2017 ladder/season predictions.

[Holz]

holz can u give us a best 22 for North

From the AFL site:

B: Sam Wright, Robbie Tarrant, Marley Williams
HB: Shaun Atley, Scott Thompson, Luke McDonald
C: Jamie Macmillan, Jack Ziebell, Sam Gibson
HF: Shaun Higgins, Jarrad Waite, Mason Wood
F: Majak Daw, Ben Brown, Lindsay Thomas
R: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington
INT: Taylor Garner, Trent Dumont, Ben Jacobs, Nathan Hrovat
EMERG: Ryan Clarke, Ed Vickers-Willis, Kayne Turner

I'm not a North expert, but reckon that's not too far off. Think Hansen and Anderson should get a fair few games though, and Clarke/Turner possible starters over someone like Garner, or possibly Hrovat. Mitchell Hibberd also a chance.

yeah thats pretty much the squad. Would have Williams out though for Hansen or Hibberd.

Clarke Garner Turner Hrovat Dumont Jacobs Anderson pick 4 of those for the bench.

[crowls]

Ladder:[/size]1. Sydney2. GWS3. Bulldogs4. Adelaide[/size]
5. [/size]St.Kilda[/size]6. Hawthorn7. West Coast[/size]8. Fremantle9. Melbourne[/size]
10. [/size]Essendon[/size]11. Port Adelaide12. Geelong[/size]
13. [/size]Carlton[/size]14. Collingwood[/size]15. North Melb16. Gold Coast17. Richmond[/size]18. BrisbaneGrand Final: GWS vs BulldogsPremiers: BulldogsBrownlow: BontempelliColeman: Tom Lynch (GC)


Tougher than it looks.
GWS, Sydney and Dogs to continue on.  Geelong to drop down as they miss reliable senior players and younger players fail to develop as needed.   Dogs to continue on.  Sydney and GWS minimal change,  interesting to see if GWS misses the depth it had.   Essendon to take half a season to come to grips with game and list changes. Might just miss finals.   Big jump expected from Freo with good draft and trade period for them.   Collingwood to continue to struggle.   


May have Port higher than I should.  Richmond to continue as a basket  case.[/size]

Can anybody tell me what causes this?     PMRO

[GoLions]

holz can u give us a best 22 for North

From the AFL site:

B: Sam Wright, Robbie Tarrant, Marley Williams
HB: Shaun Atley, Scott Thompson, Luke McDonald
C: Jamie Macmillan, Jack Ziebell, Sam Gibson
HF: Shaun Higgins, Jarrad Waite, Mason Wood
F: Majak Daw, Ben Brown, Lindsay Thomas
R: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington
INT: Taylor Garner, Trent Dumont, Ben Jacobs, Nathan Hrovat
EMERG: Ryan Clarke, Ed Vickers-Willis, Kayne Turner

I'm not a North expert, but reckon that's not too far off. Think Hansen and Anderson should get a fair few games though, and Clarke/Turner possible starters over someone like Garner, or possibly Hrovat. Mitchell Hibberd also a chance.

yeah thats pretty much the squad. Would have Williams out though for Hansen or Hibberd.

Clarke Garner Turner Hrovat Dumont Jacobs Anderson pick 4 of those for the bench.

Yeah, wasn't sure if Williams would be a walk up start or not. I like him, but struggled with form and injury this year.

[meow meow]

And yeah the Doggies entire finals campaign was something extremely special.  Not the sort of thing we'll likely see for a long time

This is what I am disagreeing with. When we finally got close to having our best team in we were able to show that we're as good as anyone, better than most. We weren't playing above ourselves. Our 22 is as good as any getting around and our depth is better than most. Just because the punters are a bit slow on the uptake and had us underdogs in every match doesn't mean that were not actually better than those who we beat.

We threw the final match against Freo since our ladder position couldn't change. Disregard that match and we won one less game than the team who finished on top, and we did it with injuries galore throughout the season. If we have a fit list there's no reason for us to not continue on with it.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

@JB you did and it horrified me so it's stuck in my memory. I expect better from you.

[RaisyDaisy]

And yeah the Doggies entire finals campaign was something extremely special.  Not the sort of thing we'll likely see for a long time

This is what I am disagreeing with. When we finally got close to having our best team in we were able to show that we're as good as anyone, better than most. We weren't playing above ourselves. Our 22 is as good as any getting around and our depth is better than most. Just because the punters are a bit slow on the uptake and had us underdogs in every match doesn't mean that were not actually better than those who we beat.

We threw the final match against Freo since our ladder position couldn't change. Disregard that match and we won one less game than the team who finished on top, and we did it with injuries galore throughout the season. If we have a fit list there's no reason for us to not continue on with it.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

@JB you did and it horrified me so it's stuck in my memory. I expect better from you.

I was more so referring to a team travelling to Perth and Sydney with a 3 time premier in between, as something that was extremely special and wouldn't be seen again for some time

I expect the Dogs to finish Top 4 next year, meaning their chances of winning etc are a lot stronger, but I still think GWS is the team to beat next year, with the Doggies ever so slightly behind. Should be an awesome year

[quinny88]

And yeah the Doggies entire finals campaign was something extremely special.  Not the sort of thing we'll likely see for a long time

This is what I am disagreeing with. When we finally got close to having our best team in we were able to show that we're as good as anyone, better than most. We weren't playing above ourselves. Our 22 is as good as any getting around and our depth is better than most. Just because the punters are a bit slow on the uptake and had us underdogs in every match doesn't mean that were not actually better than those who we beat.

We threw the final match against Freo since our ladder position couldn't change. Disregard that match and we won one less game than the team who finished on top, and we did it with injuries galore throughout the season. If we have a fit list there's no reason for us to not continue on with it.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

@JB you did and it horrified me so it's stuck in my memory. I expect better from you.

I just think back to Weatcoast in 2015. They battled injuries all year yet it seemed to help them play a different style that was successful. Everyone assumed when they got their players back the next year they would be unstoppable yet they were worse.

[Holz]

And yeah the Doggies entire finals campaign was something extremely special.  Not the sort of thing we'll likely see for a long time

This is what I am disagreeing with. When we finally got close to having our best team in we were able to show that we're as good as anyone, better than most. We weren't playing above ourselves. Our 22 is as good as any getting around and our depth is better than most. Just because the punters are a bit slow on the uptake and had us underdogs in every match doesn't mean that were not actually better than those who we beat.

We threw the final match against Freo since our ladder position couldn't change. Disregard that match and we won one less game than the team who finished on top, and we did it with injuries galore throughout the season. If we have a fit list there's no reason for us to not continue on with it.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

@JB you did and it horrified me so it's stuck in my memory. I expect better from you.

Your up there and last year was pretty much one of the most even years i have ever seen.

Crows Cats Sydney Dogs Hawks all pretty much similar.

GWS for me is the top tier then those 5 not far behind.

[kilbluff1985]

i think next year will be even more even

[The_Captain]

Cmon Holz. North a top 4 side..... Thats laughable. Yeah they were 9-0 but they played a lot of crap. They were a top 8 side(probably 8th) when fully fit. With a few missing they probably slipped to about 12th/13th.

I dont see North finishing last next year though... Maybe 10th-12th seems about fair.

[Ringo]

Ladder:[/size]1. Sydney2. GWS3. Bulldogs4. Adelaide[/size]
5. [/size]St.Kilda[/size]6. Hawthorn7. West Coast[/size]8. Fremantle9. Melbourne[/size]
10. [/size]Essendon[/size]11. Port Adelaide12. Geelong[/size]
13. [/size]Carlton[/size]14. Collingwood[/size]15. North Melb16. Gold Coast17. Richmond[/size]18. BrisbaneGrand Final: GWS vs BulldogsPremiers: BulldogsBrownlow: BontempelliColeman: Tom Lynch (GC)


Tougher than it looks.
GWS, Sydney and Dogs to continue on.  Geelong to drop down as they miss reliable senior players and younger players fail to develop as needed.   Dogs to continue on.  Sydney and GWS minimal change,  interesting to see if GWS misses the depth it had.   Essendon to take half a season to come to grips with game and list changes. Might just miss finals.   Big jump expected from Freo with good draft and trade period for them.   Collingwood to continue to struggle.   


May have Port higher than I should.  Richmond to continue as a basket  case.[/size]

Can anybody tell me what causes this?     PMRO

Suspect it is because you are changing font and size.

[PowerBug]

I laugh at those that reckon equalisation isn't working. Besides the way the QLD clubs currently are, I don't think we could've asked for a more even top 8 in 2016 and making every team equally as strong would be bad for the comp as it'll just become too unpredictable and flukey.

[Ringo]

Just remember PB both Qld clubs were hit hard by injuries as well. With fully fit teams next year think both clubs may surprise. Will finish in the bottom 6 but not necessarily the bottom 2. Brisbane has a softish draw compared to its previous 2 years draw. 

[Holz]

Cmon Holz. North a top 4 side..... Thats laughable. Yeah they were 9-0 but they played a lot of crap. They were a top 8 side(probably 8th) when fully fit. With a few missing they probably slipped to about 12th/13th.

I dont see North finishing last next year though... Maybe 10th-12th seems about fair.

personally dont really think calling a side that was 9-0, top 4 laughable.

especially considering some of the "rubbish" they played was the Crows and the Premiers (dogs).

halfway through the year they were 10-2 and had a 26 point loss to Sydney and a 31 point loss to Geelong in which both games key players were missing.

then the injuries really started to come into play.

so yeah a team that was 10-2 and  had played Crows, Geelong, Sydney, Dogs, Stkilda, Dons so 6 respectable teams out of 12 to say top 4 is a very easy call to make. If anything saying they werent close to a top 4 team was laughable.

then to say they where the 8th best when fit is just silly considering they finished 8th with the worst injury list in the comp.

[PowerBug]

You didn't finish 8th with the worst injury list. You won like 1 game with all those injuries. Essendon (who had more players out) won 2 matches in the 2nd half of the year :P

[kilbluff1985]

i think GC easily had worse injury list then North