Which oppo teams do you see as rising threats in 2024?

[shanegrambeau]

Let's say you win a s*** load of money for guessing which teams will go up the ladder next year?

(regardless of whether 'I don't give a ____ about oppo teams' or 'If we are good enough, we will be good enough' or 'I am sick and tired of ...')

Essendon?
North Melbourne?

[Brunswicksainter]

From outside the 8 Gold Coast and western bulldogs. Think they both have great lists.

[spert]

Hawks, GC, Dogs. Those three will put pressure on us unless we get more class in the midfield.

[shanegrambeau]

Yeah, GC looked kinda scary this year. To think that Sydney made the 8 with 12 wins (Carlton 5th with 13) and way down the ladder at 14th, were Freo but with a respectable 10 and GC were 15th with 9 wins and they sacked their coach and fell away.

A Freo fan posted this, which is sort of interesting to read, although I think it is conservative.

2024 Prediction
1) Brisbane - My prediction to be 2023 Premiers. So hard to beat at the Gabba, so they'll again be up there
2) GWS - Super impressed with them this season. See them being really hard to beat at home and will be a force in 2024
3) Collingwood - still young and hard to beat. I wonder if they may lose some of those 50/50 games but will again challenge
4) Carlton - Still young and improving so would expect them to stay up, as long as they dont get ahead of themselves
5) Sydney - Can't write these guys off. Young and improving and with no Buddy, a bit unpredictable which is a good thing
6) St Kilda - Another pre-season under Ross, they'll be competitive. Injuries critical
7) Adelaide - Were close in 2023. If they can fix their away games they'll be tough to leave out of the 8
8) Gold Coast - have to improve under Hardwick and i think they will.
-------------------------
9) Essendon - Could easily be in the 8 and will be much tougher under a full pre-season from Chris Scott
10) Fremantle - Who knows!
11) Melbourne - I think they'll tire and slide. Still super talented but i think the heartbrake of the last 2 finals series will get them
12) Port Adelaide - Super talented, should finish higher, but I worry their big guys are getting on a bit.
13) Richmond - Unpredictable with the new coach but may need to re-load
14) Hawthorn - Could finish much higher, but in a similar boat to Freo with being so young
15) Western Bulldogs - Who knows. So talented, such a gun forward line, but i worry Beveridge has done his time there now
16) Geelong - Age to catch up. Still super competitive but may need to re-load
17) North Melbourne - Could easily finish higher. Definitely much more competitive.
18) West Coast - Won't be the easy beats and will upset a few teams but hard to see them getting off the bottom.

[SaintWiki]

Hawks, GC, Dogs. Those three will put pressure on us unless we get more class in the midfield.

Yeah but also our youngsters with a bit of body building and further development etc and here's hoping for the injury gods looking down on us kindly

.. ..

Essendon?
North Melbourne?

They can only go upwards, surely

[Life Long Saint]

Something is not working at the Dogs.
Hasn't been really for years.
Their midfield is very solid but relies too heavily on the Bont.
Their defence is still suspect, so if they can't clearly win the midfield battle, they are easily and heavily scored against.
Their forward line has struggled for consistent talls. Naughton and JUH are helping but they go missing to too long, too often.

Hawthorn are still years away from challenging in a meaningful way. Sure, they'll upset some teams, but they will be smashed in games, too.
Gold Coast...They are an unknown with Hardwick. When he was at Richmond he had Dusty. The Suns don't have one of those. A bit like the Hawks. They will be harder to beat up there, but they are not serious contenders.

There were four changes from the eight last year to this year. Fremantle, Dogs, Richmond, and Geelong all missed whilst GWS, Port Adelaide, Carlton, and us all made it.

Geelong will come back again because they're Geelong.
Adelaide will seriously challenge for a spot in the eight...They are last years Carlton.
Essendon will also challenge with their addiditons.

[Beno88]

Adelaide are the obvious one. Should play finals in 2024.

I don't see any other major threats from outside the 8.

Gold Coast should improve, but I can't see them ever playing finals.

Essendon won't get anywhere near it. Neither will Geelong.

[SAINT-LEE]

2024 Final Ladder
1 Brisbane
2 Collingwood
3 Carlton
4 Melbourne
5 Port Adelaide
6 GWS
7 Adelaide
8 Sydney
-------------------------
9 St Kilda
10 Geelong
11 Western Bulldogs
12 Richmond
13 Hawthorn
14 Gold Coast
15 North Melbourne
16 Essendon
17 Fremantle
18 West Coast


6,7,8 could easily swap with 9,10,11
I think there will only be 1-2 wins between 6th place and 11th.

[Vortex]

We will still be a middle of the ladder club for a few years yet so there are many teams that could push us back to outside the 8.

Our forward line will struggle again as will the midfield, it’s going to take a few years to get those areas of the ground stocked with enough talent to rise up from the middle of the ladder.

I think we will miss the 8 next year.

[Life Long Saint]

9) Essendon - Could easily be in the 8 and will be much tougher under a full pre-season from Chris Scott

I missed the news about Chris moving from the Cats to the Bombers!
He's always been a better coach than his brother anyway.

Brad was appointed in September 2022...He's already had the Bombers for a full pre-season.
By contrast, Lyon wasn't appointed until late October (after the trade period).

[Saintmatt]

We will still be a middle of the ladder club for a few years yet so there are many teams that could push us back to outside the 8.

Our forward line will struggle again as will the midfield, it’s going to take a few years to get those areas of the ground stocked with enough talent to rise up from the middle of the ladder.

I think we will miss the 8 next year.

I kind of largely agree however, I do honestly believe that we're one very good midfielder away from being a very good team. Our problem is clearances so, if we were to get that player (not saying that we will) then - all midfield ships would rise with the tide. Dow will help with that a bit but, he's not an A grader. Put it this way - a 2020 version of Clayton Oliver would propel us North quickly.

Forwards? A bit the same. Plenty of teams have a good forward line but don't win as much as they should with that talent (Dogs, Carlton). I think the unpredictability of the mix n match we had at the start of 2023 worked for us. But I acknowledge that gun key forwards can be a difference in finals. In summation - we're also a good 2nd forward away from being a better balanced team (as King won't be monstered 2 or 3 on 1)

[Otiman]

2023 showed us that it's a toss up.

Look at the ladder predictions at the end of last year. Plenty had Freo, Bulldogs, Geelong and Richmond in the top 8 and some in the top 4.

For me it's GWS and Gold Coast to worry about.

[SaintWiki]

2023 showed us that it's a toss up.

Look at the ladder predictions at the end of last year. Plenty had Freo, Bulldogs, Geelong and Richmond in the top 8 and some in the top 4.

For me it's GWS and Gold Coast to worry about.

Yep, Gold Coast seems to be under everyone's radar and it's not just the new coach.

[cwrcyn]

Bottom three in 2024 will be Richmond, Norh Melbourne, and West Coast. Freo will hover around where they are.

Every other team can justifiably claim that they will improve. We could play just as well in 2024 and end up 12th. That's how even the competition is.

How each team improves depends on injuries

[Vortex]

We will still be a middle of the ladder club for a few years yet so there are many teams that could push us back to outside the 8.

Our forward line will struggle again as will the midfield, it’s going to take a few years to get those areas of the ground stocked with enough talent to rise up from the middle of the ladder.

I think we will miss the 8 next year.

I kind of largely agree however, I do honestly believe that we're one very good midfielder away from being a very good team. Our problem is clearances so, if we were to get that player (not saying that we will) then - all midfield ships would rise with the tide. Dow will help with that a bit but, he's not an A grader. Put it this way - a 2020 version of Clayton Oliver would propel us North quickly.

Forwards? A bit the same. Plenty of teams have a good forward line but don't win as much as they should with that talent (Dogs, Carlton). I think the unpredictability of the mix n match we had at the start of 2023 worked for us. But I acknowledge that gun key forwards can be a difference in finals. In summation - we're also a good 2nd forward away from being a better balanced team (as King won't be monstered 2 or 3 on 1)

While we are on King, a pivotal year in 24 for mine, has just about clipped all of his "still young" tickets", has a couple of areas he needs to work on, both are related to mindset, firstly spitting the dummy on the field when things don't work out for him which persistently results in him not giving a second effort and/or applying defensive pressure, and secondly positioning himself behind or to the side of play to take a leap at the incoming ball, but rather needs to present more with leads and be prepared to get first hands to the ball and absorb the physical contact if necessary. I think the latter technique is related to his height and is an attribute he relied upon heavily before joining the AFL but it's time he got in front of the packs more and used his physical presence more to intimidate.

[Scollop]

To take our place in the top 8, I'd say Adelaide, Bulldogs, Gold Coast, and Geelong are the obvious threats.

The fixture hasn't come out yet, but we do know that it's hard to win interstate against Adelaide and the Gold Coast...

Geelong lost a significant number of games down at GMHBA because of their arrogant and complacent attitude in 2023. They also have a distinct home ground advantage and they'll be keen to rectify that next year.

[Scollop]

We aren't a threat to win the premiership in 2024 in my opinion, however finals should be the aim again.

Our club and coaches need to instil belief. The players need to believe that anything can happen, but it all depends on a lot going right.

Depends on injuries to our team, opposition injuries, suspensions, and of course the fixture.

It would be extremely unlikely that the top 8 in 2023 is exactly the same as the top 8 next year, but I don't see Sydney or GWS or Carlton or Port or Melbourne missing out

We narrowly defeated the 17th and 18th teams on the ladder. We lost games to the 15th and 16th teams on the ladder, so I'd say all oppo teams are a threat.

[Vortex]

To take our place in the top 8, I'd say Adelaide, Bulldogs, Gold Coast, and Geelong are the obvious threats.

The fixture hasn't come out yet, but we do know that it's hard to win interstate against Adelaide and the Gold Coast...

Geelong lost a significant number of games down at GMHBA because of their arrogant and complacent attitude in 2023. They also have a distinct home ground advantage and they'll be keen to rectify that next year.

The Pies could be a chance to slide down a little, Peddles, Steele, Mitchell, Hoskin-Elliot, Mihocek, Howe, Cox and Elliot not getting any younger, they lose Adams.

Do they now have the oldest list in the comp?

When I think about it, they could be a chance to not make the 8 next year...I think I'll go early, Pies to miss the 8 in 2024.

[Scollop]

I think Collingwood have shown that they are not be underestimated.

They are a power club in every sense of the word and they'll leverage their Premiership win to stay relevant.

Collingwood have one of the best off field administrations in the league. It's a destination club so watch this space regarding trade week.

Their VFL team also won 11 matches. Sandringham won only 5.

I don't think they'll be as arrogant or as complacent as Geelong.

I rate the Collingwood coach and his number 1 assistant (Justin Leppitch) as the best in the business.

btw...They had 106,000 members in 2023

[Yorkeys]

A lot of teams outside the 8 should improve through draft picks maturing, maybe not Freo. Sydney won't make it next year.
Of the 8, St Kilda & GWS the improvers. Collingwood and Port to fall a bit.
Collingwood can't keep winning all the close ones, Hill won't kick 4 a game, Pendelbury can't keep defying time, Moore has been worked out, Murphy has a glass jaw and is a prick, Maynard will be targeted by umps and Melbourne. Port has no key forwards. Horne-Francis has a boarding house pudding size head and Hinkley's clock of desperation is loudly ticking.
Us to play GWS in the second qualifying final.

[Vortex]

I think Collingwood have shown that they are not be underestimated.

They are a power club in every sense of the word and they'll leverage their Premiership win to stay relevant.

Collingwood have one of the best off field administrations in the league. It's a destination club so watch this space regarding trade week.

Their VFL team also won 11 matches. Sandringham won only 5.

I don't think they'll be as arrogant or as complacent as Geelong.

I rate the Collingwood coach and his number 1 assistant (Justin Leppitch) as the best in the business.

btw...They had 106,000 members in 2023

knowing you are a keen proponent of the search function of this board I predict you will return to this thread in approximately 47 weeks to confirm once again my predictions are always bang on the money.

[remboy]

None. We’ll go through undefeated.
Or not.

[B.M]

Another way to think of it


Looking at the top 8

Who drops out when 1 or 2 go in?

[Vortex]

Said this somewhere else but I’ll say it again…I’d rather be in North’s position especially in light of suggestions West Coast will not select Harley Reid at pick one thus allowing him to be picked up by North without even having to trade for pick 1.

And also on the back of being handed pick 3 for Mackay.

Expect North to fly up the ladder past us in the next 3 to 5 years.

Tell me again how tanking doesn’t work for poor clubs.