Every AFL team has a fatal flaw and here is what they are doing about it

Not every team has the capability to win the premiership. Just like a Shakespearian tragedy, all have a fatal flaw which could preclude them from capturing the big prize. I am going to explore each team’s dooming trait and how they are dealing with it.

Geelong have been too old and too slow for at least five years. They have made the top eight each of those seasons but failed to win a premiership until 2022. It was just that every other team’s tragic flaw was greater than the Cat’s.

After a decade of topping up with older aged recruits, the Cat’s have now turned a new leaf. Freshly retired are Joel Selwood, Luke Dahlhaus, Shaun Higgins and even the younger Quinton Narkle. There are enough geriatrics there to put a down payment on a retirement home. It has hard to argue that Isaac Smith should have joined them after his grand final performance. 

Tom Stewart of the Cats celebrates. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Geelong’s older aged recruit for this year was twenty-year-old Tanner Bruhn. He arrives with the seventh draft pick and Jhye Clark. Ollie Henry chose to return to the nest in Geelong to join his much older brother Jack (at an ancient 24). The Cat’s home home grown youngsters in Brad Close, Zach Guthrie, Max Holmes, Gryan Miers, Brandon Parfitt and Sam De Koning will be sure to make him welcome.

I am not sure if the Cats will be able to avoid the eventual dip when Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie, Isaac Smith and Patrick Dangerfield join Selwood in the village but they have certainly made a good attempt to stave it off.

Sydney have not yet shown their flaw just yet but we all now it exists. They were belted in a grand final. The scars run deep. Just ask a few Giants players or a Port Adelaide player from 2007. It could even be argued that the Bulldogs 2022 performance was scar effected.

The Swans have put on a brave face. Business as usual. I presume that they have hired a team of psychologists and burned effigies in the outback.

Melbourne’s fatal flaw is somewhat camouflaged, sometimes appearing to be an asset. They have tall strong players who pull down marks all around the ground; destroying opposition thrusts and ensuring set shots up forward. But if opponents can punch the ball clear of the marking contest, the Demon’s are vulnerable.

The solution may be just a game plan rejig. Two strong on the ball beasts could be positioned to clean up the scraps.

Collingwood had an unexpectedly successful 2022 but ultimately, there midfield brought them down. They have been relying on an elusive Scott Pendlebury to bewitch the opposition rather than a strong in and under beast to win the ball. Jordan De Goey has shown flashes but not consistently enough.

The Pies have looked in the mirror and made changes. They have brought in a Brownlow medallist midfielder in Tom Mitchell, who certainly gets his share of the football, but has lost a bit of strength since his leg break and due to advancing years. It will be an interesting move, he certainly came cheaply. It could pay off in 2023.

Jordan de Goey will be a key man for the Pies in 2023.(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Freemantle’s fatal flaw is their awful luck to have injuries to key players for important games. No, only kidding, they have an inability to score goals. They can certainly hold the opposition to low scores and win the ball but that is not enough. I suspect that scoring malaise harps back to the Ross Lyon days. However, in 2022, they made finals and even won one. Surely they will switch the emphasis to scoring.

The Dockers traded their 2022 highest goal scorer, Rory Lobb. That is not a good sign. Their gun recruit, Luke Jackson, is a ruckman who was trialled up forward. He is young, athletic and full of potential but he is not a proven forward performer. Maybe Matt Taberner can play more than half a season and deliver.

Last year, Brisbane lived up to its recent reputation of being a volatile team. They were able to win by big margins but were always vulnerable to good teams. I believe it comes down to their unreliable backline. It leaks goals against quality forwards.

Brisbane think they are in their premiership window, have realised their deficiencies and now made adjustments. They have brought in Josh Dunkley, an experienced defensive midfielder from the Bulldogs. Their other significant addition is recruiting Jack Gunston. An absolute mailman, always delivering, if he can get on the field. A great fillip to a flaky forward line but is their fatal flaw still unaddressed?

Richmond’s fatal flaw is their game plan. A plan that has won them three premierships but one that has now been worked out and countered by some brilliant opposition coaches. It only took three premierships. Hardwick admitted last year that it needed to be upgraded. Some say it was just aging players. In the end, the coaching staff reverted to the proven formula but still finished in seventh and departed in straight set during the finals.

Damien Hardwick (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Like Geelong, Richmond have recruited experience to fill some significant shortfalls. Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper have been garnered from GWS to bolster the salt and pepper midfield. Are the new midfielders part of a new game plan or are the new boys going to be wedged into the old one?

West Bulldogs have a spine problem. Not the players, because Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae have plenty of talent. They are missing the stegosaurus formation down the middle. Since the Tom Boyd retirement, they have been short of a few tall strong players in the key positions.

Aaron Naughton has been brought forward and done a magnificent job at full forward. Tim English has copped a bad wrap for being soft. Is that really fair? To be knocked out may indicate a glass jaw but definitely not softness. Alex Keith is a bit old in the tooth and injury prone, whilst Josh Bruce is also under the injury cloud.

The Bulldogs have a plethora of up and coming tall timber. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Sam Darcy could be club legends, Josh Schache has been shipped off to Demons. This can only be good for the Bulldogs and a challenge for the Melbourne coaches. Rory Lobb has been brought in. A reliable forward mark and scorer. He could be crucial.

Unfortunately the Blues have a psychological issue. I am not sure how to express this in a subtle way. On the big stage, when they really had to win, they were proven to be chokers in 2022. The side has some absolute champions. The reigning Brownlow Medallist, Patrick Cripps, Jack Silvagni, Sam Docherty, Sam Walsh, Charlie Curnow, Adam Saad, Tom De Koning and Harry McKay, but choking is a large hurdle. 

St Kilda seems to have a history of recruiting messiahs that do not deliver. You can’t blame Dan Hannebery for stacking his superannuation or Brad Hill for seeking a decent café latte but what was the club thinking. All is well, they have recruited Ross Lyon. To quote Brian’s mum, “He not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy”.

Port Adelaide have been stalking the eight the last few years but fell away badly in 2022. Many thought their coach was lucky to survive. But it was mostly early season injuries that cost them a spot in the finals. The injuries did highlight their fatal flaw; they are missing one or two tall, strong back men. Over the summer period, Port Adelaide recruited a gun forward in Junior Rioli and a budding midfielder in Jason Horne Francis. Unless a few younger players are about to step up, that fatal flaw did not seem to attract the attention required.

Gold Coast have an issue retaining players. Ben King is back in 2023, which is great news. If they can get some momentum, win some games and make the finals, more players will become ensconced. Hopefully they will do it and do it soon. When is King’s contract up?

Ben King. (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

When I was a young lad, I inherited a lawn mowing business from my older brothers. One particular customer was on a rather cheap rate. I decided to cut her lawn short, so I didn’t have to go back for a while. With the mower on its lowest setting, the lawn was cut right down to its roots. Unfortunately with the exposure to the hot sun, it killed the grass. That is pretty much the situation with Sam Mitchell and the Hawks. All the green shoots have been cut right back. All experience is gone. They will be belted. The grass did grow back. It took ten months. If Sam could be so lucky.

Adelaide have had some challenges in the last few years. A murdered coach, a disastrous character building camp and power ranger who can’t say the right thing. But for me, besides an absent Rory Sloane, it is their forward line that is simply not delivering. Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe look set to replace Taylor Walker and will be crucial for them.

Essendon made a breakthrough into the finals in 2021. Many said that their backline was substandard and they would not progress until it was attended to. 2022 proved those critics right. The Dons have recruited a new coach and two new CEO’s. That defensive flaw is still a challenge for Brad Scott.

Greater Western Sydney’s fatal flaw is certainly a challenge to me. Some have suggested that they still haven’t recovered from the Richmond grand final flogging. Others have suggested they have no real place, swapping from Western Sydney to Canberra. People say they don’t have any soul. I think maybe they don’t have enough history. A few solid finals performances will do the trick. A new determined coach may get them there.

West Coast had a most disappointing 2022. It started out with COVID absences and injured players. They were mercilessly belted. But even when players were back they often rolled over like little puppies. I tried to think of a movie to capture their spirit. I came up with the Wizard of Oz. They were the tin men of the league. They had no heart. In the end, the tin man got his heart. Can West Coast?

The Kangaroos have been down for a while and there may still be a few fatal flaws. It could be said that they have a similar issue to the Gold Coast in retaining players. The big hope will be that Alastair Clarkson brings real and brisk change. Jack Ziebell and Todd Goldstein deserve it.