Which team(s) will be our challengers in 2020?

[one-eyed]

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/6673661/where-is-your-afl-team-going-to-finish-this-year-rohan-connolly-writes-for-the-courier/

[one-eyed]

Live AFL predictions chat: Every club ranked 1-18 — and signs aren’t good for Essendon

March 12, 2020
Tom Morris
FOX SPORTS

Let’s make one thing clear, this is a thankless task.

But to fuel some debate it never hurts to have a crack at a predicted ladder on the eve of the home and away season.

On this day last year I wrote that Melbourne would finish third and the Western Bulldogs 17th. A quick google search would make these projections look a touch foolish.

But that’s OK, because one supporter’s reality is another’s bulldust.

For what it’s worth, I’m tipping GWS to win the premiership, Patrick Cripps to take home the Brownlow Medal, and Hawthorn to be the big improvers.

Enjoy the 2020 season and be kind with your feedback (as always!).

PREDICTED LADDER

1. GWS GIANTS

GWS boasts too much talent to not challenge again. They have a core group of players which are mature enough to process last year’s Grand Final result, but young enough to right those wrongs in 2020. I’m tipping Stephen Coniglio to enjoy a career-best season and Jeremy Cameron to win the Coleman Medal. The Giants are primed.

2. WEST COAST EAGLES

A fully fit Nic Naitanui and Tim Kelly operating in the same midfield is a scary prospect and can’t be ignored. Optus Stadium will be a fortress again. I can’t see the Eagles falling short of a preliminary final and from there anything can happen.

3. RICHMOND

Everything is set up beautifully for the Tigers again in 2020: A healthy list, winning culture and a definite hunger to go back-to-back. Grand Final day last year was not an accurate reflection of how far in front of the pack the Tigers were during the season, but they will be supremely hard to beat again this year if they bring the same manic pressure. Especially at the MCG.

4. HAWTHORN

Alastair Clarkson-coached teams don’t miss finals two years in a row too often. I love Hawthorn’s form line, which saw them win six of their last eight games in 2019 and narrowly miss finals. By the end of the season they were playing like a top four side. They score well from turnovers and will only improve with Tom Mitchell and Jon Patton added to the mix. I’m bullish about the Hawks, really bullish.

5. COLLINGWOOD

Collingwood will surely will enough games on talent alone, but they will be hoping to avoid the mid-season ‘slump’ that saw them drop from 8-2 to 15-7 their 2019 campaign. In truth, it was only a ‘slump’ because of the high bar they set themselves initially. But it halted any momentum they had. The Pies really should have beaten GWS at the MCG in the preliminary final and I expect them to be around the mark again this year.

6. WESTERN BULLDOGS

It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about the Western Bulldogs. Champion Data compares their trajectory from the 2016 flag as similar to Hawthorn’s after 2008, and I don’t disagree. Their ball movement is glorious at its best, but can they sustain it when it matters? The Dogs are still young but should challenge.

7. BRISBANE

The Lions are a good side, but they have a more difficult fixture in 2020 than they did when they finished second in 2019 which will make things harder. I love the way they play and Chris Fagan is the perfect coach for them, but success is rarely linear. I predict Brisbane to challenge for a flag in due course, but this year will be a timely leveller for them.

8. PORT ADELAIDE

I’ve loved Ken Hinkley’s transparent messaging pre-season. Laying it on the line is refreshing and honest. It’s effectively finals or bust for the coach, who has ample talent at his disposal but must utilise it more effectively in 2020. Port are great at taking territory but must be more efficient with their skills. Nobody wants to play the Power when they are on.

9. GEELONG
10. ST KILDA
11. MELBOURNE
12. NORTH MELBOURNE
13. CARLTON
14. SYDNEY SWANS
15. ESSENDON
16. FREMANTLE
17. ADELAIDE
18. GOLD COAST SUNS

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-predictions-predicted-ladder-tom-morris-blog-essendon-slide-hawthorn-top-four/news-story/2e10eaa711e8c60baba72886c64ba81a

[Rampsation]

Happy with a Tigers flag. Ill be happier with a 2020 tigers flag and Geelong and Norf missing the eight.

[one-eyed]

Matthew Richardson names his top eight and big slider for 2020

By SEN
12 March 2020

Richmond great Matthew Richardson has predicted Geelong to miss the finals in 2020.

The Cats were minor premiers in 2019 but fell at the preliminary final hurdle to Richmond.

Along with Geelong, Richardson also expects Essendon to fall out of the eight with Melbourne and Port Adelaide their replacements.

“I think the Cats will miss the eight. So that’s a big slide,” he told Sportsday.

“I think Port came come back into the eight and from what I’ve seen of Melbourne over the summer, I’ve got a little bit of confidence back in them.”

Richardson expects the Tigers, GWS, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs to finish in the top four.

He is especially bullish about the Giants having seen them during the Marsh Series.

"They got towelled up in a Grand Final and I just wanted to see how they look – they look super hungry," Richardson said.

I think the Giants will be a top two team this year and I think they can go really close (to winning the premiership)."

Matthew Richardson’s top eight for the 2020 season

GWS
West Coast
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
Collingwood
Melbourne
Brisbane
Port Adelaide

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/03/11/matthew-richardson-names-his-top-eight-and-big-slider-for-2020/

[one-eyed]

Former Fremantle midfielder Paul Hasleby has made his premiership prediction for the 2020 season.

Hasleby thinks Richmond and GWS will play off in the Grand Final once again with the Tigers to claim back-to-back flags for the first time since 1974.

“I think Richmond will do it again. They’ve had very minimal surgeries over the off-season,” Hasleby told SEN SA’s Kymbo and The Rooch.

“They haven’t performed that well in some of these pre-season games, but they are such a professional outfit.

“If you are a good team you’ve got that luxury of knowing that you’ll get it right towards the backend (of the year).

“I’ve got them beating their opponent last year – the GWS Giants.”

The ex-Docker also named his top eight with St Kilda and Melbourne to break in at the expense of Geelong and Essendon.

Paul Hasleby’s top eight for 2020

Richmond
GWS
Brisbane
Western Bulldogs
West Coast
Collingwood
Melbourne
St Kilda

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/03/12/paul-haslebys-top-eight-and-2020-premiership-tip/

[one-eyed]

Malcolm Blight, a two-time premiership player with North Melbourne and dual premiership coach at Adelaide, thinks Richmond will win a third flag in four years and go back-to-back for the first time since 1974.

“It’s their time in the sun after all that time away, you can’t see many flaws,” Blight told SEN SA’s Kymbo and The Rooch.

The Tigers, West Coast, last year’s runners up GWS and Collingwood make up Blight’s top four.

He also predicted former club the Crows to squeeze into the top eight with 11 wins.

Malcolm Blight’s 2020 top eight:

    Richmond (17 wins)

    West Coast (15 wins)

    GWS (15 wins)

    Collingwood (15 wins)

    Brisbane (14 wins)

    Western Bulldogs (13 wins)

    Geelong (13 wins)

    Adelaide (11 wins)

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/03/14/malcolm-blights-2020-flag-and-top-eight-predictions/

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Meta-predictions for the 2020 AFL season

Gordon P Smith
theRoar.com.au
15 March 2020

Every season I gather as many disparate and sometimes wildly diverse predictions as I can find in cyberspace and synthesize them together into one “meta-prediction”.

Let’s look at the aggregate position predictions for this season:

First place: Richmond Tigers (average placement 1.46)
Not hard to believe that the majority of us put the reigning premiers in the top spot for 2020 – if it weren’t for foreign interference in the 2018 prelim final, they might be the three-time defending champs. Oddly, there are very few naysayers, but those that do have the Tigers well off the pace – as low as sixth and averaging below fourth!

Second place: Collingwood Magpies (average placement 3.69)
It’s 2020 or bust the way the Pies’ roster is structured, and that’s the way the pundits are seeing it. While I have Collingwood in fifth, that’s almost as low as they’re selected across the board (there were two sixths and a seventh that I saw), and the vast majority of pundits assume a top-three finish.

Third place: West Coast Eagles (average placement 3.56)
Neck-and-neck for the number two spot with the team that edged them out for the crucial double chance last season, the Eagles are assumed to be stronger with Tim Kelly wearing a different hue of blue in two-zeroo. Uh – “ze-roh” (I have them second).

Fourth place: Geelong Cats (average placement 5.13)
Rarely does the minor premier have so many doubters coming into the next season, but the way the Cats ended 2019, coupled with their eighth-place finish the year before, the loss of Tim Kelly and the ageing of Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett made some pundits do so. I’m one of those, putting them a hair above Port in the eighth position.

Fifth place: GWS Giants (average placement 5.33)
Most people are making the twin assumptions that so much talent coupled with the desire to rectify the disappointment of their performance in last year’s GF will keep the Giants in the upper echelons of the league. I have them as a close third to the Eagles, with WC’s home field and MCG advantages the difference.

Sixth place: Brisbane Lions (average placement 5.42)
The same situation Geelong has applies to Brisbane for different reasons. While their jump was even more dramatic than Geelong’s, it was a long time coming, and while its size and suddenness caught most off guard, the jump itself didn’t. Age and maturity both improve in 2020, and their straight-sets exit should be considered part of their learning curve rather than a strike against them. I picked them fourth.

Seventh place: Western Bulldogs (average placement 5.60)
The Dogs are wedged close behind the two cats, with the difference being the occasional pundit nudging them out of finals, while Geelong and Brisbane are with almost no exception top eight. But almost everyone has these first seven clubs in some order, solidly competing for finals. I have the sons of the west in sixth, on Bont’s back.

Eighth place: Hawthorn Hawks (average placement 7.79)
If you expected a logjam at this critical spot, be disappointed. Hawthorn is the universal choice to move into finals – the only “new” team compared with the 2019 ladder, as discussed earlier. The surprise is how few dissenters there are: about 80 per cent have them making finals in 2020, with Tom Mitchell back at midfield vacuum this year. Seventh on my list.

Read more & the full article here:https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/03/15/meta-predictions-for-the-2020-afl-season/

[one-eyed]

Malthouse tips six-team AFL flag race

Coaching legend Mick Malthouse says only half a dozen teams are capable of winning the AFL premiership in the coronavirus-hit 2020 season.

Malthouse said reigning premiers Richmond, beaten grand finalists Greater Wester Sydney, West Coast and Collingwood were the most serious flag contenders.

He believed Brisbane and Hawthorn – the latter boosted by the return of 2018 Brownlow Medal winner Tom Mitchell from injury – could also give the premiership a shake.

"It's going to be the bigger, stronger and more mature sides that will come out the other end," Malthouse said on The Sunday Footy Show.

"I think there's only five or six sides that can win the premiership this year and each one of them have got that really good blend of senior players.

"They've got that explosive type of player ... that type of player that can go in and make a habit of winning the ball in the middle but also causing some damage in the forward line."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/malthouse-tips-six-team-afl-flag-race-20200531-p54y3x.html

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The two teams Watson feels should be added to premiership mix

By Nic Negrepontis
SEN
1 June 2020

Former Essendon captain Tim Watson believes Geelong and Port Adelaide should be among the teams people consider when talking about who can win the premiership in 2020.

Mick Malthouse on The Sunday Footy Show named GWS, Richmond, Brisbane, Collingwood, West Coast and Hawthorn as his teams that can win it, with the Giants being his tip.

Watson however believes the Cats must be in the mix, while Port is his “smokie”.

“Geelong should be in there (among the teams that can win the flag),” he told SEN Breakfast.

“There’s two teams that should be in there and Port Adelaide is the other team I think should be in there too.

“Why is it that everyone feels it’s compulsory to talk Geelong down or disregard Geelong in any way?

“They’ve been unbelievable, the fact that they’ve stayed around the mark.

“Even last year they played against the best team in the competition (Richmond) and gave a great account of themselves in that Preliminary Final.”

SEN Breakfast co-host Garry Lyon has previously stated his concern with Geelong is their ability to score in big games.

“I still have this concern about their (Geelong’s) capacity to kick a score that’s going to win them big finals,” Lyon said last week.

“In the finals they kicked nine goals when they lost (to Richmond), they beat West Coast by kicking 13 and they lost to Collingwood and kicked only seven.

“In their losing finals at the MCG they kicked seven and nine, that’s my concern.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/05/31/the-two-teams-watson-feels-should-be-added-to-premiership-mix/

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Fox Footy Jury: Which teams are best placed to challenge for the 2020 premiership?

In an unprecedented season, which clubs are best placed to challenge for what could be one of the great premierships? We asked three Fox Footy experts for their verdicts.

The countdown is on to the AFL season restart and teams are ramping up their training and preparations.
But in what will be an unprecedented season, which clubs are best placed to challenge for what could be one of the great premierships of all time?

We asked three Fox Footy experts: Which teams will benefit most from the delayed, shortened and unique 2020 season?

JORDAN LEWIS

“If I was still a player, I would like to be surrounded by experience. So I think the more mature teams could possibly gain an advantage because it’s been a shortened preparation. I don’t think it changes my prediction. I still think Richmond, West Coast and GWS are probably the sides that will be there in the end. Good leadership, good coaches who are pretty realistic about it all will be key. I just think that sides with experience can cope better with adversity compared to sides who haven’t been through such experiences before. I know this is a different experience, but certainly the same types of traits and experiences can relate.”

ALASTAIR LYNCH

“With the way it’s going to start and the first month as well, I think Brisbane have got a huge advantage. They lost their first match and they were disappointing so they went into the break knowing that they’ve got to be a lot better which might have helped their players in the break. Now they’ve got the next four games at the Gabba. That’s a big bonus for them to potentially set up a season. The other team is West Coast. I think they have a great opportunity as well, if they’re only coming to Queensland for four weeks. They’re an experienced team, they’re well-drilled, they know their systems so the fact that they haven’t had contact with teammates and coaches face-to-face won’t hurt them as much. Those well-drilled, more mature sides that have been around the mark for a while are probably going to be most advantaged and that’s sides like West Coast, Collingwood, and Geelong.”

NICK DAL SANTO

“West Coast are the ones that have been put out at this stage, having to set up on the other side of the country. But I still think with their maturity, their experience, their ability to travel as much as they do anyway, I don’t see them as being a huge detrimental effect on them. Geelong – who now get more home games – Greater Western Sydney and Richmond are still the best teams and any advantage or disadvantage that might have come from more teams in a hub or playing every four or five days, I think that’s all been washed away now. We’re just back to an honest competition as much as we can — aside from West Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide and Port Adelaide being in a hub for at least a month.”

https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/fox-footy-jury-which-teams-are-best-placed-to-challenge-for-the-2020-premiership-ng-abd815cc02c0ef3519bdbaabc0fc12b6

[Stripes]

Really interesting to see what way this goes. I remember when the 6-6-6 rule came in and 'experts' were predicting us too fall away due to it and Melbourne to rise. Well that was some expert forecasting now wasn't it. I really can't see this benefiting any team more than others in terms of age demographic of the squad but where I can see the benefit occurring is in the fixture. In a normal season the top 6 teams need to play each other multiple times, where this season everyone will play each other once. This has to be a advantage to the stronger teams because they will not be automatically handicapped with harder games.

It also means teams will not spring up the ladder such as Brisbane did last year, Collingwood in 2018, us in 2017 and the Doggies in 2016. It also works the other way though too; Melbourne had a rapid rise based on an easy draw but was found out the year later, Doggies were the same and I suspect, Brisbane would have dropped back this year. Now performance will be better measured.

All of this equates to a strange, but another successful season for the Yellow and Black!

[one-eyed]

Speaking on AFL Tonight, Leigh Montagna put forward two teams he believes are best placed to potentially reach the top four, along with two teams he thinks could slump and potentially fall out of the top eight.

“I think the two teams that could jump up the ladder and potentially be a top four team and have a real crack at a flag, definitely Port Adelaide.

“The other one as a bit of a smokey, I’m really interested to see what the Kangaroos can deliver,” he said.

The 287-game Saint then went on to list the two teams he thought were at most risk of sliding down the ladder in 2020.

“Geelong for me are fascinating, there’s been a lot of talk about them now with all these games at home, they could easily finish in top two on the ladder and they could also slip out of the eight,” he said.

“There’s almost a feel of a little bit of the Chicago Bulls ‘last dance’ about them. How much has Ablett and Selwood, Harry Taylor, Hawkins et cetera got left in them?

“The other team is the Brisbane Lions. I think they could potentially slip a little bit from a terrific season last year.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/four-afl-clubs-are-set-for-a-change-of-fortune-in-2020-its-bad-news-for-this-mob/news-story/6bd8b95d4c2858f18583253ab815ca13

[one-eyed]

Liam Pickering has named Collingwood as the team to beat ahead of the AFL’s season restart next Thursday night.

“I genuinely think Collingwood are the team to beat,” Pickering said on Off The Bench.

“I think they’ll win it, Giants, West Coast, Richmond and Hawthorn (are the contenders).

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/06/07/pickering-names-his-team-to-beat-in-2020/

[one-eyed]

Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff is confident the Power can mix it with the competition’s best but admits the Tigers, Giants and Eagles will be difficult to beat.

“I think we’re positioned really well with our list demographic … we’ve got some really exciting kids plus older guys,” Rockliff told SEN’s The Captain’s Run.

“For the rest of the competition … Richmond has been the benchmark for a number of years now, they’re always super competitive. GWS the same. West Coast with Tim Kelly arriving and Nic Naitanui looks like he is back to full fitness as well.

“I think those three teams are going to be quite hard to be beat.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/06/07/the-three-clubs-that-will-be-hard-to-be-beat-when-season-restarts/

[one-eyed]

THE FLAG FAVOURITE

Garry Lyon – Collingwood

“I’ve jumped off the Eagles. I had the Eagles, but I think they’ve been ‘hubbed’. I’ve jumped on the Maggies. (I was) very heavily (taken aback by Round 1). I’m supremely confident in the Magpies’ ability.

Nick Riewoldt – Richmond

“I’m sticking firm, I’ve been with this mob for a while. They’ve got a bankable style, they know their system and they’re not going to be affected by their inability to train because they’ve played a certain way for a number of years now and they’re not going to miss a beat.”

Jonathan Brown – GWS Giants

“Callan Ward and Zac Williams are going to be back in the side and Toby Greene’s just going to get stronger and stronger. They play three out of their first four at home.”

Gerard Healy – West Coast Eagles

“I’m going to stay with the Eagles, simply because while they’re giving to the hub now, they’re going to taketh later in the back of the season. They’re big winners out of the times reduced for quarters because Nic Naitanui goes from 60 per cent up to 70 per cent, which means do they play another ruckman? I think Tim Kelly coming back, Oscar Allen – they’ve got some organic growth to come through there and they’ve got a great midfield.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-predictions-fox-footy-on-the-couch-calls-flag-odds/news-story/4f62cae62f6ea854dc3a886be26fa0a2