2017 AFL ladder predictions

In years gone by Aaron Francis would have been developed as a key position player (KPP) but the hope is that he can be developed as a forward/utility which means he has to develop his running/endurance. He needs further development but I wonder if he is being developed correctly, he strikes me more as an explosive impact player. His body might not stand up to being developed for endurance.

My ladder 1. Sydney( they are the golden state warriors of the AFL) 2. Greater western Sydney (Premiership favourites in my eyes I can only see them improve) 3. Geelong( best midfield duo in the comp, one of the greatest of all time they will get them the top 4 spot) 4. Western Bulldogs( Gun side will finish in the top 4 I believe premiership back to back is strongly on the cards love there style of play) 5. Adelaide ( About the same as last year they had a great run with injuries and need another mid, could slide down abit) 6. Hawthorn ( they lost there 2 best midfielders they will miss there smarts and grittiness I see them dropping down the ladder) 7. Essendon ( I've gone the different route everyone saying they had a year out but they weren't injured they were still able to train the JLT Will get them AFL fit Brilliant back line Nice midfield depth And I believe there forward line will click joey Daniher kicked 44 goals in the least scoring team last season 50 goals he will get if he plays all games, keep an eye out for Aaron Francis, Fantasia and Hooker in the forward line this year) 8. St kilda( they will stay about the same as last year I snuck them in because I can see a little improvement young guns will step up but that midfield is looking small need a big body in there as in height wise, lowest 11th highest 6th) ----------- 9. West Coast (Getting old will they stay fit? Have them 9th but still could make top 4 it's a tough call but it's my ladder, most likely will finish top 8 but also 2nd most likely team behind north to drop out) 10. Melbourne( tough one here they seem to can't be able to lift for a win when playing lower tier teams 50/50 top 8 this year go dees get there) 11. Collingwood ( Darcy Moore needs to stand up strong for top 8 but there back 6 is the big problem if they solve that out and players stay healthy don't be surprised if they finish there) 12. Port Adelaide ( Will stay about the same position ball movement needs to be like 2014 or no top 8 don't under estimate) 13. Fremantle( tough one here there style of footy needs to change seems like there not gelling together as mates, could sneak into the 8) 14. Richmond( one of the best lists just there coach using bad game plans he isn't a bad coach just isn't using his team to suit there best style of play have a top 8 list could sneak into 7th or 8th at best) 15. Carlton ( Will compete better but one more year in the bottom 4 good draft pick aswell, no chance for top 8) 16. North Melbourne ( Finished the year poorly lost experienced and best players solid lock to miss the top 8) 17. Brisbane( can't see them defending any better conceited 135 points a game last year no chance for finals need to defend 7 goals better and add 4 goals a game to get there just not gonna happen) 18. Gold Coast(Ablett doesnt want to be there just can't see them moving anywhere)

There is no way the Suns could possibly finish behind the Lions, what a joke. I see them being a real contender for 9th-12th next year for the following reasons: 1) They have recruited well. The loss of Jaeger means nothing to them since he wasn't playing anyway (of course the would of preferred to keep him but the loss wont effect them at all) but the inclusion of every player they recruited is just surplus when comparing it to what Jaeger was doing. 2) Dion is a fairly big loss but the return of David Swallow is a massive plus. 3) Their young guns such as Touk Miller, Kade Kolodjashnij, Tom Lynch, Jack Martin, Peter Wright and Adam Saad are all another year developed and I see Ah Chee and Fiorini really developing as well. I may be the only one but I see good things ahead.

I hope these aren't predicted betting odds...they're terrible!

You summed it up very well SF, a cool voice of reason, what is the world coming to... The only thing I would add is that one side nearly always implodes each year, and I think it will be one of Richmond, the Power or Collingwood and one of these clubs coaches will be history before the end of the season.

I didn't get that last sentence Wilson.

Credit to you for going so far out on a cracked limb.

PaulD and Cat From a purely playing and performance perspective you would say that Ablett was the right choice of player. Prior to having his shoulder wrecked in 2014 you could not have asked more from the guy from an on field perspective. From a Captaincy point of view he certainly was not the right choice. He is not comfortable in that role (never has been) but took it because there was literally no other option at the time and part of the deal to come up here was to be the face of QLD footy (to the tune of $300K a year from the AFL). However, the Suns now have two very viable options in Tom Lynch and Steven May. The issue the Suns faced from the outset is that Ablett called the shots even though the Suns paid him $1.5M a year across his first contract and currently pay him $1M a year on this contract. Ablett was granted additional regular flights to Melbourne and Sydney, for both business and personal reasons, on top of those flights already provided to players from outside of QLD would have been viewed as special treatment by the rest of the playing group. While out with his first serious injury he didn’t attend games as a spectator to assist the team and only during the second injury did he make it to the Club on a regular basis to support his teammates. Essentially he is at the Club the minimum required time. Where it gets tricky is that his performance (outside of injury) was never impacted so how do complain? Being the Captain of an AFL club is more than simply being the best player in the team. That player must show true leadership, dedication to the jumper and have the charisma and relationship with players that they will actually follow the guy on the field and do anything for him (think players like Cousins, Hodge, Harley etc.). Gaz clearly doesn’t have this with the Suns. Whether it is an issue with relatability between the majority of the group and Gaz or whether the group can sense that he is not invested anymore as his chances of playing finals, let alone winning a Premiership before retirement, are out the window we will never know. The latest murmuring on the GC is that it is actually Ablett’s new wife that pushed the issue of returning to Victoria and that he took the Club’s stance relatively well when they declined the request. One wonders whether the extra $$$ Gaz received coming up to GC outweighs missing out on the 2011 flag and being a one club player with the Cats????

Think Nth will be in that bottom 4 replacing the Suns. If Suns can keep their players on the pitch they should be much improved this year, them and Freo.

Isn't it funny how Ablett gets the blame for the Suns off field issues, yet Nick Reiwoldt is often considered one of the best captains despite the fact that the Saints have had more off field scandals than the next two clubs combined ... all on Saint Nicks watch too.

Shows how little you know of the game Don. Stick to what you know ... which never mind ... you've shown a clear lack of understanding about every topic you inject yourself into.

Yeah Ablett can't possibly survive as skipper next season, not after what he said this trade period about wanting out. I reckon the Suns would be pretty dirty at him. Paid him a fortune over the years, offered him a very generous resigning deal despite his advancing age and injuries and he turns around and asks about the possibility of a trade. Disgraceful. Wonder if Geelong will still want him end of 2017. As a captain of a footy side he has been a qualified failure - the on-field brilliance ultimately hasn't concealed the huge problems off field, which he, with his disinterested attitude has been a big contributor to through his inaction and lack of insistence on standards. With the benefit of hindsight I don't think the Suns nailed a single appointment when they set that club up. Their recruiting staff are terrible, McKenna wasn't the right coach for a startup and in Ablett they picked totally the wrong player to be a cultural leader and pioneer. Hopefully they have better luck in this second incarnation of the club.

Agree with you there Don. Went to a game of NFL last week. Most boring professional sport I've seen. Froze my arse off in the stands and stoppage times far exceeded actual playing times. Awful excuse for sporting entertainment imo.

I think the AFL is moving ever closer to become a more even league in the sense of the number of teams that have the ability to make the Top 8 and play finals. It would be fair to say that only Brisbane and Carlton can be categorically ruled out from considering 8th position and higher as a realistic goal in 2017. Having said that, both those clubs are in a rebuild mode and I believe that they will slowly rise up the ladder at similar pace with 2018 being a better aim for 8th position. GWS and the Western Bulldogs will be there next year again and it would not surprise me one bit if they meet in either a Prelim or GF in 2017. They are both teams that are young, hungry, talented desperate for success (in the Dogs case more success) and they have seen the effect continual finals and multiple Grand Final victories have had for Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney across the past decade. I feel as though Sydney will be there again but not necessarily Top 4. I also don’t think you can say that either of Geelong or Hawthorn will definitely play finals in 2017. Geelong has a massive over reliance on Dangerfield, Selwood and Hawkins. They have yet to find a second forward to play alongside Hawkins and their backline in Lonergan, Taylor and Mackie are slow and getting slower at a time when the game has never been quicker. Hawthorn has lost a lot of talent and experience, there is still no return date for Roughhead, everyone is waiting to see how O’Meara returns after 2 years out of the game and T.Mitchell will now not have the luxury of playing alongside Kennedy, Parker, Hannerbury, Jack and will need to learn to play against a hard tag. Hodge and Gibson are presumably in their final season and McEvoy looks like he will be spending plenty of time as a lone ruckman. They will be one of the more interesting sides to watch in 2017. It is not beyond possibility that they drop out of the 8. All up 14 teams (Sydney, Hawthorn, Geelong, Adelaide, West Coast included) are fighting for positions 3-8 and September action. Of the teams that didn’t play finals in 2016 all of St. Kilda, Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast, Fremantle and Essendon will hope for a good run with injury, natural improvement and to play finals in 2017. North Melbourne are the most obvious candidate to drop from the 8 after their “all-in” strategy of the past 3 years came up short at the preliminary final stage and it may take a year or two to become a contender again. Collingwood’s trade period was questionable at best and with little action in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft they obviously believe they have a finals ready team. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that they finish bottom 4 next year. It should make for an exciting season for all supporters to see what their team can bring to the table in 2017.

PaulD - I also believe that Eade will get the sack at the end of the season, regardless of the what the Suns do in 2017. He is yesterday's man and was brought to the Club for one reason only - leadership and culture change. Next year we will see Tom Lynch and Steven May as Co-Captains, which is the right move. They are young, talented, driven and loyal Suns players who actually give a f*%$ about the jumper. As we have discussed many times over the Suns are not going anywhere, the investment from the AFL and the QLD Government has been too great and the Titans are now also getting their act together on and off the field.

I have Faith in the Hawks as I know the team a lot better then you do there are still a few of the younger players that I see next year will get more games because S.Mitchell and J.Lewis being gone. as you would know the Freo team better then me but what your starts Fyfe, Sand and the rest retired or delisted.

Not if Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O'Meara and 7 other stars are out (oh wait, you don't have 7 other stars). You'll have to be carried by your own version of Jon Griffin. That's Ty Vickery.

Apart from the fact they take 15 minutes between plays to tell players what to do. Our players are independent, extemporaneous, reflexive, intellectual giants by comparison.

Absolutely nothing simple about NFL, Don.

You’re talking about Freo of 2016 not the Hawks there Don. Yes Hawks will drop off, but they won’t jump off the cliff in the Freo Style. :)