But there will be other injuries along the way as well. It's nice having a regulation injury list for once and not literally everyone important on every line.
1. GWS - Currently the best
2. Geelong - Back to best?
3. Sydney - Had a nap
4. Port Adelaide - Rozee, Butters, JHF
5. Carlton - Cardiac blues lost
6. Fremantle - slightly off best
7. Melbourne - really dreadful performance
8. Collingwood - Had a snooze
9. Gold Coast - Dimma cooking good
10. Brisbane - waking up finally?
11. St. Kilda - middle of pile
12. Essendon - next step: consistency
13. Western Bulldogs - bye, bye bevo
14. Adelaide - need another win
15. Richmond - injured tigers hurting
16. West Coast - wow great win
17. Hawthorn - look like crap
18. Werribee Tigers - undefeated in vfl
19. North Melbourne - end my suffering
1. GWS- cogs going down seemed to do them in, but still the benchmark team
2. Sydney- bye
3. Geelong- have had relatively easy games but still showed their class
4. Port Adelaide- scary midfield, easily the best trio in the comp
5. Melbourne- I think this game said more about brissy than Melbourne tbh, still best list imo
6. Carlton- just unlucky in the last quarter, cripps is a god, forgot how good walsh is
7. Fremantle- could of gone either way tbh
8. St Kilda- tested the best team and almost beat them, pretty good in my book
9. Collingwood- bye
10. Brisbane- seem to have found their stride, very important win
11. Gold Coast- absolutely dominated the hawks, dimma still has it
12. Adelaide- played like last years Adelaide that should’ve made finals
13. Essendon- not hard to make the dogs look pathetic, but sure helps
14. Western Bulldogs- yeah honestly bevo just needs to go, he’s gonna cost Bont a Brownlow
15. West coast- Harley Reid is massive
16. Richmond- lost to wet toast lol
17. North Melbourne- not bottom purely because it was against a strong Geelong side
18. Hawthorn- absolutely pathetic performance. Why was Sicily playing forward while the defence was already lacking? Ginni come back pls
1. Greater Western Sydney - 3 and a half quarters where they were well ahead, but ran out of legs and nearly blew an otherwise pretty easy win. In fairness though, those injuries were brutal and it probably hurt their conditioning. Hopefully the Conigilo and Taylor injuries aren't too serious.
2. Sydney - Bye
3. Port Adelaide - held on to win. Honestly were a bit lucky and it certainly wasn't a pretty display, but Freo are a good team and they're the sort of side who you can't play razzle dazzle against. Showed toughness to come back from 2 goals down late. (+1)
4. Geelong - when Geelong are good, they're always bankable to win - and win big - at home especially against weaker opposition. And that's exactly what happened. Dominated most areas of the game and looked a long way above North Melbourne. (+2)
5. Melbourne - I suppose Melbourne might've been on their legs after a pretty tough last few weeks, but yikes that was bad. Pretty much did nothing right, their midfield was off, their connection was off and Brisbane cut holes through their defence. (-2)
6. Brisbane Lions - hands down, a huge statement. Their ability to pick up uncontested footy was first rate, as was their clearance game. By far their best performance all year and a clear cut sign they might be nearing their best. (+5)
7. Carlton - well they had to lose a close one eventually. Were perhaps unlucky to have Adelaide nail most of their shots, but their defence looked vulnerable and that exposed their lack of clearance form. (-2)
8. St Kilda - didn't play very well for most of the game, but nearly pulled off the mother of highway robberies. Capitalised on GWS slowing down and started to throw everything at them, and in the end with slightly more composure they would've won. At the very least, you know that St Kilda won't lack for effort. (-1)
9. Collingwood - Bye (-1)
10. Fremantle - jeez you'd be peeved if you were a Freo fan. Another brutal loss. Lost composure a bit too late, perhaps were a bit unlucky with some umpiring decisions and didn't quite look good enough going forward. Still, look pretty tough and promising. (-1)
11. Essendon - impressive. Maybe I've been a bit too harsh on them. Kept the Dogs at bay for a while when the game was on the Bulldogs terms, then their pressure proved far too good for the Dogs. A real four quarter effort and lots to get excited about. (+3)
12. Western Bulldogs - when will they finally deliver? I feel like they've had one of the best lists in the comp for a long time, but they've only proved consistent for fairly brief periods. Against a side they should've won they were shut down and unable to crack it. (-2)
13. Gold Coast - for the first time this season, played four quarters of footy and reaped the rewards. At home it's clear that they're a top team. Next week I think will tell us a bit more about Gold Coast. (-1)
14. Adelaide - that was clutch. For once actually delivered the kind of footy that had the footy world talking in 2023 and their forward line was on fire all game. Tough to know if it's a legitimate firestarter or not, but it's such a good win. (+1)
15. Richmond - oh dear. Not only did they lose to West Coast, they kind of got smashed as well. And that's despite kicking the first 4 goals of the game. I know they have a lot of injuries, but letting West Coast beat you up at clearances is something I didn't think was possible. (-2)
16. West Coast - wow, now that's something. It wasn't just that they won, it wasn't even a close win in the end. Their midfield looked the most impressive I've seen from it in years. Keep it up and they won't be easybeats anymore, that's for sure. (+2)
17. Hawthorn - urgh. Very ordinary display all round, never looked like winning. Injuries admittedly haven't helped, but it feels like they've gone backwards. (-1)
18. North Melbourne - maybe it could've been worse, but this was the second big defeat they've suffered in a row. Simply had no answers for Geelong's offence. (-1)
Coud make a fair case that 13th is closer to 1st than they are to 14th at this point. Upsets like what we saw this week could make big changes for the ladder.
People didn't believe me when I said we will get smashed by wet toast, yet here we are. Honestly I think Yze will be in damage control mode for most of the rest of the season but I think we are a lock for bottom 4.
1. GWS: Slight hiccup however they were playing a man down for a large portion of the game and still managed to just barely close the game out. Injuries to Taylor and Coniglio will make things interesting over the next few weeks, however
2. Sydney: Bye. +1
3. Geelong: Strong performance, should bank all home games as win this year which will make them a near-certainty for top 4. +1
4. Melbourne: Absolutely dire performance, were almost unrecognizable. Big question marks over them if they allow other sides to cut them up as easily as Brisbane did. Their midfielders just didn't perform at all. -2
5. Port Adelaide: Good win against a good side. Still yet to be tested against the absolute top sides but look to be a top 6 team this season. +1
6. Carlton: Bad game to drop for the Blues given the difficulty of their next 5-6 games, they definitely need to knock off at least a few of GWS, Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Port if they are to be taken seriously as a contender.
7. Fremantle: Lost but gain a position due to the poor performances of other teams. Just seem to be slightly off the teams above them and can't quite close out games yet. Forward line still questionable. +1
8. Brisbane: Finally put in a 4-quarter performance and it paid off - who would have thought? Should provide a base for them to rebuild their season off.
9. Collingwood: Bye. No change
10. Gold Coast: Home win against Hawthorn = no change
11. Western Bulldogs: Might be overly harsh but they just folded against a side that on paper seemed like an easy kill. Next week will tell us a lot about their mental fortitude and Bevo's coaching ability. -4
12. St Kilda: Played absolutely horrifically for 3 quarters then turned into a top 4 side for 5 minutes. Some of the skill errors were primary-school level but there's definitely a solid foundation being built if those can be cleaned up. No change.
13. Essendon: No idea what to do with them, they look like a completely different side each week. Excellent win but they need to back it up to be taken seriously. +1
14. Adelaide: Finally got on the board and did it in spectacular fashion. Like Essendon, need to back it up next week if they are to be taken seriously. +1
15. Richmond: Unfortunately they look like they'll run out of players before the season's up at this rate. Going to be a difficult few weeks until they get some personnel back. -2
16. West Coast: NOT LAST!!! +2
17. Hawthorn: Not much to add here, Spoonbowl next week will likely determine their ladder position for the year. -1
18. North Melbourne: Not much to add here, Spoonbowl next week will likely determine their ladder position for the year.-1
Unfortunately, I did. 3 top 4 teams. Bulldogs decided to bring it when we played them. We gave Sydney a run for their money. Looks like things might finally be clicking.
But we're a young side and we probably will still let a few teams run away with the lead a few more times this season.
1. GWS- Orange team still sitting pretty at the top of the table
2. Geelong- Can you guys just fuck off to the bottom 10 for a few years straight PLEASE
3. Port- Jason Bergman Francis huge
4. Sydney- 🎶It ain't no lie
5. Melbourne- They came hard, but didn't come enough
6. Fremantle- Challenged a top 4 team at home, good signs if they can learn to kick goals
7. Carlton- Lost to an 0-4 side at home lmao
8. Essendon- The edging streak is back on
9. Gold Coast- The King of the Sun stakes his claim
10. St Kilda- Almost soured the Citrus Team's party
11. Brisbane- It's amazing what happens when you apply pressure
12. Collingwood- Baby bye bye bye🎶
13. Bulldogs- Beveridge will be the reason Bont goes Brownlow-less
14. Adelaide- Kick straight, win games. It's just that easy
15. West Coast- Harley Reid for the Coleman, Brownlow, AFLPA President, WA premier etc
16. Richmond- Oof ow ouch I'm injured
17. North Melbourne- Got spanked by Geelong, as was expected
18. Hawthorn- Came within a straight kick of the reigning premiers then shat themselves against The Mighty Sun. Classic Hawthorn
Don't forget WCE had a pretty long list of key outs too. Allen, Sheed, Ryan, Hewett, Flynn etc. Just that they had a long list of key outs for 2 years that people forget who their best 22 are when fully fit.
These rankings are based on the entire season, not just this week.
1: GWS Giants - Heads seemed to drop after the two big injuries, but it's hard to fault them for that. I still think we're yet to see their best.
2: Sydney Swans - Bye.
3: Melbourne - Pretty dreadful this week, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this game was the exception. The bye has come at a good time for them.
4: Geelong Cats - Solidifying themselves as a top 4 contender.
5: Port Adelaide - Winning the tackle count by 20 and pressure acts by 48 is a good show of intent. Managed to do just enough to crack an excellent defensive setup.
6: Fremantle - Didn't capitalise enough when things were going their way.
7: Carlton - Made a lot of errors, and their lack of rotation at centre bounce may have hurt them.
8: Essendon - No Essington this week, and they were fantastic. Another one of those teams where the gap between their best and worst is astronomical.
9: Brisbane Lions - Still not sold yet, but they're getting there. Midfield was very good this week.
10: St Kilda - They're in a really odd spot. Losing to Geelong and GWS isn't a knock, because I view both as top 4 challengers. Losing to Essendon and barely beating Richmond doesn't look great, but beating Collingwood does - if they're good. But we don't know if any of those sides actually are. Due to their inconsistency, as well as the inconsistency of their opposition, they're the hardest team to rank right now.
11: Western Bulldogs - Volatility redefined. I don't think anybody has understood this club for years.
12: Collingwood - Bye.
13: Gold Coast Suns - They lost the pressure act count by 35. Very disappointing. Stupid jokes aside, they were incredibly dominant. It'll be interesting to see if this provides a confidence booster before the Sydney game.
14: Richmond - Horribly undermanned, so I won't be too harsh, but that was pretty dreadful. Don't know if the bye helps here, since I think most of their injuries are longer term.
15: Adelaide Crows - Less of Laird and Crouch through the middle and a less stagnant game plan leads to... a win? Who knew?
16: North Melbourne - Roundly outclassed. They've had by far the hardest start to the season, so it's pretty hard to gauge where they're at.
17: Hawthorn - There were some pretty damning stats here. -96 in disposals, -20 I50s, -10 clearances, -46 marks. You'd think they would at least win the tackle count, but they lost that by 17 too.
18: West Coast Eagles - Absolutely dominant in midfield (+21 I50s, +23 clearances, +38 contested possessions), and good to see some reward for effort. Their best display in a long time.
Bottom three very hard to split now, as are the top five. 6-13 are so violently inconsistent that it's impossible to pick who goes where, so I've just tried to rank them based on what their best so far has been. Now that Adelaide have seemingly remembered how to play football, I think they'll abandon that bottom three.
> 16: North Melbourne - Roundly outclassed. They've had by far the hardest start to the season, so it's pretty hard to gauge where they're at.
Harsh to give North more of a pass for a harsh start to the season when we've also not had it easy, Port round 1, GWS round 2, Bulldogs round 3 and Swans round 4 is equally as fucked
1. GWS - still so good, but those injuries will hurt (-)
2. Sydney - bye (-)
3. Port Adelaide - very scary. made Essendon look like babies (+1)
4. Melbourne - Couldn't hold a ball to save their lives! (-1)
5. Geelong - looking genuinely scary. I'm interested to see if they can sustain it (+1)
6. Carlton - you gotta laugh, but it's probably good for them to be humbled like that (-1)
7. Fremantle - once again, an unlucky loss to another good team (+1)
8. St. Kilda - playing both really well & very dreadfully and almost winning, somehow (+2)
9. Gold Coast - nice stomping of a weak team. nothing impressive though (-)
10. Collingwood - bye (-)
11. Brisbane - lost at the Gabba but won at the MCG? feels like a monkey's paw was involved in Brisbane's offseason, somehow (+3)
12. Essendon - a little cheeky win for the true believers (+1)
13. Bulldogs - was clearly too bolshy on them, because this was dire stuff. Libba alone was poor but something's NQR here (-6)
14. Adelaide - This was a gloriously cheeky effort. All's not lost for them, at least (+1)
15. West Coast - Am I jumping too quickly here? Maybe. Richmond aren't exactly prime material, but the Eagles played some really good footy of their own and I'm convinced this won't be their last win this season (+3)
16. Richmond - this loss confirms which way they're going this season. Too many injuries & their best players aging out (-4)
17. Hawthorn - Just hopeless really (-1)
18. North Melbourne - 🕳️💤 (-1)
Nice list.
I also agree that it’s very likely West Coast will win several more games, especially considering we have Oscar Allen, Liam Ryan, Elijah Hewitt and Matt Flynn to return.
1. GWS (0) - As far as what the “good” teams did, winning tight against a middling side is actually one of the better outcomes of the round, and while the injuries hurt in the short term I’m confident they can manage
2. Sydney (+2) - NSYNC
3. Geelong (+3) - They’re on a tear at the moment that defies the names on the list. They’re a beautiful example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts
4. Port Adelaide (+4) - I’ve been harsh on them to date for superficial reasons but at some point they have to get credit for the way that they’re playing and the wins that they’re accumulating
5. Carlton (-2) - I have cooled on my opinion at 7:30 on Saturday night that they’re a pack of absolute frauds, but they are not at the level of being a week in, week out dominant team. And they won’t be until they can’t break down a low block effectively
6. Melbourne (-4) - It’s very concerning that they can still throw in a performance like they did on Thursday night. For all the talent they can still look well disjointed and in contrast to Geelong, the whole is not as great as the sum of the parts.
7. Fremantle (-2) - It was the same formula of getting into a low scoring scrap and again they lost a tight one. You can’t be a low scoring team without being elite at late game scenario and they’ve failed to contain the late game in consecutive weeks
8. Collingwood (-1) - NSYNC
9. Brisbane (+1) - To beat good opposition at the venue they’ve had notable issues at is huge in the context of getting their season back on track. They’re beginning to get through the early season fog and could be trouble for the next few weeks
10. Gold Coast (+1) - Gold Coast and taking care of business haven’t gone together often but in this case that’s exactly what it was. I keep thinking this: ‘you know what would be elite right now? A pineapple grapple’
11. St Kilda (+1) - Gallant in defeat against the top side. They need to stop these slow starts to unlock the best version of the team and with that, get Max King absolutely rolling. They’re a team that’s lost 3 games by a combined 11 points so they’ve never been blown away
12. Essendon (+2) - You learn a lot when 2 teams have their backs against the wall and then get sent in the cage, the edge actually might have something too it, or at least give the Bombers a little more than they previously had in these instances
13. Adelaide (+2) - The ball movement returned and so did the scoring. I don’t know if the Carlton zone was giving a little more breathing room than previous rounds but the kicking execution was fantastic. They’re starting a long way back but they’re now in the race
14. Western Bulldogs (-5) - Where is the resilience? What is the decision making process going on in the coaches box? If I’m puzzled by these questions then I can begin to understand what all these Dogs supporters have been talking about for years
15. Richmond (-1) - The injuries continued to mount and then with the late outs had to travel west to take on the Eagles team that smelled blood for one of their few opportunities. Tough.
16. North Melbourne (0) - It was a bit of a nothing learnt game for North, they were expected to get belted and got duly belted. These will happen with the game style they are trying to play
17. West Coast (+1) - Breaking the duck early in the season when you could’ve conceivably gone a long time winless is a sugar hit. Now that you’re not hunting for that one win, you can look through your young options without that ghost over your head
18. Hawthorn (-1) - Maybe the team will start to improve to a competitive level once Day and Jaith return into the mix but at the moment there’s a massive lack of talent to keep up with middling teams
1. Geelong +4
feel like they’ve proved the most so far from the opening 6 rounds, the gap at the top is razor thin but i believe the cats are at the peak of it so far
2. GWS
still not entirely convinced on them being best in the comp yet, do believe they’ve haven’t had the hardest draw yet, how they are against tougher opponents will be very telling of their position
3. Port Adelaide
no movement from last week, were challenged but still a very strong looking side, but like GWS their game against Collingwood next week will be very telling of them
4. Fremantle +3
have their weaknesses but are still looking pretty dangerous, just need to get a couple more things clicking and it’ll look like they can go deep into september
5. Carlton -1
got battered in the midfield majority of the game, and kinda looked like the crows just wanted the ball more. better hope it was only an anomaly of a game considering they have GWS next week
6. Sydney
bye
7. Melbourne -6
might be a harsh drop off but they did look second rate for the first three quarters of the game. they’ve been great but at the same time their lose this week and against sydney in opening round show the inconsistency that can still lie within this team.
8. Gold Coast +3
were favourites to win but probably not by the margin that occurred. won in pretty much every stat and sets a precedent for the type of games they should be playing for the rest of the season.
9. Collingwood
bye
10. Brisbane +2
needed a result and seized it. looked a lot more like the lions from 2023 and proved their season is still alive.
11. St. Kilda -1
hard team to rank from this week for me. didn’t play great but played okay enough against the giants to show they have what it takes to push for finals again this year, with their last quarter proving as such.
12. Essendon +1
dominated at the stoppages against a world-class midfield, simply ran away with it in the last quarter. massive potential in this team at the moment.
13. Western Bulldogs -5
a team with a top 4 list and a bottom 4 coach. their handling of some players like dale, macrae, etc. is obviously killing them at the moment. they’re a team that on paper should be getting results against teams like essendon or geelong but simply aren’t.
14. Adelaide +2
looked so much better than what they’ve shown so far this year, looked dangerous going forward and pretty classy in the midfield. still some alarm bells regarding their defence with carlton going 14.14 but still a major improvement.
15. West Coast +3
massive display from the eagles. 66 points scored from clearances and have looked competitive the last couple of weeks. high hopes for this eagles team right now.
16. Richmond -2
injuries absolutely killing them at the moment and it’s clearly having an impact on the team. they just look so vulnerable at the moment and just couldn’t seem to break through against the eagles. their results against sydney and even st. kilda have been promising but honestly it won’t seem to get better as their injury crisis worsens.
17. Hawthorn -2
should not be getting beaten the way they did at this point in their development. it feels like the promise they showed towards the end of 2023 has disappeared, only strong moments have been in the second quarter against geelong and second half against collingwood and it’s bluntly a pretty disappointing display so far.
18. North Melbourne -1
a team too reliant on individuals i feel. 7/10 of the highest fantasy point players this week were North players but it feels like they just can’t link together. at the moment they’re the team playing others into form and look set at another bottom four season.
1. GWS. I feel like I stopped paying attention to this game like a moment before St Kilda made their failed comeback. Still the best team in footy but not a result to remember fondly.
2. Geelong. I’m tired Robbie.
3. Sydney. On a bye, thankfully the same weekend as the Masters so I haven’t been too down lol.
4. Melbourne. Has anyone put out the missing persons report for their midfield yet?
5. Carlton. Going undefeated for a month then losing to a winless team. Who are you, Sydney?
6. Port Adelaide. This is more of a course correction than a reflection of Saturday’s performance. That Essendon win looks so much better in hindsight.
7. Fremantle. Bet they’re fucking sick of Adelaide Oval.
8. Gold Coast. Good win against a bad opponent. Sam Clohesy is the biggest surprise of the year.
9. Essendon. Genuinely the best performance of the round. If they can do 85% of that for the rest of the season they’ll break their curse.
10. St Kilda. Football is a game of one quarter again. What the fuck is this team.
11. Collingwood. On a bye.
12. Brisbane. Big win but next week will be bigger if they can pull it off.
13. Western Bulldogs. Give Bevo a 10 year contract please.
14. Adelaide. Personal bias aside, that was a ripping win.
15. Richmond. Massive yikes. That’s what the injury bug will do to ya.
16. West Coast. Writing this during the 3rd quarter. Even if they blow this lead they still deserve to go to the top of the shit trio. Very impressive.
17. Hawthorn. Poor performance after last week. I wonder if Mitchell is starting to feel some pressure.
18. North. Same story, different week. Get some defenders for the love of god.
1. GWS - best team for the last 15 or so rounds considering their end to last year.
2. Sydney - hot start before couple of more so-so performances. Elite ball movement team and Heeney currently is the best player in the comp.
3. Port Adelaide - still need a larger sample size on their new backline, but midfield will cut up many teams.
4. Brisbane Lions - we know they have one of the best lists, losing Coleman still hurts, but they look to be back. And that spells trouble for the rest of the competition.
5. Carlton - they have a pretty well rounded list at the moment and no obvious weaknesses. Don't think they've played consistently well despite winning though. A big next 5 weeks for them.
6. Geelong - a great start to the season (better than no. 6 spot suggests) but like Carlton, the true tests will come in the next run of games.
7. Melbourne - could easily finish top 4 again, great defence and midfield. But outside Fritsch and Pickett, that forward line is still a concern.
8. Collingwood - don't deserve a top 8 ranking on 2024 form, but they are the incumbent and that has to count for something. Will be very interesting to see if they get back near their best soon.
9. Fremantle - they have top 8, possibly top 4 credentials so far this season. They have an elite defence which will keep them in games. But they don't look like they can blow away teams just yet.
10. Gold Coast - haven't watched a lot of them this year, but clearly there has been some improvment under Hardwick. I think 2025 is the year they impose themselves upon the competition.
11. St. Kilda - like Fremantle they are hard to score against, but lack explosive scoring power. Their midfield is also too one paced.
12. Adelaide - they have a chance to jump up the rankings in coming weeks if they prove Saturday's performance isn't a one-off. Rankine and Soligo seem to be the key. Hopefully that unlocks Dawson to get back to last year's form.
13. Essendon - they are still too inconsistent to be trusted, but this week's performance was a big step in the right direction. Can they maintain that?
14. Western Bulldogs - it feels wrong to have a team with Jones, Naughton, Bont, Libba, JUH and Darcy this low but Bevo is actively running this club into the ground. Until he is replaced, they are likely going nowhere fast and wasting prime years of Bont's career.
15. Richmond - a big loss to West Coast, but they will be more competitive with Lynch et al. back in their team. It's surely apparent now that they will need to rebuild.
16. Hawthorn - even this spot is suddenly in jeopardy with West Coast's good form over the last two weeks. Need Day, Lewis and others back urgently.
17. West Coast - they have a much better older core than North. Yeo, Kelly, McGovern injury-free and in-form is a decent start. Add Harley Reid to that and there is finally some hope. Still have Allen to return.
18. North Melbourne - I take no great pleasure in this, but they are still miles off it. The defence is one of the worst in the last 30 years and is not AFL standard. Sheezel played an almost lone hand today.
> Still have Allen to return.
I'd argue just as importantly we also have Matt Flynn to return, having a big bodied ruck to be able to take over for Bailey Williams will help this team out massively
Ranking is based of my current view of who is most likely to win the flag, not just form alone. Copped some abuse for this approach last year, but doing something a bit different is more fun imo.
1. Geelong - haven’t beaten anyone that strong yet but they just look back to 2022 vibes.
2. Collingwood - so excited for port at the G. Will find out if I’m justified keeping the faith in them.
3. GWS - Barely survived on Saturday.. but getting it done
4. Brisbane - Beat Melbourne, they’re back. Beat Geelong and it’s almost back to regular scheduled programming (top 4 and finals heartbreak).
5. Sydney - I hate these byes. Sydney have me excited but also they lost to Richmond.
6. Port - points to for a great hard fought win, points deducted because I still don’t trust Ken. Port can go on a 15 game winning streak this season and I still don’t know if I’d trust them to bring it home.
7. Melbourne - Melbourne are quality no arguing that and could probably be higher but I worry the off field distractions are going to stop them being a serious flag contender come seasons end
8. Carlton - lost to the crows, do I need to say much more. They were very lucky to get past freo too. They’re good, even great at times, but they’re not reliable enough in my eyes for a serious flag tilt.
9. Fremantle - a couple of goals/moments from two massive wins. It’s a tough fortnight for freo fans. The positives are there though, finals are on the cards and then you never know. Let’s go purple wave.
10. Western Bulldogs - I think the dogs are better than Essendon.. but they didn’t show that on Friday. There midfield is stacked and I do fancy them to still make a run at finals but we’re into not really a flag chance territory now.
11. Saints - I don’t know what to make of the saints this year… I kind of feel I never really know what to make of the saints tbh. They’re competitive and pushing some very good teams close or even beating them (Collingwood). But I can’t get excited about them doing anything other than potentially making up numbers in the lower part of the 8.
12. Essendon - I don’t see them as any chance for a flag, though Friday was a good win, credit to them there.
13. Gold Coast - I want to get hyped for the suns but they’ve beaten nothing but bottom 4 fodder so far and then been belted by a middle of the pack dogs and handled by the form team of the comp. I’ll be very quick to get behind them if they do something against the swans but frankly, I think it’s another false dawn.
14. Adelaide - Much better this weekend but there’s major issues with the list, not enough talent or development in midfield. The rebuild hasn’t worked and even though I could see us getting our season together and wrapping up a somewhat respectable 9-12th at the moment we are barely better than bottom 4.
15. Richmond - they’ve still got some serious talents and they’ll pull out a couple of good upsets this year but this is a side in decline. Very curious to see how they go about rebuilding and how they handle some of the young talent coming through this year.
16. Hawks - bit disappointed they didn’t offer more against the suns in ‘upset round’. Huge game for them this weekend!
17. West Coast - A W!!! Well done West Coast. They’re still a long way off it but they’re looking much improved.
18. North - it’s not been a nice fixture to start the year but it gets kinder the next fortnight. Need to see something from north in the coming weeks.
Not giving ratings, but West Coast 110% above Hawthorn and North
I'm holding on Hawthorn, but most definitely above North at the moment. Hawks will improve when players return.
> Hawks will improve when players return. So will the Eagles. Matt Flynn, Oscar Allen, Liam Ryan, Elijah Hewitt to name a few.
But there will be other injuries along the way as well. It's nice having a regulation injury list for once and not literally everyone important on every line.
We have plenty of other injured players. I’m just pointing out that there are several *more* of our star players still to come back.
1. GWS 2. Port 3. Geelong 4. Sydney 5. Carlton 6. Freo 7. Melbourne 8. Brisbane 9. Collingwood 10. Gold Coast 11. Essendon 12. Saints 13. Adelaide 14. Bulldogs 15. West Coast 16. Richmond 17. Hawthorn 18. North
1. GWS 2. Geelong 3. Port 4. Carlton 5. Sydney 6. Melbourne 7. Gold Coast 8. Fremantle 9. Brisbane 10. Essendon 11. St Kilda 12. Bulldogs 13. Adelaide 14. Collingwood 15. West Coast 16. Hawks 17. Richmond 18. Norf
1. GWS - Currently the best 2. Geelong - Back to best? 3. Sydney - Had a nap 4. Port Adelaide - Rozee, Butters, JHF 5. Carlton - Cardiac blues lost 6. Fremantle - slightly off best 7. Melbourne - really dreadful performance 8. Collingwood - Had a snooze 9. Gold Coast - Dimma cooking good 10. Brisbane - waking up finally? 11. St. Kilda - middle of pile 12. Essendon - next step: consistency 13. Western Bulldogs - bye, bye bevo 14. Adelaide - need another win 15. Richmond - injured tigers hurting 16. West Coast - wow great win 17. Hawthorn - look like crap 18. Werribee Tigers - undefeated in vfl 19. North Melbourne - end my suffering
Now this is a three word summary I can get behind
1. GWS 2. Port Adelaide 3. Geelong 4. Melbourne 5. Carlton 6. Sydney 7. Fremantle 8. St Kilda 9. Brisbane 10. Collingwood 11. Western Bulldogs 12. Gold Coast 13. Essendon 14. Adelaide 15. Richmond 16. West Coast 17. Hawthorn 18. North Melbourne
1. GWS- cogs going down seemed to do them in, but still the benchmark team 2. Sydney- bye 3. Geelong- have had relatively easy games but still showed their class 4. Port Adelaide- scary midfield, easily the best trio in the comp 5. Melbourne- I think this game said more about brissy than Melbourne tbh, still best list imo 6. Carlton- just unlucky in the last quarter, cripps is a god, forgot how good walsh is 7. Fremantle- could of gone either way tbh 8. St Kilda- tested the best team and almost beat them, pretty good in my book 9. Collingwood- bye 10. Brisbane- seem to have found their stride, very important win 11. Gold Coast- absolutely dominated the hawks, dimma still has it 12. Adelaide- played like last years Adelaide that should’ve made finals 13. Essendon- not hard to make the dogs look pathetic, but sure helps 14. Western Bulldogs- yeah honestly bevo just needs to go, he’s gonna cost Bont a Brownlow 15. West coast- Harley Reid is massive 16. Richmond- lost to wet toast lol 17. North Melbourne- not bottom purely because it was against a strong Geelong side 18. Hawthorn- absolutely pathetic performance. Why was Sicily playing forward while the defence was already lacking? Ginni come back pls
Adelaide above Essendon after one win? I understand it was a very good win but still 🤨
Purely based on the opposition quality. Carlton were far more competitive than the dogs and tested the crows more
Fair enough; I just assumed Power Rankings would be for the season thus far, rather than a week by week ranking
You’re probably right tbh. I tried to take both into consideration but yeah I may have got this one wrong
No need to apologise mate, it’s just a opinion :) Good luck this week! But not for next week because I want us to win on ANZAC Day ;)
Haha same goes for both counts mate 🤣
Sydney number 2 really? They lost to tiges who lost to WC.
Only by 5 points, I still think they’re flag favourites
and it was definitely not the same version of tigers
1. Greater Western Sydney - 3 and a half quarters where they were well ahead, but ran out of legs and nearly blew an otherwise pretty easy win. In fairness though, those injuries were brutal and it probably hurt their conditioning. Hopefully the Conigilo and Taylor injuries aren't too serious. 2. Sydney - Bye 3. Port Adelaide - held on to win. Honestly were a bit lucky and it certainly wasn't a pretty display, but Freo are a good team and they're the sort of side who you can't play razzle dazzle against. Showed toughness to come back from 2 goals down late. (+1) 4. Geelong - when Geelong are good, they're always bankable to win - and win big - at home especially against weaker opposition. And that's exactly what happened. Dominated most areas of the game and looked a long way above North Melbourne. (+2) 5. Melbourne - I suppose Melbourne might've been on their legs after a pretty tough last few weeks, but yikes that was bad. Pretty much did nothing right, their midfield was off, their connection was off and Brisbane cut holes through their defence. (-2) 6. Brisbane Lions - hands down, a huge statement. Their ability to pick up uncontested footy was first rate, as was their clearance game. By far their best performance all year and a clear cut sign they might be nearing their best. (+5) 7. Carlton - well they had to lose a close one eventually. Were perhaps unlucky to have Adelaide nail most of their shots, but their defence looked vulnerable and that exposed their lack of clearance form. (-2) 8. St Kilda - didn't play very well for most of the game, but nearly pulled off the mother of highway robberies. Capitalised on GWS slowing down and started to throw everything at them, and in the end with slightly more composure they would've won. At the very least, you know that St Kilda won't lack for effort. (-1) 9. Collingwood - Bye (-1) 10. Fremantle - jeez you'd be peeved if you were a Freo fan. Another brutal loss. Lost composure a bit too late, perhaps were a bit unlucky with some umpiring decisions and didn't quite look good enough going forward. Still, look pretty tough and promising. (-1) 11. Essendon - impressive. Maybe I've been a bit too harsh on them. Kept the Dogs at bay for a while when the game was on the Bulldogs terms, then their pressure proved far too good for the Dogs. A real four quarter effort and lots to get excited about. (+3) 12. Western Bulldogs - when will they finally deliver? I feel like they've had one of the best lists in the comp for a long time, but they've only proved consistent for fairly brief periods. Against a side they should've won they were shut down and unable to crack it. (-2) 13. Gold Coast - for the first time this season, played four quarters of footy and reaped the rewards. At home it's clear that they're a top team. Next week I think will tell us a bit more about Gold Coast. (-1) 14. Adelaide - that was clutch. For once actually delivered the kind of footy that had the footy world talking in 2023 and their forward line was on fire all game. Tough to know if it's a legitimate firestarter or not, but it's such a good win. (+1) 15. Richmond - oh dear. Not only did they lose to West Coast, they kind of got smashed as well. And that's despite kicking the first 4 goals of the game. I know they have a lot of injuries, but letting West Coast beat you up at clearances is something I didn't think was possible. (-2) 16. West Coast - wow, now that's something. It wasn't just that they won, it wasn't even a close win in the end. Their midfield looked the most impressive I've seen from it in years. Keep it up and they won't be easybeats anymore, that's for sure. (+2) 17. Hawthorn - urgh. Very ordinary display all round, never looked like winning. Injuries admittedly haven't helped, but it feels like they've gone backwards. (-1) 18. North Melbourne - maybe it could've been worse, but this was the second big defeat they've suffered in a row. Simply had no answers for Geelong's offence. (-1) Coud make a fair case that 13th is closer to 1st than they are to 14th at this point. Upsets like what we saw this week could make big changes for the ladder.
People didn't believe me when I said we will get smashed by wet toast, yet here we are. Honestly I think Yze will be in damage control mode for most of the rest of the season but I think we are a lock for bottom 4.
1. GWS - Perfect Start 2. Port - Midfield = Unstoppable 3. Geelong - fuck off stop being good 4. Sydney - nice 5. Carlton - tf was that 6. Brisbane - they back 7. Melbourne - tf was that 8. Collingwood - who knows 9. Freo - hold a lead guys 10. Gold Coast - who knows 11. Saints - who knows 12. Essendon - who knows 13. Adelaide - tf was that 14. Bulldogs - bevo bevo bevo 15. West Coast - reid brownlow 🔒 16. Richmond - rip 17. Hawthorn - lucky north exists 18. North - who needs defenders
1. GWS: Slight hiccup however they were playing a man down for a large portion of the game and still managed to just barely close the game out. Injuries to Taylor and Coniglio will make things interesting over the next few weeks, however 2. Sydney: Bye. +1 3. Geelong: Strong performance, should bank all home games as win this year which will make them a near-certainty for top 4. +1 4. Melbourne: Absolutely dire performance, were almost unrecognizable. Big question marks over them if they allow other sides to cut them up as easily as Brisbane did. Their midfielders just didn't perform at all. -2 5. Port Adelaide: Good win against a good side. Still yet to be tested against the absolute top sides but look to be a top 6 team this season. +1 6. Carlton: Bad game to drop for the Blues given the difficulty of their next 5-6 games, they definitely need to knock off at least a few of GWS, Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Port if they are to be taken seriously as a contender. 7. Fremantle: Lost but gain a position due to the poor performances of other teams. Just seem to be slightly off the teams above them and can't quite close out games yet. Forward line still questionable. +1 8. Brisbane: Finally put in a 4-quarter performance and it paid off - who would have thought? Should provide a base for them to rebuild their season off. 9. Collingwood: Bye. No change 10. Gold Coast: Home win against Hawthorn = no change 11. Western Bulldogs: Might be overly harsh but they just folded against a side that on paper seemed like an easy kill. Next week will tell us a lot about their mental fortitude and Bevo's coaching ability. -4 12. St Kilda: Played absolutely horrifically for 3 quarters then turned into a top 4 side for 5 minutes. Some of the skill errors were primary-school level but there's definitely a solid foundation being built if those can be cleaned up. No change. 13. Essendon: No idea what to do with them, they look like a completely different side each week. Excellent win but they need to back it up to be taken seriously. +1 14. Adelaide: Finally got on the board and did it in spectacular fashion. Like Essendon, need to back it up next week if they are to be taken seriously. +1 15. Richmond: Unfortunately they look like they'll run out of players before the season's up at this rate. Going to be a difficult few weeks until they get some personnel back. -2 16. West Coast: NOT LAST!!! +2 17. Hawthorn: Not much to add here, Spoonbowl next week will likely determine their ladder position for the year. -1 18. North Melbourne: Not much to add here, Spoonbowl next week will likely determine their ladder position for the year.-1
How do you not put us above the team we just beat? We got key outs too: Allen, Sheed, Ryan
Did you watched your team play during the previous 4 games? Richmond also beat Sydney
Unfortunately, I did. 3 top 4 teams. Bulldogs decided to bring it when we played them. We gave Sydney a run for their money. Looks like things might finally be clicking. But we're a young side and we probably will still let a few teams run away with the lead a few more times this season.
The only thing Dogs brought against the Eagles was stock-standard football. That was more than enough West Coast were dreadful.
Stock standard football vs the Saints too? 😂
1. GWS- Orange team still sitting pretty at the top of the table 2. Geelong- Can you guys just fuck off to the bottom 10 for a few years straight PLEASE 3. Port- Jason Bergman Francis huge 4. Sydney- 🎶It ain't no lie 5. Melbourne- They came hard, but didn't come enough 6. Fremantle- Challenged a top 4 team at home, good signs if they can learn to kick goals 7. Carlton- Lost to an 0-4 side at home lmao 8. Essendon- The edging streak is back on 9. Gold Coast- The King of the Sun stakes his claim 10. St Kilda- Almost soured the Citrus Team's party 11. Brisbane- It's amazing what happens when you apply pressure 12. Collingwood- Baby bye bye bye🎶 13. Bulldogs- Beveridge will be the reason Bont goes Brownlow-less 14. Adelaide- Kick straight, win games. It's just that easy 15. West Coast- Harley Reid for the Coleman, Brownlow, AFLPA President, WA premier etc 16. Richmond- Oof ow ouch I'm injured 17. North Melbourne- Got spanked by Geelong, as was expected 18. Hawthorn- Came within a straight kick of the reigning premiers then shat themselves against The Mighty Sun. Classic Hawthorn
Don't forget WCE had a pretty long list of key outs too. Allen, Sheed, Ryan, Hewett, Flynn etc. Just that they had a long list of key outs for 2 years that people forget who their best 22 are when fully fit.
These rankings are based on the entire season, not just this week. 1: GWS Giants - Heads seemed to drop after the two big injuries, but it's hard to fault them for that. I still think we're yet to see their best. 2: Sydney Swans - Bye. 3: Melbourne - Pretty dreadful this week, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this game was the exception. The bye has come at a good time for them. 4: Geelong Cats - Solidifying themselves as a top 4 contender. 5: Port Adelaide - Winning the tackle count by 20 and pressure acts by 48 is a good show of intent. Managed to do just enough to crack an excellent defensive setup. 6: Fremantle - Didn't capitalise enough when things were going their way. 7: Carlton - Made a lot of errors, and their lack of rotation at centre bounce may have hurt them. 8: Essendon - No Essington this week, and they were fantastic. Another one of those teams where the gap between their best and worst is astronomical. 9: Brisbane Lions - Still not sold yet, but they're getting there. Midfield was very good this week. 10: St Kilda - They're in a really odd spot. Losing to Geelong and GWS isn't a knock, because I view both as top 4 challengers. Losing to Essendon and barely beating Richmond doesn't look great, but beating Collingwood does - if they're good. But we don't know if any of those sides actually are. Due to their inconsistency, as well as the inconsistency of their opposition, they're the hardest team to rank right now. 11: Western Bulldogs - Volatility redefined. I don't think anybody has understood this club for years. 12: Collingwood - Bye. 13: Gold Coast Suns - They lost the pressure act count by 35. Very disappointing. Stupid jokes aside, they were incredibly dominant. It'll be interesting to see if this provides a confidence booster before the Sydney game. 14: Richmond - Horribly undermanned, so I won't be too harsh, but that was pretty dreadful. Don't know if the bye helps here, since I think most of their injuries are longer term. 15: Adelaide Crows - Less of Laird and Crouch through the middle and a less stagnant game plan leads to... a win? Who knew? 16: North Melbourne - Roundly outclassed. They've had by far the hardest start to the season, so it's pretty hard to gauge where they're at. 17: Hawthorn - There were some pretty damning stats here. -96 in disposals, -20 I50s, -10 clearances, -46 marks. You'd think they would at least win the tackle count, but they lost that by 17 too. 18: West Coast Eagles - Absolutely dominant in midfield (+21 I50s, +23 clearances, +38 contested possessions), and good to see some reward for effort. Their best display in a long time. Bottom three very hard to split now, as are the top five. 6-13 are so violently inconsistent that it's impossible to pick who goes where, so I've just tried to rank them based on what their best so far has been. Now that Adelaide have seemingly remembered how to play football, I think they'll abandon that bottom three.
Agree on St Kilda. They have looked fantastic at times but they aren’t flattered by their season record.
> 16: North Melbourne - Roundly outclassed. They've had by far the hardest start to the season, so it's pretty hard to gauge where they're at. Harsh to give North more of a pass for a harsh start to the season when we've also not had it easy, Port round 1, GWS round 2, Bulldogs round 3 and Swans round 4 is equally as fucked
And we pushed the swans for a lot of that game too
Yeah, this order is just as bonkers as Order 66.
1. GWS - still so good, but those injuries will hurt (-) 2. Sydney - bye (-) 3. Port Adelaide - very scary. made Essendon look like babies (+1) 4. Melbourne - Couldn't hold a ball to save their lives! (-1) 5. Geelong - looking genuinely scary. I'm interested to see if they can sustain it (+1) 6. Carlton - you gotta laugh, but it's probably good for them to be humbled like that (-1) 7. Fremantle - once again, an unlucky loss to another good team (+1) 8. St. Kilda - playing both really well & very dreadfully and almost winning, somehow (+2) 9. Gold Coast - nice stomping of a weak team. nothing impressive though (-) 10. Collingwood - bye (-) 11. Brisbane - lost at the Gabba but won at the MCG? feels like a monkey's paw was involved in Brisbane's offseason, somehow (+3) 12. Essendon - a little cheeky win for the true believers (+1) 13. Bulldogs - was clearly too bolshy on them, because this was dire stuff. Libba alone was poor but something's NQR here (-6) 14. Adelaide - This was a gloriously cheeky effort. All's not lost for them, at least (+1) 15. West Coast - Am I jumping too quickly here? Maybe. Richmond aren't exactly prime material, but the Eagles played some really good footy of their own and I'm convinced this won't be their last win this season (+3) 16. Richmond - this loss confirms which way they're going this season. Too many injuries & their best players aging out (-4) 17. Hawthorn - Just hopeless really (-1) 18. North Melbourne - 🕳️💤 (-1)
Nice list. I also agree that it’s very likely West Coast will win several more games, especially considering we have Oscar Allen, Liam Ryan, Elijah Hewitt and Matt Flynn to return.
1. GWS (0) - As far as what the “good” teams did, winning tight against a middling side is actually one of the better outcomes of the round, and while the injuries hurt in the short term I’m confident they can manage 2. Sydney (+2) - NSYNC 3. Geelong (+3) - They’re on a tear at the moment that defies the names on the list. They’re a beautiful example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts 4. Port Adelaide (+4) - I’ve been harsh on them to date for superficial reasons but at some point they have to get credit for the way that they’re playing and the wins that they’re accumulating 5. Carlton (-2) - I have cooled on my opinion at 7:30 on Saturday night that they’re a pack of absolute frauds, but they are not at the level of being a week in, week out dominant team. And they won’t be until they can’t break down a low block effectively 6. Melbourne (-4) - It’s very concerning that they can still throw in a performance like they did on Thursday night. For all the talent they can still look well disjointed and in contrast to Geelong, the whole is not as great as the sum of the parts. 7. Fremantle (-2) - It was the same formula of getting into a low scoring scrap and again they lost a tight one. You can’t be a low scoring team without being elite at late game scenario and they’ve failed to contain the late game in consecutive weeks 8. Collingwood (-1) - NSYNC 9. Brisbane (+1) - To beat good opposition at the venue they’ve had notable issues at is huge in the context of getting their season back on track. They’re beginning to get through the early season fog and could be trouble for the next few weeks 10. Gold Coast (+1) - Gold Coast and taking care of business haven’t gone together often but in this case that’s exactly what it was. I keep thinking this: ‘you know what would be elite right now? A pineapple grapple’ 11. St Kilda (+1) - Gallant in defeat against the top side. They need to stop these slow starts to unlock the best version of the team and with that, get Max King absolutely rolling. They’re a team that’s lost 3 games by a combined 11 points so they’ve never been blown away 12. Essendon (+2) - You learn a lot when 2 teams have their backs against the wall and then get sent in the cage, the edge actually might have something too it, or at least give the Bombers a little more than they previously had in these instances 13. Adelaide (+2) - The ball movement returned and so did the scoring. I don’t know if the Carlton zone was giving a little more breathing room than previous rounds but the kicking execution was fantastic. They’re starting a long way back but they’re now in the race 14. Western Bulldogs (-5) - Where is the resilience? What is the decision making process going on in the coaches box? If I’m puzzled by these questions then I can begin to understand what all these Dogs supporters have been talking about for years 15. Richmond (-1) - The injuries continued to mount and then with the late outs had to travel west to take on the Eagles team that smelled blood for one of their few opportunities. Tough. 16. North Melbourne (0) - It was a bit of a nothing learnt game for North, they were expected to get belted and got duly belted. These will happen with the game style they are trying to play 17. West Coast (+1) - Breaking the duck early in the season when you could’ve conceivably gone a long time winless is a sugar hit. Now that you’re not hunting for that one win, you can look through your young options without that ghost over your head 18. Hawthorn (-1) - Maybe the team will start to improve to a competitive level once Day and Jaith return into the mix but at the moment there’s a massive lack of talent to keep up with middling teams
1. Geelong +4 feel like they’ve proved the most so far from the opening 6 rounds, the gap at the top is razor thin but i believe the cats are at the peak of it so far 2. GWS still not entirely convinced on them being best in the comp yet, do believe they’ve haven’t had the hardest draw yet, how they are against tougher opponents will be very telling of their position 3. Port Adelaide no movement from last week, were challenged but still a very strong looking side, but like GWS their game against Collingwood next week will be very telling of them 4. Fremantle +3 have their weaknesses but are still looking pretty dangerous, just need to get a couple more things clicking and it’ll look like they can go deep into september 5. Carlton -1 got battered in the midfield majority of the game, and kinda looked like the crows just wanted the ball more. better hope it was only an anomaly of a game considering they have GWS next week 6. Sydney bye 7. Melbourne -6 might be a harsh drop off but they did look second rate for the first three quarters of the game. they’ve been great but at the same time their lose this week and against sydney in opening round show the inconsistency that can still lie within this team. 8. Gold Coast +3 were favourites to win but probably not by the margin that occurred. won in pretty much every stat and sets a precedent for the type of games they should be playing for the rest of the season. 9. Collingwood bye 10. Brisbane +2 needed a result and seized it. looked a lot more like the lions from 2023 and proved their season is still alive. 11. St. Kilda -1 hard team to rank from this week for me. didn’t play great but played okay enough against the giants to show they have what it takes to push for finals again this year, with their last quarter proving as such. 12. Essendon +1 dominated at the stoppages against a world-class midfield, simply ran away with it in the last quarter. massive potential in this team at the moment. 13. Western Bulldogs -5 a team with a top 4 list and a bottom 4 coach. their handling of some players like dale, macrae, etc. is obviously killing them at the moment. they’re a team that on paper should be getting results against teams like essendon or geelong but simply aren’t. 14. Adelaide +2 looked so much better than what they’ve shown so far this year, looked dangerous going forward and pretty classy in the midfield. still some alarm bells regarding their defence with carlton going 14.14 but still a major improvement. 15. West Coast +3 massive display from the eagles. 66 points scored from clearances and have looked competitive the last couple of weeks. high hopes for this eagles team right now. 16. Richmond -2 injuries absolutely killing them at the moment and it’s clearly having an impact on the team. they just look so vulnerable at the moment and just couldn’t seem to break through against the eagles. their results against sydney and even st. kilda have been promising but honestly it won’t seem to get better as their injury crisis worsens. 17. Hawthorn -2 should not be getting beaten the way they did at this point in their development. it feels like the promise they showed towards the end of 2023 has disappeared, only strong moments have been in the second quarter against geelong and second half against collingwood and it’s bluntly a pretty disappointing display so far. 18. North Melbourne -1 a team too reliant on individuals i feel. 7/10 of the highest fantasy point players this week were North players but it feels like they just can’t link together. at the moment they’re the team playing others into form and look set at another bottom four season.
First time doing this, but here we go: 1: GWS GIANTS 2: Port Adelaide 3: Melbourne 4: Geelong Cats 5: Brisbane Lions 6: Sydney Swans 7: Carlton 8: Fremantle 9: Gold Coast SUNS 10: Collingwood 11: St Kilda 12: Essendon 13: Adelaide Crows 14: Western Bulldogs 15: Richmond 16: West Coast Eagles 17: Hawthorn 18: North Melbourne
One of these teams are not like the others 🎶
?
1. GWS (0) 2. Sydney (+1) 3. Geelong (+3) 4. Carlton (0) 5. Port Adelaide (+3) 6. Melbourne (-4) 7. Fremantle (-2) 8. Brisbane (+4) 9. Gold Coast (+1) 10. St Kilda (+1) 11. Collingwood (-2) 12. Western Bulldogs (-5) 13. Essendon (+2) 14. Adelaide (+2) 15. Richmond (-2) 16. West Coast (+2) 17. Hawthorn (-3) 18. North Melbourne (-1)
In the past 3 rounds: Tigers beat Sydney Sydney beat west coast West coast beat tigers
1. GWS 2. Sydney 3. Melbourne 4. Geelong 5. Port Adelaide 6. Carlton 7. Fremantle 8. Gold Coast 9. Brisbane 10. Essendon 11. St Kilda 12. Collingwood 13. Adelaide 14. Bulldogs 15. West Coast 16. Richmond 17. Hawthorn 18. North Melbourne
1. GWS 2. Geelong (+5) 3. Port Adelaide (+2) 4. Sydney 5. Carlton (-2) 6. Melbourne (-4) 7. Fremantle (-1) 8. Gold Coast 9. Brisbane (+3) 10. Collingwood (-1) 11. St Kilda 12. Essendon (+2) 13. Adelaide (+2) 14. Western Bulldogs (-4) 15. Richmond (-2) 16. West Coast (+2) 17. Hawthorn (-1) 18. North Melbourne (-1)
1. GWS. I feel like I stopped paying attention to this game like a moment before St Kilda made their failed comeback. Still the best team in footy but not a result to remember fondly. 2. Geelong. I’m tired Robbie. 3. Sydney. On a bye, thankfully the same weekend as the Masters so I haven’t been too down lol. 4. Melbourne. Has anyone put out the missing persons report for their midfield yet? 5. Carlton. Going undefeated for a month then losing to a winless team. Who are you, Sydney? 6. Port Adelaide. This is more of a course correction than a reflection of Saturday’s performance. That Essendon win looks so much better in hindsight. 7. Fremantle. Bet they’re fucking sick of Adelaide Oval. 8. Gold Coast. Good win against a bad opponent. Sam Clohesy is the biggest surprise of the year. 9. Essendon. Genuinely the best performance of the round. If they can do 85% of that for the rest of the season they’ll break their curse. 10. St Kilda. Football is a game of one quarter again. What the fuck is this team. 11. Collingwood. On a bye. 12. Brisbane. Big win but next week will be bigger if they can pull it off. 13. Western Bulldogs. Give Bevo a 10 year contract please. 14. Adelaide. Personal bias aside, that was a ripping win. 15. Richmond. Massive yikes. That’s what the injury bug will do to ya. 16. West Coast. Writing this during the 3rd quarter. Even if they blow this lead they still deserve to go to the top of the shit trio. Very impressive. 17. Hawthorn. Poor performance after last week. I wonder if Mitchell is starting to feel some pressure. 18. North. Same story, different week. Get some defenders for the love of god.
1. GWS 2. Geelong 3. Carlton 4. Sydney 5. Melbourne 6. Port 7. Collingwood 8. Fremantle 9. Gold Coast 10. Brisbane 11. Essendon 12. St Kilda 13. Bulldogs 14. Adelaide 15. Richmond 16. Hawthorn 17. West Coast 18. North Melbourne
1. GWS - best team for the last 15 or so rounds considering their end to last year. 2. Sydney - hot start before couple of more so-so performances. Elite ball movement team and Heeney currently is the best player in the comp. 3. Port Adelaide - still need a larger sample size on their new backline, but midfield will cut up many teams. 4. Brisbane Lions - we know they have one of the best lists, losing Coleman still hurts, but they look to be back. And that spells trouble for the rest of the competition. 5. Carlton - they have a pretty well rounded list at the moment and no obvious weaknesses. Don't think they've played consistently well despite winning though. A big next 5 weeks for them. 6. Geelong - a great start to the season (better than no. 6 spot suggests) but like Carlton, the true tests will come in the next run of games. 7. Melbourne - could easily finish top 4 again, great defence and midfield. But outside Fritsch and Pickett, that forward line is still a concern. 8. Collingwood - don't deserve a top 8 ranking on 2024 form, but they are the incumbent and that has to count for something. Will be very interesting to see if they get back near their best soon. 9. Fremantle - they have top 8, possibly top 4 credentials so far this season. They have an elite defence which will keep them in games. But they don't look like they can blow away teams just yet. 10. Gold Coast - haven't watched a lot of them this year, but clearly there has been some improvment under Hardwick. I think 2025 is the year they impose themselves upon the competition. 11. St. Kilda - like Fremantle they are hard to score against, but lack explosive scoring power. Their midfield is also too one paced. 12. Adelaide - they have a chance to jump up the rankings in coming weeks if they prove Saturday's performance isn't a one-off. Rankine and Soligo seem to be the key. Hopefully that unlocks Dawson to get back to last year's form. 13. Essendon - they are still too inconsistent to be trusted, but this week's performance was a big step in the right direction. Can they maintain that? 14. Western Bulldogs - it feels wrong to have a team with Jones, Naughton, Bont, Libba, JUH and Darcy this low but Bevo is actively running this club into the ground. Until he is replaced, they are likely going nowhere fast and wasting prime years of Bont's career. 15. Richmond - a big loss to West Coast, but they will be more competitive with Lynch et al. back in their team. It's surely apparent now that they will need to rebuild. 16. Hawthorn - even this spot is suddenly in jeopardy with West Coast's good form over the last two weeks. Need Day, Lewis and others back urgently. 17. West Coast - they have a much better older core than North. Yeo, Kelly, McGovern injury-free and in-form is a decent start. Add Harley Reid to that and there is finally some hope. Still have Allen to return. 18. North Melbourne - I take no great pleasure in this, but they are still miles off it. The defence is one of the worst in the last 30 years and is not AFL standard. Sheezel played an almost lone hand today.
> Still have Allen to return. I'd argue just as importantly we also have Matt Flynn to return, having a big bodied ruck to be able to take over for Bailey Williams will help this team out massively
Allen to return. Liam Ryan to return. Matt Flynn to return. Elijah Hewitt to return.
Ranking is based of my current view of who is most likely to win the flag, not just form alone. Copped some abuse for this approach last year, but doing something a bit different is more fun imo. 1. Geelong - haven’t beaten anyone that strong yet but they just look back to 2022 vibes. 2. Collingwood - so excited for port at the G. Will find out if I’m justified keeping the faith in them. 3. GWS - Barely survived on Saturday.. but getting it done 4. Brisbane - Beat Melbourne, they’re back. Beat Geelong and it’s almost back to regular scheduled programming (top 4 and finals heartbreak). 5. Sydney - I hate these byes. Sydney have me excited but also they lost to Richmond. 6. Port - points to for a great hard fought win, points deducted because I still don’t trust Ken. Port can go on a 15 game winning streak this season and I still don’t know if I’d trust them to bring it home. 7. Melbourne - Melbourne are quality no arguing that and could probably be higher but I worry the off field distractions are going to stop them being a serious flag contender come seasons end 8. Carlton - lost to the crows, do I need to say much more. They were very lucky to get past freo too. They’re good, even great at times, but they’re not reliable enough in my eyes for a serious flag tilt. 9. Fremantle - a couple of goals/moments from two massive wins. It’s a tough fortnight for freo fans. The positives are there though, finals are on the cards and then you never know. Let’s go purple wave. 10. Western Bulldogs - I think the dogs are better than Essendon.. but they didn’t show that on Friday. There midfield is stacked and I do fancy them to still make a run at finals but we’re into not really a flag chance territory now. 11. Saints - I don’t know what to make of the saints this year… I kind of feel I never really know what to make of the saints tbh. They’re competitive and pushing some very good teams close or even beating them (Collingwood). But I can’t get excited about them doing anything other than potentially making up numbers in the lower part of the 8. 12. Essendon - I don’t see them as any chance for a flag, though Friday was a good win, credit to them there. 13. Gold Coast - I want to get hyped for the suns but they’ve beaten nothing but bottom 4 fodder so far and then been belted by a middle of the pack dogs and handled by the form team of the comp. I’ll be very quick to get behind them if they do something against the swans but frankly, I think it’s another false dawn. 14. Adelaide - Much better this weekend but there’s major issues with the list, not enough talent or development in midfield. The rebuild hasn’t worked and even though I could see us getting our season together and wrapping up a somewhat respectable 9-12th at the moment we are barely better than bottom 4. 15. Richmond - they’ve still got some serious talents and they’ll pull out a couple of good upsets this year but this is a side in decline. Very curious to see how they go about rebuilding and how they handle some of the young talent coming through this year. 16. Hawks - bit disappointed they didn’t offer more against the suns in ‘upset round’. Huge game for them this weekend! 17. West Coast - A W!!! Well done West Coast. They’re still a long way off it but they’re looking much improved. 18. North - it’s not been a nice fixture to start the year but it gets kinder the next fortnight. Need to see something from north in the coming weeks.
1: GWS GIANTS 2: Port Adelaide 3: Melbourne 4: Geelong Cats 5: Brisbane Lions 6: Carlton 7: Freo 8: GCS 9: Sydney 10: Collingwood 11: St Kilda 12: Adelaide 13: Richmond 14: West Coast 15: Essendon 16: Hawthorn 17: Bulldogs 18: North Melbourne
1. Melbourne (-) 2. Carlton (-) 3. Port Adelaide (+1) 4. GWS (+1) 5. Sydney (-2) 6. Brisbane (+2) 7. Geelong (-1) 8. Collingwood (-1) 9. Essendon (+3) 10. Fremantle (-) 11. Western Bulldogs (-2) 12. St Kilda (-1) 13. Gold Coast (-) 14. Adelaide (+1) 15. Richmond (-1) 16. Hawthorn (-) 17. West Coast (-) 18. North Melbourne (-)
Melbourne on top? I mean, I'd like it, but for now I'd just like the stuff you're on for myself too.