essendon getting kicked out of the final saw Carlton pitted against Richmond in an Elimination Final.

They edged past Richmond and somehow made it to the Semi Finals, where Sydney ended their Cinderella run.

They had some great performances against Port Adelaide and Richmond, and ended up having a great, yet lucky, year.

Rating: 8
Best Emerging Player: Tom Bell
Best Player: Lachie Henderson/ Marc Murphy

Collingwood
The Pies started off well in 2013, before a couple of shocking losses kicked off an inconsistent year.

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After overcoming Carlton and Adelaide, they fell to Gold Coast. They then strung together their most consistent patch of three wins in a row, against GWS, Essendon and Sydney.

The Elimination Final loss was a shocker, and straight away the club took action by delisting six players.

Brodie Grundy, Josh Thomas and Marley Williams were all brilliant first year players, and Swan, Pendlebury and Cloke continued to shine.

Rating: 6.5
Best Emerging Player: Marley Williams
Best Player: Dane Swan

Essendon
After the horrid supplements saga, the Bombers started off brilliantly, before tapering off later in the year after a stressful and exhausting year for the club.

They went without a coach in the last round, and they are set to lose Crameri after getting booted out of finals.

It wouldn’t have really mattered anyway, as they were playing horribly by the end of the season.

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Jobe Watson had another great year, and Brendon Goddard had a fantastic first year at Essendon.

Rating: 6
Best Emerging Player: Nick Kommer
Best Player: Jobe Watson

Fremantle Dockers
Considering last year’s glory run, where the Dockers nearly knocked off Adelaide after beating Geelong, their rise to the grand final shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

In their first year under Ross Lyon the Dockers hid behind the Eagles, but in September they upset Geelong to shine for a brief period of time.

But this year they have risen to fame, after a spectacular Qualifying Final upset win, they cruised through to a grand final where their nerves cursed them.

Lachie Neale had a great first year at Freo, coming on in the grand final in a brilliant attempt to swing the match.

Nathan Fyfe and Michael Barlow shone like they always do in a great season for Fremantle.

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Rating: 9
Best Emerging Player: Lachie Neale
Best Player: Nathan Fyfe

Geelong Cats
Early in the season many a reporter predicted that Geelong would take home the flag for the fourth time in seven years.

They went undefeated until a shock Round 8 defeat to the hands of the Magpies.

They then cruised along, finishing second before losing what seemed to be the unlosable against the Dockers.

They then beat the rising Port Adelaide before narrowly losing to Hawthorn, breaking the Kennett Curse.

Josh Caddy and Cameron Guthrie had great first years at the club and Joel Selwood continued to lead Geelong brilliantly.

A disappointing end to a promising season by the Cats.

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Rating: 7.5
Best Emerging Player: Cameron Guthrie
Best Player: Joel Selwood

Gold Coast Suns
After such a disappointing second season, the Suns rebounded superbly, with Gary Ablett taking home the Brownlow Medal and Jaeger O’Meara taking home the Rising Star Award.

The Suns started off brilliantly, knocking off St Kilda at home with some help from Ablett.

In 2013 Guy McKenna stepped out of the firing line and made his team’s home ground of Metricon Stadium seem like a bit of a fortress.

Gold Coast knocked off St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Melbourne and GWS at Metricon.

They also secured their first win at the MCG, defeating Melbourne by 60 points in Round 7.

They also came close to defeating Hawthorn and Geelong, before the two superior teams blew them out of the water in the second half.

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They finished 14th on the ladder, ahead of the Bulldogs, St Kilda, Melbourne and GWS.

Next year they seem like they can make the finals, but only time will tell.

Rating: 8
Best Emerging Player: Jaeger O’Meara
Best Player: Gary Ablett

GWS Giants
In 2012 the newest AFL team started off impressively, looking likely to move up the ladder in coming years.

But just like Gold Coast last year, the Giants succumbed to second-year blues as young legs became exhausted by year’s end.

They uncovered some great talent in Lachie Whitfield and Adam Tomlinson.

Jeremy Cameron continued his brilliant performances for the Giants, kicking many a goal including seven against Collingwood.

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Whenever Jon Patton comes back next year there is going to be healthy competition in the forward line for the Giants.

Hopefully Leon Cameron can direct the Giants up the ladder next year in what looks like a promising future for the club.

Rating: 5
Best Emerging Player: Lachie Whitfield
Best Player: Jeremy Cameron

Hawthorn
After the heartbreak of 2012, the Hawks rebounded superbly this year, only losing to Geelong twice and Richmond before taking home the flag and breaking the much vaunted Kennett’s Curse.

Season 2013 was all about redemption, and with Alastair Clarkson’s brilliant plan in manoeuvring Buddy up the ground, allowing Roughead to shine, the Hawks had a much more equal spread of goal kickers.

With a brilliant season for the club, Buddy Franklin may just leave for GWS or Sydney after securing his second Premiership.

But considering the even spread of goal kickers this year, he may not be too big a loss as Gunston can cover him after his superb finals performance.

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Will they succumb to the dreaded Premiership hangover?

Rating: 9.5
Best Emerging Player: Brad Hill
Best Player: Sam Mitchell/ Jarryd Roughead

Melbourne
It went from bad to worse for the hapless Dees in 2013, losing their coach but securing a great one in Paul Roos by years end.

None of it affected the Dees gameplay though, only beating GWS with a 12-goal last quarter and the Bulldogs by three points to finish 17th behind GWS, who beat them later in the season.

The recruit of Chris Dawes hardly seemed to make a difference as he struggled with injury for most of the season.

Mitch Clark seems fit to return next season, and the Melbourne supporters may have hope with Dawes and Clark working together under a Premiership coach.

Only Nathan Jones provided a spark for the Dees, with Jimmy Toumpas having a decent season.

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The only way Melbourne can go next year is up, you hope.
Rating: 3
Best Emering Player: Jimmy Toumpas
Best Player: Nathan Jones

North Melbourne
This year the Kangaroos turned into the Chokers as they surrendered the unlosable games.

They had narrow defeats to Geelong, Hawthorn, Adelaide and Carlton, as well as losing close games to Collingwood and Hawthorn.

Their best performance of the year was against Geelong, where they turned the tables on their Round 2 defeat by out-playing the Cats on Friday Night Footy.

They also played quite well against Collingwood in a dead rubber last round match, winning by 11 points in a high scoring, free flowing match.

Aaron Black and Aaron Mullett were the two emerging players of the year for the Roos, with Black leading the forward line and Mullett becoming a solid rock in defence.

Andrew Swallow had a great year before snapping his Achilles late in the season.

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Rating: 6.5
Best Emerging Player: Aaron Black
Best Player: Andrew Swallow/ Scott Thompson

Port Adelaide
In season 2013 Port certainly had the power to win, overhauling their shocking 2012 season by launching into the finals (and the second week of it too) in a stunning season led by the unexpected genius in coach Ken Hinkley.

The Power started off by winning their first five matches, including an awesome come from behind victory against West Coast.

They then cruised along, beating Sydney and Collingwood at home before finishing seventh and playing Collingwood in an Elimination Final at the MCG.

They shone on the Saturday night finals stage, upsetting the Pies run for the flag gliding past the Pies. They then took on Geelong on Friday Night Footy, but narrowly lost, with some Justin Westhoff magic not inspiring the Power enough.

Chad Wingard came out of nowhere in a stellar season, and lifted with Travis Boak, who led from the front as captain.

If the Power keeps on improving like they did in 2013, then they may be close to an elusive second flag soon.
Rating: 8.5
Best Emerging Player: Ollie Wines
Best Player: Chad Wingard/ Travis Boak

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Richmond
The Tigers finally ended the agony of twelve seasons without finals by finally not finishing ninth again.

They finished fifth and earned themselves a home Elimination Final against the lucky Carlton.

The Tigers choked on the big stage by surrendering a four goal half time lead, allowing the Blues to play off against Sydney in the Semi-Final.

But the supporters have a lot to look forward to, with Cotchin leading the club superbly. Youngsters in Nick Vlastuin and Brandon Ellis shone for the Tigers as they now look to play in September again.

Technically, the Tigers could have finished ninth again, but we’ll let it slide.

Rating: 7.5
Best Emerging Player: Nick Vlastuin
Best Player: Trent Cotchin

St Kilda
The Saints deteriorated even more in 2013, as the Saints pitched in some decent performances against Collingwood and Sydney before slowly falling down the ladder.

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The club imploded as they finished third last, their 2009/10/11 form far away. They played quite well in New Zealand on ANZAC Day, but they couldn’t take home the points.

Left disappointed, they pitched in a good effort against Collingwood before plummeting against the Bulldogs.

They had a good last two games, beating Gold Coast and upsetting the resting Dockers in the last game for Koschitzke, Milne and Blake.

Hopefully the younger brigade in Jack Steven and co. can lift the Saints from the ashes in 2014.

Rating: 4
Best Emerging Player: Tom Lee/ Seb Ross
Best Player: Jack Steven

Sydney Swans
Considering last year’s unexpected Premiership, the Bloods started off strongly, knocking off teams like Collingwood and North Melbourne, before dipping a bit to finish in fourth place.

They then got blown out of the water by the eventual Premiers in the Hawks, before overcoming Carlton, booking a preliminary final against the Dockers.

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In Jude Bolton’s last game, the Swans couldn’t handle the Dockers pressure and fell, falling just short of a second consecutive grand final.

But all in all, it was an impressive year for the Swans.

Rating: 7
Best Emerging Player: Tom Mitchell
Best Player: Dan Hannebery/ Kieren Jack

West Coast Eagles
The Eagles didn’t live up to the hype in 2013, with many a reporter predicting that the Eagles, with the added boost of Sharrod Wellingham, would take home a fourth flag.

But they got shown up by the Dockers in Round 1, and their season just got worse as it progressed.

Wellingham and Lecras kept on getting injured, while Kennedy started off strongly but faded.

They had some shocking performances against Geelong, Carlton, Collingwood and Adelaide in the last round.

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But their best win had to be against Adelaide earlier in the season, with Kennedy slotting the winner with a minute to go.

Hopefully the Dockers can rise a bit more next year, as they were shocking this year.

Rating: 5
Best Emerging Player: Scott Lycett
Best Player: Josh Kennedy/ Andrew Gaff

Western Bulldogs
After a good first round the Dogs slipped before lifting in the second half of the season to finish 15th.

They started off with a superb win over NAB Cup Champions in Brisbane, but then fell, before recovering to beat St Kilda and Port Adelaide before entering the bye.

After that they challenged the Pies in periods of play, narrowly beat the Bulldogs after falling to Melbourne, challenged the Bombers and the Hawks, beat West Coast, lost to Sydney, upset Carlton, beat Adelaide, narrowly lost to Brisbane and finished off with a win over Melbourne.

Griffen had another brilliant season and the Bulldogs look set to challenge even more in 2014.

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Rating: 6
Best Emerging Player: Michael Talia
Best Player: Ryan Griffen

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