2025 Ladder Predictions

[PieBeast]

I don't think it is unfair to suggest that 5 clubs have dominated the AFL era.

Haw, Syd, WCE, Geel and Coll.

Of the 36 AFL era flags they've won 20 combined. Have played in 6, 8, 7, 9 and 8 GF's each, and have a combined 54 PFs appearances since 1990.

A bit unfair to leave Carlton out of this convo.

There's no more dominant club in AFL era when it comes to salary cap rorting, wooden spoons and tanking.

 

[Worm4]

A bit unfair to leave Carlton out of this convo.

There's no more dominant club in AFL era when it comes to salary cap rorting, wooden spoons and tanking.

Coz collingwood have never been over the salary cap, won wooden spoons, or tanked . Good call

 

[Red_man2008]

Coz collingwood have never been over the salary cap, won wooden spoons, or tanked . Good call

They were vary close to doing it before they offloaded treloar and Grundy.

 

[Fadge]

They were vary close to doing it before they offloaded treloar and Grundy.

Is that right?

Great clubs make bold decisions and play within the rules, hence the reason for releasing Treloar and Grundy.

Then we went BANG

 

[Fadge]

Coz collingwood have never been over the salary cap, won wooden spoons, or tanked . Good call

Pies first spoon - 1976. Next minute, they're playing in a Grand Final.

Pies second and only other spoon - 1999. Consecutive Grand Finals in 2002/03.

Powerhouse clubs rebound quickly.

 

[JustaBattler]

oh my by golly who woulda thought!!!???

"we've just discovered we are going to be massively over the salary cap if we don't do something - ok " lets not pay what was never going to be able to be paid " np get Gill the TAB Corp Dill on the phone"...

Powerhouse cheating in the post modern era....

 

[Fadge]

oh my by golly who woulda thought!!!???

"we've just discovered we are going to be massively over the salary cap if we don't do something - ok " lets not pay what was never going to be able to be paid " np get Gill the TAB Corp Dill on the phone"...

Powerhouse cheating in the post modern era....

Or....

We've reassessed our list and realise the money tied up in Grundy and Treloar would be better spent on:

• an inside midfielder who has won a Brownlow, who came 4th in the B&F in our flag year and was one of the best players in the Grand Final;
• a small forward who kicked 4 in the Grand Final and won the Norm Smith Medal;
• a key position forward, without whom we don't win either our 2023 Qualifying Final or Preliminary Final.

That's good list management that resulted in a flag

Something that Carlton are yet to prove they can do.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

West Coast and Adelaide will be the worst teams, too much reliance on aged players for "rebuilding" teams. North Melbourne and Gold Coast will move up because they've developed and rely heavily on their youth.

 

[Vindicater]

Can anyone make the case for Essendon making finals?

Every team in the top 12 has at least ten long term injuries to best 22 players.

We might just squeak into 8th in the above situation.

 

[BigVic]

My 2025 AFL Ladder and season predictions

1. Geelong Cats
2. Hawthorn
3. Sydney Swans
4. Brisbane Lions
5. Fremantle
6. Adelaide Crows
7. Port Adelaide
8. Collingwood
-------------------
9. Carlton
10. Western Bulldogs
11. Gold Coast Suns
12. North Melbourne
13. GWS Giants
14. West Coast Eagles
15. Melbourne
16. St Kilda
17. Essendon
18. Richmond

Grand Final: Geelong v Hawthorn
Premiers: Hawthorn
Brownlow: Caleb Serong
Norm Smith: Will Day
Coleman: Jeremy Cameron
Rising Star: Jagga Smith

Check back in 7 months time

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

West Coast and Adelaide will be the worst teams, too much reliance on aged players for "rebuilding" teams. North Melbourne and Gold Coast will move up because they've developed and rely heavily on their youth.

Which old players are Adelaide overly reliant on?

We don't have any old players in our best 10?

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Which old players are Adelaide overly reliant on?

We don't have any old players in our best 10?

Check the stats. The work load is going to the older players, not the youth. Laird was the Crows number 1 disposal count and number 1 clearance get player for 2024 at age 30. Crouch was number 1 average in the disposal count who is going to be 30 in April. The top 4 players with highest disposal count average are late 20s or early 30s. Same with the clearances, 4/5 of the top clearance players were in their late 20s/early 30s. This contrasts North Melbourne which relies heavily on youth as their work load midfield.

And Crows fans no longer rate Laird, granted because he's not the future, so I have no idea why he's being played inside midfield and doing all the hard work the youth should be doing during a "rebuild" period, I think that Nicks is trying to save his own skin not wanting the Crows bottoming out by doing a proper rebuild. Bit of a similar situation with West Coast, all the key stats were being won by cooked players, which is even more disastrous.

 

[Free Agent]

Check the stats. The work load is going to the older players, not the youth. Laird was the Crows number 1 disposal count and number 1 clearance get player for 2024 at age 30. Crouch was number 1 average in the disposal count who is going to be 30 in April. The top 4 players with highest disposal count average are late 20s or early 30s. Same with the clearances, 4/5 of the top clearance players were in their late 20s/early 30s. This contrasts North Melbourne which relies heavily on youth as their work load midfield.

And Crows fans no longer rate Laird, granted because he's not the future, so I have no idea why he's being played inside midfield and doing all the hard work the youth should be doing during a "rebuild" period, I think that Nicks is trying to save his own skin not wanting the Crows bottoming out by doing a proper rebuild. Bit of a similar situation with West Coast, all the key stats were being won by cooked players, which is even more disastrous.

This is a horrible take.
Worst side by a fair margin is Richmond. It will be kids vs man type stuff and a few 100 point losses coming there way.


Eagles are the third most youngest side in the comp behind Roos and Richmond.
Crows were looking pretty decent in there mini rebuild. If anything they are going to be better.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

This is a horrible take.

I'm looking at the stats.

Worst side by a fair margin is Richmond. It will be kids vs man type stuff and a few 100 point losses coming there way.

Richmond has the same problem as Adelaide and West Coast with aged veterans winning all the ball, not sure what you're talking about unless you mean they're going to change their strategy in 2025 to make their youth only play in the inside midfield. Yeah, Richmond will probably be as bad as West Coast and Adelaide, won't deny that, but I don't think it's because of "playing kids" in key positions if 2024 is anything to go by.

Eagles are the third most youngest side in the comp behind Roos and Richmond.

The ball winners for West Coast in disposals/clearances are all aged, though, similar to Adelaide.

Crows were looking pretty decent in there mini rebuild. If anything they are going to be better.

I've heard that for years. It's not really a rebuild if 4/5 of their top ball winners are in their late 20s/early 30s.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Check the stats. The work load is going to the older players, not the youth. Laird was the Crows number 1 disposal count and number 1 clearance get player for 2024 at age 30. Crouch was number 1 average in the disposal count who is going to be 30 in April. The top 4 players with highest disposal count average are late 20s or early 30s. Same with the clearances, 4/5 of the top clearance players were in their late 20s/early 30s. This contrasts North Melbourne which relies heavily on youth as their work load midfield.

And Crows fans no longer rate Laird, granted because he's not the future, so I have no idea why he's being played inside midfield and doing all the hard work the youth should be doing during a "rebuild" period, I think that Nicks is trying to save his own skin not wanting the Crows bottoming out by doing a proper rebuild. Bit of a similar situation with West Coast, all the key stats were being won by cooked players, which is even more disastrous.

Adelaide will be fine. Finals are realistic.

Dawson and Rankine are A+ talents.
Thillthorpe, Soligo, Rachelle, Michaelanney, Draper and Curtin are a great young core to build around.
Cumming, Neal-Bullen and Peatling are also perfect list additions from an age and experience perspective.
Fogarty, Walker and the aforementioned Thillthorpe will cause headaches to many opposition defensive lines.
Then there players like Dowling, Taylor, Nankervis and Schoenberg who are in that depth bracket, but already proven themselves to be more than capable at senior level.

If the group stays fit we should see a Crows of 2023 more so than what we saw in 2024.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Check the stats. The work load is going to the older players, not the youth. Laird was the Crows number 1 disposal count and number 1 clearance get player for 2024 at age 30. Crouch was number 1 average in the disposal count who is going to be 30 in April. The top 4 players with highest disposal count average are late 20s or early 30s. Same with the clearances, 4/5 of the top clearance players were in their late 20s/early 30s. This contrasts North Melbourne which relies heavily on youth as their work load midfield.

And Crows fans no longer rate Laird, granted because he's not the future, so I have no idea why he's being played inside midfield and doing all the hard work the youth should be doing during a "rebuild" period, I think that Nicks is trying to save his own skin not wanting the Crows bottoming out by doing a proper rebuild. Bit of a similar situation with West Coast, all the key stats were being won by cooked players, which is even more disastrous.

Feel free to check out our best & fairest... where are all these old players you talk of?

It's almost like you don't even watch us...

Crows' B&F surprise: Livewire, skipper share Malcolm Blight Medal

Jordan Dawson and Ben Keays have been rewarded as joint winners of the 2024 Malcolm Blight Medal

www.afl.com.au

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Feel free to check out our best & fairest... where are all these old players you talk of?

It's almost like you don't even watch us...

Crows' B&F surprise: Livewire, skipper share Malcolm Blight Medal

Jordan Dawson and Ben Keays have been rewarded as joint winners of the 2024 Malcolm Blight Medal

www.afl.com.au

Again, you're deflecting, you're not looking at the stats again, why is that? How does an internal grading change the stats that show the midfielders are getting all the disposals/clearances are 4/5 in their late 20s or early 30s? And you say I don't watch the games, but you didn't notice Laird is the one that got over 100 more disposals and over 20 clearances more than any other player at Adelaide in 2024? I think that's projection.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Adelaide will be fine. Finals are realistic.

Dawson and Rankine are A+ talents.
Thillthorpe, Soligo, Rachelle, Michaelanney, Draper and Curtin are a great young core to build around.
Cumming, Neal-Bullen and Peatling are also perfect list additions from an age and experience perspective.
Fogarty, Walker and the aforementioned Thillthorpe will cause headaches to many opposition defensive lines.
Then there players like Dowling, Taylor, Nankervis and Schoenberg who are in that depth bracket, but already proven themselves to be more than capable at senior level.

If the group stays fit we should see a Crows of 2023 more so than what we saw in 2024.

That's wishful thinking I've heard for years, last year was suppose to be their break out year, too. If you look deep at the stats and the players contributing the most in the midfield from 2024, it's not the youth, it's the older guys who are likely cooked like Laird and maybe Crouch. If they couldn't make finals with that aged midfield pulling the highest disposal/clearance stats, they're going to decline due to those players aging. They didn't develop their youth and make them contribute the most like North Melbourne have. They really should have had 3-4 under 25 players contributing the most disposals/clearances. Laird was still an inside midfielder, meaning Nicks doesn't wanna risk putting youth in, probably to delay his sacking.

 

[Free Agent]

I'm looking at the stats.

Richmond has the same problem as Adelaide and West Coast with aged veterans winning all the ball, not sure what you're talking about unless you mean they're going to change their strategy in 2025 to make their youth only play in the inside midfield. Yeah, Richmond will probably be as bad as West Coast and Adelaide, won't deny that, but I don't think it's because of "playing kids" in key positions if 2024 is anything to go by.

The ball winners for West Coast in disposals/clearances are all aged, though, similar to Adelaide.

I've heard that for years. It's not really a rebuild if 4/5 of their top ball winners are in their late 20s/early 30s.

So what if they are. You'd be stupid to cut the whole list like Richmond have done. Only have to ask North how that went for the past 10 years. You still need a mix of mature and youth. Harley Reid, Hutchinson and Hewett will be in a lot of our centre setups this season. You mean to tell me youth don't improve. New year and youth are another year more experienced.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

So what if they are. You'd be stupid to cut the whole list like Richmond have done. Only have to ask North how that went for the past 10 years. You still need a mix of mature and youth. Harley Reid, Hutchinson and Hewett will be in a lot of our centre setups this season. You mean to tell me youth don't improve. New year and youth are another year more experienced.

If the older blokes carrying them aren't getting them into finals, there's no point treading water, it's time to do a proper rebuild like North Melbourne have.

 

[Free Agent]

If the older blokes carrying them aren't getting them into finals, there's no point treading water, it's time to do a proper rebuild like North Melbourne have.

North's rebuild is in its 10th year.

Disagree. You remove the weak links and replace them with solid youth.
Our main issues were Sheed and Gaff and a injury prone Yeo

Also our strength and conditioning over the last 5 years is probably the worst in the league.
This season finally we looking like they have got them into somewhat better shape.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Again, you're deflecting, you're not looking at the stats again, why is that? How does an internal grading change the stats that show the midfielders are getting all the disposals/clearances are 4/5 in their late 20s or early 30s? And you say I don't watch the games, but you didn't notice Laird is the one that got over 100 more disposals and over 20 clearances more than any other player at Adelaide in 2024? I think that's projection.

Clearly you are beyond help as you comment on teams you can't even be bothered watching

 

[GoldbergsGold]

North's rebuild is in its 10th year.

No, they were treading water for years. They had 30+ players like Hall and Zieball carrying their midfield a few years ago. At least now they've retired them and the younger guys are leading their midfield stats, that's going to be huge for their future.

Disagree. You remove the weak links and replace them with solid youth.
Our main issues were Sheed and Gaff and a injury prone Yeo

Also our strength and conditioning over the last 5 years is probably the worst in the league.
This season finally we looking like they have got them into somewhat better shape.

West Coast's treading water and still the worst over relying on aged players in the midfield, just rip the band aid off and put youth in.

 

[GoldbergsGold]

Clearly you are beyond help as you comment on teams you can't even be bothered watching

You're really projecting, you didn't even know Laird was the highest disposal/clearance player for the Crows in 2024. This September will prove where the Crows are at, I predict the Crows aged players will have the most disposals/clearances again, and the Crows finish 18th-15th.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

You're really projecting, you didn't even know Laird was the highest disposal/clearance player for the Crows in 2024. This September will prove where the Crows are at, I predict the Crows aged players will have the most disposals/clearances again, and the Crows finish 18th-15th.

Of course I knew Laird had the most disposals, but given the lack of effectiveness is the reason he has been moved back to defence & #6 in our B&F.

If you actually watched our side, you would know he was moved back to defence late last season & this preseason has trained only with the defensive group.

You keep going on about how we are reliant on older players when we hardly have any! Would think we are Geelong or Collingwood by your carry on.