Havent been keeping up to date as much with the off season activities, but the 2012 AFL season gets up and running this Saturday with the new Greater Western Sydney Giants franchise playing the Sydney Swans. Game is live on ESPN, and it will be an absolute rout for the Swannies. No Irish involvement in the game, as O hAilpin and Walsh are recovering from injuries.
The start of the season and a lot of the Melbourne games will be heavily reminded about Jim Stynes passing this week. There is a tribute to him planned for the round 4 clash with the Bulldogs. It could be enough to spark a bit of life back into Melbourne who are steadily regaining ground lost over the last few years.
As for the season itself, Collingwood start off as favourites, despite their Grand Final loss to Geelong last year. Hawthorn are next, then Geelong, and the field spreads pretty wide beyond that.
My own thoughts are that I think Hawthorn could snatch it this year. They started poorly last year and got in gear then, only to lose out in a close tough game in the Preliminary finals. Rioli and Franklin staying fit are key, as well as Hodge and Mitchell. They have a strong tough squad, and brought in some really good young rookies last year, so I’d expect them to have good depth and
Collingwood have new management with Nathan Buckley, but they have a settled squad who are young and experienced. Marty Clarke has added some more depth to them and despite the management change, they should be strong contenders once again. But with Swan, Thomas, Pendelbury and Cloke, they have some formidable players who are game changers. Caolain Mooney has been making serious impressions since arriving too, but probably wont see action this year.
Geelong defy all odds. Despite a new manager and the loss of Gary Ablett, they showed huge ambition and drive to win last years comp. They again will be hard beaten, but its very hard to retain titles, and I think that will prove to be the case once again. Johnson, Bartell, Selwood again being their main men, with the likes of young players Duncan and Menzel chipping in.
Carlton keep flattering to deceive, and are a team that seem to always have depth, but still never push on over the line. With Murphy, Gibbs and Judd leading the charge through the centre, they still lack a potent goal kicker, and again it will be their downfall. Tuhoy should keep getting game time, but will be in the verge of squads.
West Coast should continue their improvements, but Le Cras gone for the year is a huge blow. Masten is also out injured for a while, and with a few other key injuries, I think their depth will struggle. Gaff will start more often, and Darling too and both will hopefully continue their steady rise, but I think they will find it hard to keep a top 4 spot, despite having the best rucking pair in Naitanui and Cox.
I think Essendon might push on a bit this year and finally click. They have the potential to win big games, and then lose out pitifully, but with a change in their management last year, they seem a stronger more solidified unit. Stanton, Zaharakis, with Hille and Ryder at ruck will be key, but the lack of a proven forward again will hinder them.
Sydney made a few nice moves in the off season, Walsh being one of them so it’ll be interesting if he can break through and make an impact. They have a solid if unspectacular midfield, and with Adam goodes and Ryan O Keefe leading them from midfield to attack, they have a decent chance. Sam Reid could be a main player if his goalscoring gets into form.
Melbourne will undoubtedly be spurred on by Jim Stynes and the season will be a dedication to him. It may be enough to propel them just into the top 8. They have a good young side, despite losing a quality player in Scully to GWS, and Liam Jurrah to maybe prison or being left out. He got caught up in an aboriginal family fued thing near Alice Springs and apparently took a machete to another man. Trengrove, Jones and Sylvia are decent players though who can lead the team to another level.
I think St Kilda have too good a squad not to be back making an impact. As much as Riewoldts kicking was utterly useless last year, he cant be as bad again. And With Goddard, Del Santo, and the return of Hayes, they should be better than last year. A change in management was needed.
Adelaide won the NAB cup, but its not something that should be used to gauge form. They were caught up in a racism recruitment scandal a couple of weeks back but media attention on it has dampened somewhat. They still have some quality young players in Dangerfield, Thompson, Van Berlo and Tippet, so they should be close to making the top 8.
I don’t like Fremantle, and I didn’t like their handling of sacking Mark Harvey and getting in Ross Lyons. They have some decent players, but lost Rhys Palmer to GWS. Fyfe and Pavlich with big Sandilands at ruck will be their main players, but I expect them to flatter to deceive, again.
North Melbourne are a typical mid table team. Never at the bottom, but not really challenging either. I cant see them doing much again this year. Brent Harvey is still going strong, which says it all really that a 33 year old is key to the side. They have a couple of good players in Swallow and Wells, but not enough to propel them into finals contention.
Western Bulldogs are an odd one. I had thought they would drop off last year, but not to the extent they did. They seriously went downhill, and I don’t see them improving that quickly. Boyd, Cross, Higgins and if Lake can return and stay fit will be key players. But it will take a lot for them to get back into contention again.
Brisbane seem to be making the right moves. They had some impressive performances last year, and Pierce Hanley was one of their better players too. McKeever also got in a few games, so would expect both to feature heavily again this year. If Brown can keep the opposition (and team mates) from shattering his face into pieces this year, they could push up another few spots. Rockliff and Redden will need to play well in midfield too for it to happen.
Richmond made some improvements, but I still think they lack leaders throughout the field. Reiwoldt up front is really good, and Deledio, Martin and Cotchin are decent players, but they lack depth and have a lot of gaps that need filling. They have some decent rookies it seems, but whether or not they can play at the next level is the question.
Port Adelaide are pretty much a shite team. There is nothing attractive about them. They have a horrible set up and play shite. Cassis, Boak, Gray are good players, but they are windy as fook. Only for the 2 expansion teams, I’d reckon they’d be last.
Gold Coast won a couple of games last year, and ran a few teams close before falling apart late on. Maybe the pace of the game started to tell, but a year on, they will have more experience, and for a young team, they showed some good promise. Gary Ablett is of course the star, but they have some decent players in Swallow, Rischitelli and Brennan. They should notch up a couple more wins again this year.
GWS Giants then will prop up the table. Again, it’s a bit of an unknown quantity, but I wouldn’t expect them to do much. A lot of rookies, mixed with a few older players who cashed in. Palmer, Power, Ward, Scully, Cornes and even O hAilpin was lucky enough to get a chance there.