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They might not have premiership points at stake, but depending on who you barrack for, there are plenty of different things you’ll hope your team gets out of their upcoming AAMI Community series match.
If you’re a premiership contender like Melbourne or Brisbane, just getting through the game without a serious injury to a key player would be just fine and dandy. But for the Carltons or Fremantles of the AFL world, who head into the new seasons with expectations of progress, more might be needed to start the real stuff with confidence of good times ahead.
So from returning stars to coaches just starting out, from breakout youngsters on the verge of greatness to the old stagers hoping for one last hurrah, here’s what your team wants out of the AAMI Community Series.
Adelaide: Darcy’s Development
With Taylor Walker suspended for the first three rounds of 2022, the Crows’ forward line will be spearheaded by youth to start the year. But while prized young tall Riley Thilthorpe may still need another year or two to develop, there’s no time like the present for 22-year old Fogarty.
Now 41 matches into his career, the 193cm sharpshooter has shown glimpses of his undoubted talent, but remains frustratingly inconsistent. 24 goals from 17 games in 2021, his first season as a regular in the best 22, was a start; but for the Crows to begin to climb the ladder again, lifting that haul into the 30s this season is a must.
The Crows’ date with cross-town rivals Port Adelaide is a great opportunity for Fogarty to be tested against one of the AFL’s best teams, albeit one light on gun lockdown key defenders. Heading into his fifth season at the top level, it’s time for promise to give way to results for Darcy.
Brisbane: Rayner’s return
The sky seemed the limit for the 2017 number one draft pick heading into 2021, only for a knee injury sustained in the last AAMI Community Series to see Cam Rayner miss the entire year.
Now fully rehabilitated and chomping at the bit to go, the 22-year old looks set to be given more midfield time in 2022, along with another young gun in Zac Bailey.
Long seen as having all the attributes – strength, explosiveness from stoppages and elite skills – of a certain tattooed multiple Norm Smith Medal winner, Rayner’s addition to the Lions’ midfield mix could be what propels them from the top four through to winning multiple finals, or even the big one itself.
Getting the balance right between Rayner and established stars Lachie Neale, Jarryd Lyons and Hugh McCluggage in the on-ball set-up will be a key priority for Chris Fagan and co. in the pre-season. Seeing how they manage Rayner in particular, after showing impressive signs in the Lions’ thumping scratch match win over Adelaide, will be fascinating.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Carlton: Two-way running
Defence was a critical flaw in Carlton’s system last year, and ultimately cost former coach David Teague his job. Having appointed a new man in charge in Michael Voss who already has senior coaching experience at AFL level (at Brisbane from 2008-2013), the Lions legend’s tenure will, one suspects, live and die by improvement in that regard.
Only North Melbourne and Adelaide conceded more points last year than the Blues, despite sitting a respectable tenth for inside-50s against. That spoke to the lack of defensive intent from, in particular, their midfield group, regularly forcing their defence into one-on-one situations that, despite a career-best year from Jacob Weitering, they couldn’t cope with indefinitely.
Given Sam Walsh, the team’s hardest runner, will miss the pre-season and the first month of the real stuff with an ankle injury, the opportunities are there for new recruits Adam Cerra and George Hewett to show they’re prepared to do the hard yards for the team that were lacking last year. Fix that, and a finals series in Voss’ first year at the helm isn’t out of reach.
Collingwood: Attack, attack, attack
If Carlton’s problems were in defence, then the Magpies’ are at the opposite end. Defensive strength was a hallmark under former coach Nathan Buckley – how much help he received from former backline coach turned Fremantle boss Justin Longmuir is another question – but in 2021, scoring became a major weakness.
The Pies’ 1557 points for the year ranked behind only fellow cellar dwellers North Melbourne and Gold Coast, and meant, despite an average losing margin of around four goals a game, still only saluted six times.
There were signs aplenty in their six-quarter (six-sixth?) practice match against Hawthorn that an attacking bent will be a focus of new coach Craig McRae. Five goals from Jamie Elliott was the most encouraging of all, with the 29-year old crucial to the Pies’ forward structure… if he can remain on the park, having missed nearly half of 2021 with a broken leg.
Three goals from Mason Cox (and his new eyewear), Brody Mihocek and young goalsneak Jack Ginnivan showed the Pies do have enough attacking options to put a winning score on the board this season. Indeed, it was the lack of supply they provided their forwards which hurt in 2021, ranking last in the AFL for inside-50s.
22 goals – 19 of them coming in the first four periods with their full-strength AFL side – was about as much as you could hope for from an attacking point of view in a practice match. With the Pies’ defence already more than solid, McRae’s path towards a surprise finals appearance in his maiden season is clear.
Essendon: Caldwell’s comeback
Big things were expected of Jye Caldwell in his first season at Windy Hill last year; but after suffering a serious hamstring injury in Round 2, he seldom featured for the remainder of the year.
Jake Stringer’s pre-season will likely be erased by a groin injury, so further midfield opportunities are there for Caldwell if he’s good enough to grasp them. He only attended three centre bounces in the Bombers’ scratch match against the Western Bulldogs, but showed glimpses at half-forward of his undoubted talent.
All it took was an injury crisis to see Darcy Parish jump from fringe player to All-Australian last year; if given a decent crack at a permanent midfield spot, could Caldwell repeat the dose?
Fremantle: Fully fit Fyfe
For a while during the off-season, Nat Fyfe’s career hung in the balance. Unable to shake a nasty bacterial infection after shoulder surgery there were no guarantees the two-time Brownlow Medallist would even make it back to the highest level, let alone be the player he was.
However, since then the news has been better on the injury front, with Fyfe looking likely to feature in the Dockers’ AAMI Community Series match against West Coast – and looking significantly bulked up. If he’s right to go, he could well be the difference-maker for Fremantle to rise back into the finals for the first time since 2015.
Nat Fyfe of the Dockers runs with the ball during the 2021 AFL Round 06 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Optus Stadium on April 24, 2021 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Last year was a frustrating one for Fyfe; plagued by injuries and struggling to kick for goal, he ended with just three Brownlow Medal votes – the lowest tally of his career, even behind 2016 when he played only four and a half games. But his absence left it to the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong to take over leadership of the inside brigade; which they, Brayshaw in particular, did with aplomb.
Imagine a Freo where Fyfe is the cherry on top, rather than the alpha and the omega? A Fyfe that can head into the midfield and extract a clearance where required, or just as easily spend big portions in the forward 50 to use his elite marking skills and goal nous (if he can fix his kicking) to devastating effect?
The thought alone should be enough to have Freo fans eagerly anticipating the season ahead.
Geelong: Blood the kids
Whether the cliff that we have all expected the Cats to lurch off every time this year for a decade is finally upon them, Chris Scott surely must use the AAMI Community Series as a chance to see what he’s got among the young crop of kittens at the club.
After an old, weary, bruised and battered line-up was taken to the cleaners by Melbourne in the preliminary final last year, an injection of youth could go a long way to ensuring the Cats stay up the top for a few more seasons yet – just as the likes of Mitch Duncan, Daniel Menzel and Allen Christensen saw them do likewise after another humbling preliminary final defeat to win the flag in 2011.
Already there are promising signs: Sam De Koning has the world at his feet as an intercepting defender if his trial matches form is anything to go by, while Tyson Stengle looks ready to make the most of his career lifeline as a 23-year old after ill-fated stints with Richmond and Adelaide.
Whatever the season proper holds in store, should one or two of the next generation play well in the pre-season, it will be hard for Scott to ignore the calls, many of which will be from within his own club, to give them a run in the big time. At least for a while.
Gold Coast: A new King
No team heads in 2022 with a bigger handicap already strapped to their back than the Suns; the loss of star forward, leading goalkicker and great white hope Ben King to a season-ending ACL injury was just about the worst possible news the club could have received.
However, it’s probably better for it to have happened now rather than a few days before the start of the year proper, or indeed midway through. The Suns now have a chance to tweak their planned structure and get a plan ready for life without King.
New recruit Mabior Chol will surely spend more time now as an attacking focal point, booting three goals in their practice match win over Port Adelaide having been taken from Richmond as a sporadic ruck-forward. So too will Josh Corbett, a moderate revelation in 2021 playing as a second tall, have the chance to become the key focal point they’ve been crying out for.
Jack Lukosius has made a bright start to his career along the half-back line, but might his elite kicking skills be better served up forward now that King is out? At 195cm despite a light frame, the 21-year old has all the attributes to become a dangerous forward down the track, and there’s no better time to start down that path if that’s what Stuart Dew aspires for him to become than the present.
The answer, though, might lie closer to ground. Goalsneak Izak Rankine has teased us all with flashes of outrageous brilliance, but his three goal debut against Melbourne in 2020 is about as good as things have got. While a 30-goal season won’t provide a miracle run to the finals for the Suns, it would be a sign his career is back on the right track after stalling in 2021, and would give fans something they badly need: hope.
GWS: Coniglio comeback
Bearing much of the blame for the Giants’ fall out of the finals in 2020, the much-maligned captain was then left behind in his team’s slipstream in 2021 as they surged into the last six.
Shorn of midfield time, out for much of the year with an ankle injury that saw Toby Greene replace, and in many ways surpass, him as skipper, Coniglio was even floated by the media as trade bait should any clubs be willing to risk taking on his mega contract.
Backed in as captain alongside Greene and Josh Kelly, the burden now isn’t Coniglio’s alone to bear, and now back to full fitness, is approaching a flashpoint year in his career. The Giants’ strong inside midfield stocks may force him to remake himself on a wing or even as a crumbing forward, but neither are beyond him if he’s willing to work hard and perhaps even sacrifice parts of his game to help the team.
Star on-baller or not, Coniglio remains a crucial part of the Giants’ short-term future, and they need him firing this year to be a chance of nabbing that elusive flag.
Stephen Coniglio celebrates. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Hawthorn: Defensive structure
Despite finishing 14th, there were plenty of encouraging signs from the Hawks late in 2021. They won three and drew two of their last six, including taking down the finals-bound Bulldogs and Brisbane and tying with premiers Melbourne.
Of particular concern for new coach Sam Mitchell will be re-making his side’s flaky defence, which caused issues even in their late-season form spurt – they had Richmond down for the count in Round 23 before giving up five goals in 11 minutes. Only North Melbourne, Carlton and Adelaide conceded more points last year than the Hawks – that must improve if Mitchell wishes to quickly rush up the ladder.
His personnel – think Sam Frost, Blake Hardwick and Kyle Hartigan – are about as blue-collar as it gets, though the return of James Sicily from a knee injury will give them some badly needed star factor.
The backline was ripped apart by Collingwood in a low-pressure scratch match, conceding 19 goals in the first four periods, and it was primarily their VFL-listed players that fought back in the final two to secure a draw.
Organising the troops and ensuring the midfield is prepared to work hard defensively to clog up space would do plenty to ensure none of the above, as well as talented youngsters Denver Grainger-Barras and Jack Scrimshaw, find themselves overburdened.
Melbourne: Please, no injuries
The reigning premiers are on a hiding to nothing, even more than everyone else, for this year’s pre-season. There is nothing to gain and nothing to prove for the Dees – especially after they flexed their muscle with a big win over North Melbourne in last week’s scratch match.
However, losing someone to a serious injury, as happens to at least one team every year, could be damaging. By and large, the Dees enjoyed an excellent run on the injury front in 2021, with key back Adam Tomlinson and running half-back Jayden Hunt their biggest long-term casualties. Both could be replaced, but losing a Christian Petracca or Clayton Oliver, or even a Trent Rivers or Alex Neal-Bullen-type who play vital roles in the Melbourne set-up, would be trickier to deal with.
That goes for the players, too – with a second premiership right there for the taking, nobody will want to be this year’s Tomlinson.
North Melbourne: JHF
The Kangaroos’ first number one draft pick is touted as being worth the price of admission alone for fans in his first AFL season. And the excitement is only building after he was arguably their best in a big scratch match loss to Melbourne.
Attending 12 centre bounces – albeit without regular mids Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke playing – there’s every chance coach David Noble will immediately install the South Australian as part of the Roos’ on-ball brigade, rather than easing him into AFL life at half-forward.
Malcolm Blight presents a guernsey to number one draft pick Jason Horne-Francis (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Readymade teenagers don’t come along too often, but Horne-Francis is just that. Get hyped, North fans.
Port Adelaide: Ruthlessness
No team has more to prove in 2022 than Port Adelaide. Off the back of consecutive home preliminary final defeats – the latest a calamitous 71-point loss to the Bulldogs – fan frustration with coach Ken Hinkley has had all summer long to build.
With talented young guns like Zak Butters and Connor Rozee getting better every year, plus the reigning Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines at the peak of his powers, Port still have an impressive side at their disposal. But with a motto like ‘We exist to win premierships’, there’s not a lot of wriggle room for a side to be good but not great for too long; and heading into his tenth season without a flag, Hinkley is under the pump.
That’s why the Power simply must make an early statement of intent in their practice match against archrivals Adelaide. They coasted through a low-scoring loss to Gold Coast in a scratch game minus some key names, but were undeniably poor enough to send shivers through the Alberton crowd.
With an opening-round match against Brisbane at the Gabba, and dates with Melbourne and the Bulldogs in the first two months of the season proper, the Power can ill afford a sluggish start. Attacking the AAMI Community Series like it’s the real thing would be an ideal way to ensure everyone is match-hardened and ready to prove the doubters wrong from the get-go this year.
Richmond: Not rusty Dusty
The three-time Norm Smith Medallist missed the final five games of 2021 after suffering a gruesome kidney injury in a clash with Brisbane’s Mitch Robinson – the longest period of footy he’s missed in his career.
Having spent more than a week in hospital and lost 10 kilograms from the hit, it will be fascinating to see how the Tigers deploy Martin in the early rounds of 2022. Their AAMI Community Series match against Hawthorn should offer more insight.
Having left no stone unturned in pre-season, Martin, while rusty, was still impactful in their scratch match against Geelong. A similar effort, with the added bonus of gaining further match fitness, against the Hawks is all Tigers fans need to start thinking about a return to finals.
Dustin Martin is helped off the ground. (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
St Kilda: An eye on injuries
After a breakthrough finals appearance in 2020, 2021 was a disaster for the Saints.
Much of that was down to a horror start to the year, having suffered losses by 111, 86, 75 and 54 points in the first ten rounds alone. Wrecked by injuries and bereft of confidence, the swiftness of the Saints’ fall was alarming.
From there, they recovered to finish tenth, in the process showing that their best is good enough to play, and win, finals. Jack Steele is a genuine superstar of the game, while few players are more important to their team than ruck-forward Rowan Marshall.
Avoiding another dire run of injuries is priority one from their practice match against Essendon – though half-back Nick Coffield is already out for the year with a knee injury. That particularly goes for Marshall and Paddy Ryder, who played just once between them in the first five rounds of 2021 that ultimately cost the Saints their season.
Ryder has already been put on ice for the pre-season, but remains in the frame for Round 1, while Marshall’s banged-up feet need to be well looked after. With them in tow, the Saints’ comeback can get going.
Sydney: Dawson’s replacement
Elite ball-users in modern footy don’t grow on trees, and the loss of superboot Jordan Dawson to Adelaide has the capacity to seriously impact the Swans’ ball movement plans.
Dawson averaged 15 kicks a game in 2021, with a three-goal performance in a surprise win over the Bulldogs one of the most lethal displays of kicking seen all year. Replacing his run, drive and elite skill by foot is a must for the Swans in 2022, but will be easier said than done.
Sydney, though, pride themselves on unearthing talent wherever they turn, and it so happens they have options up their sleeve. 2021 draftee Braeden Campbell dazzled enough in his first few matches to claim a Rising Star nomination in Round 2; while his season petered out from there as the demands of AFL life and the Swans’ team success kept him on the outer, there’s a vacant spot with his name on it now.
Another equally impressive youngster set to fill Dawson’s shoes is Justin McInerney, who floated between the wing and half-back in the final few rounds of last season. One of the hardest workers at the club, his modus operandi is running into space for uncontested marks; while his ball use isn’t as highly rated as Dawson or Campbell’s, it’s far from a weakness.
Dawson might be difficult to replace for one player alone, but TWO young guns? Now we’re talking.
West Coast: A new-look midfield
The Eagles’ decision whether to go all out for one last tilt at a finals run, or give in to their slow decline and start a rebuild now, might have been answered for them. A nightmare injury run in their first scratch match against Fremantle will leave them without midfielder Dom Sheed for the first half of the season, while Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey are also unlikely to be seen at AFL level in the first few rounds.
With every crisis comes opportunity, though, and the time is ripe for the next generation of Eagles to showcase their wares. Yes, that’s been impacted too by injury – top pick Campbell Chesser too busted his ankle against the Dockers, while mature-ager Greg Clark’s shoulders are a concern. But after breaking into the team at the back end of 2021, mid-season draftee Connor West was heavily involved in the midfield mix, as was regular forward Jamaine Jones.
The Eagles’ chances of rising back into the finals might already be all but quashed, but there’s no reason they can’t begin to prepare for a quick bounce-back with a better injury run in 2023. And hey, one or two unexpected breakout stars can be the difference between success and failure in any season.
Western Bulldogs: Jamarra’s breakout
With last year’s leading goalkicker Josh Bruce still on the comeback trail from an ACL tear, the time is now for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to show why he is the most highly-touted key forward prospect since the great Lance Franklin.
Made to bide his time in his debut season after COVID cut short his senior NAB League year in 2020, Ugle-Hagan managed seven goals from five games from Rounds 17-21. There wasn’t anything earth-shattering about his performances, but the Bulldogs Academy prodigy is a beautiful kick for goal and has athletic attributes to spare.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan of the Western Bulldogs in action. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
With Josh Schache moved to defence for the Dogs’ scratch match against Essendon, it looks like Ugle-Hagan will be given every chance to make that second key forward post behind Aaron Naughton his own in 2022. He was far from his best against the Bombers, and taking on Brisbane’s impressive key back stocks – think Harris Andrews, Darcy Gardiner and company – will be an even greater challenge.
Dogs fans shouldn’t expect the world from Ugle-Hagan just yet, but we saw last year just how quickly the footy media can begin to apply pressure on the youngster’s shoulders. Encouraging signs in the pre-season would, at least, keep the wolf from the door to start with.
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