Much like Toby Greene or Gillon McLachlan, rankings-master Adrian Polykandrites is going on a mid-season holiday, so this week’s edition is a joint effort. The rankings are Adrian’s, the words belong to Josh Elliott.
Last week: 1
Ladder: 6
Another consistent performance and comfortable win shows there’s no one better going around than them at the moment.
Last week: 2
Ladder: 1
Finally got the monkey off their back with a first-ever win against an old friend, and went a long way to locking up the minor premiership.
Last week: 4
Ladder: 2
They’ve probably missed their chance to finish on top of the table, but would still be leading the race for a home qualifying final.
Last week: 2
Ladder: 3
Were consistently at the top of these standings for a while – it’s been quite a fall, and there could be more yet to come.
Last week: 5
Ladder: 4
Their biggest scalp of the year so far will give them some serious confidence and puts them in the box seat for a top-four spot.
Last week: 7
Ladder: 7
Injured midfield stars came back ahead of schedule and their reintegration into the team was seamless, leading to one of their best performances of the year.
Last week: 6
Ladder: 5
Can mash a bad team when they need to, but almost always falling short against the better sides of the competition. No guarantee of making it past the first week of finals.
Last week: 8
Ladder: 8
Plenty of winnable games between here and September.
Last week: 9
Ladder: 9
Should never lose a game where Josh J Kennedy kicks six goals. Unacceptable.
Last week: 11
Ladder: 10
Liam Picken and Bailey Dale is an interesting place to find a combined nine goals from. Smashing a no-Ablett Gold Coast is little to write home about.
Last week: 10
Ladder: 11
Still some distance off being able to play with the big boys.
Last week: 12
Ladder: 12
Look dangerous against any side in the competition right now. This week’s match against Sydney will be a cracker.
Last week: 14
Ladder: 13
Have shown some real steel in the clutch moments in the past fortnight, and to get it done without Pendlebury this week was quite a feat. Is it enough to save Buckley?
Last week: 13
Ladder: 14
Would be the leading contenders for the spoon right now if it wasn’t for four wins by less than a goal.
Last week: 16
Ladder: 17
Ben Brown, a mature-age third-round draft pick from the VFL in a 17th-placed side, is equal-second in the Coleman.
Last week: 15
Ladder: 16
Have developed a reputation for playing reliable footy, but massively let themselves down on that front in the first half.
Last week: 17
Ladder: 15
Bordering on total irrelevancy when they don’t have Ablett available, which if the rumours are true doesn’t bode well for 2018 and beyond.
Last week: 18
Ladder: 18
Still at the bottom of the pole, but maybe not for much longer.
Pedro The Fisherman
Guest
If that is the case how are Geelong and GWS rated so highly?
New York Hawk
Guest
Hawks ranking shows how ridiculous this list is. They are an even money short at beating the Swans on Friday night and are the only team to beat them in the last 10 weeks. But yeah, 12th...
Scott Savage
Guest
Me? Lol. Try this guy haha
Mark
Guest
Don't get upset
Mark
Guest
Lol
Scott Savage
Guest
You're really desperate to be told Swans are great an unbeatable huh? You know what everyone is actually saying? Swans are pretty bloody good, but to place them above the top few ladder leaders when they haven't beaten or even played the top teams at full strength is a bit of a stretch by the author. Swans are really good, but they haven't had much of a test man. They'll get it soon enough and then you can act like the Swans are high and mighty. Until then, we're all unconvinced.
me too
Roar Rookie
of course most of their wins were against teams above them - they were 0 and 6! A very angry post from you, one eyed in both your assessment and reponse. We'll find out in the next few weeks who is correct, but the Crows are clear on top and have beaten their closest rivals easily. The Swans have yet to play either.
hal
Guest
Dawn to dusk
Matto
Guest
On point. I think they're a low as they're are because season was dead a long time ago. Not that any of the teams you mentioned seasons aren't now either.
Glenn
Guest
What a load of garbage. Swans are far and away the best team over the past 11 rounds - 10 wins and 1 loss. Beaten a number of teams that were supposedly Premiership threats right up until getting beaten by the Swans. Most of the wins were against teams above them on the ladder at the time. Ignore the first 6 rounds and they are a mile clear on top. They now have the 3rd highest percentage even including the first 6 losses. Come up with all the excuses you want about why they beat the teams they did when they did, but the fact is that they slaughtered Essendon and Richmond for 3 quarters. The Bombers were lucky to be closer than 10 goals behind when they made their run and the Tigers were soundly beaten from quarter time onwards. All of these bloody ridiculous assessments based on nothing more than wishful thinking. The Cats are no threat. I watched exactly the same team that Sydney smashed in last year's final get humiliated by Adelaide last week. The same mediocre Cats team in the same position on the ladder - out in straight sets. It is a shame all of you so called experts can't see what would be blindingly obvious if you actually opened the other eye. The Swans aren't winning because they are lucky, they are winning because they are one of the best couple of teams in it, playing the type of footy that wins finals and getting better by the week. What you should be worried about if you had the ability to see it, is that the Swans have almost ironed out all of the kinks from those earlier close wins. It could get real ugly for you from here on out.
Hugh Grant
Guest
The Cats need to get their claws back as they are letting down the Kardinia Parkers who cannot fly the flag from dawn to dust down at Kardinia Park with these past efforts.
me too
Roar Rookie
Sydney are hot, but their run has been made easier by playing a very wounded gws at home and not meeting either geelong or adelaide. Their top scalps other than the gws seconds has been a close win against richmond coming off the bye, melbourne back from perth, and a very lucky win against essendon. The Crows hammered the second placed team and sit well clear and deserve the no. 1 ranking. I also think the Hawks are way too low - since resurging they've beaten both Adelaide and the Swans and lost by a missed kick to Geelong. It seems the Hawks are penalised for ladder position yet the Swans aren't? And a team that hasn't won a game for five rounds somehow is in fourth? Is there any consistency at play here or is this ladder purely based on the authors feel?
Cat
Roar Guru
Again, if you are going to look at the entire season, that's the ladder. Power rankings are supposed to be more of a 'what have you done for me lately' type of ranking.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
I understand that, but the Swans are 5th. I just can't see how after 18 Rounds, you can say they are in a better position than Adelaide? We should be taking in the whole context of the season. By having Swans at 1, you are ignoring 6 weeks and numerous 15-20 minute patches of very ordinary form. Crows have probably only had 3 or 4 weeks off that
Paul D
Roar Guru
I think every side would benefit from a bit of berko
Larry Seely
Roar Rookie
Sydney is the hottest team in the league at this point, but you must put the entire season into perspective. Adelaide is on top and deserve all the credit with the best overall record. The Swans could prove me wrong by the time the Finals are over, but the Crows must be on top now!
Jim
Guest
The swans also ripped Adelaide a new one in the finals last year also, if you are going to take prior finals form into account.
kick to kick
Guest
By any measure of current form (ie power rankings), Hawthorn is better than 12th. Since the bye the Hawks have beaten the Crows, tied with the Giants and with one straighter kick at the death would have beaten the Cats. So that is close to top 4 form. At worst they should outrank St Kilda, the Bulldogs and West Coast. Lowest defensible ranking is 9th.
Cat
Roar Guru
If the author is just going to put teams in ladder order, why bother, its the ladder.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
While the Swans are hot right now, their position in the ladder means there is no way they can ranked number 1. How the Team who leads the Comp by a GAME and HALF is not the number 1 team is nearly criminal.