2015 Ladder predictions

[Schauermann]

Sydney, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide are the top three teams in the comp IMO. I expect Geelong, North and us to make the finals again with the final two spots to be taken by two of Richmond, Essendon, Gold Coast, West Coast or Adelaide.

I think we will be in the top six.

Pretty much agree.

 

[Purpletown]

1 Hawks
2 Swans
3 Freo
4 Port
5 Cats
6 Roos
7 Crows
8 Suns

9 Richmond (who else?)
10 Egos
11 Essendon?
12 Pies
13 Lions
14 Blues
15 GWS
16 Saints
17 Melbourne
18 Bulldogs

Like a few others I am not sold on the Port hype. The Hawks have been run close in their past 3 Prelims so nothing to hang your hat on there IMO.

Freo need luck with injuries perhaps more so than some other sides.

Egos have got an amazing draw so there will be plenty of talk about how great they are until they collide with reality mid season.

Essendon = ASADA quagmire and how would anyone know what will happen there?

 

[Lost_Deputy]

Man it's gonna be a great year. The team that can win the close ones will grab the cup. Hoping that's what RTB is talking about with "building a hard edge". We gotta be clutch. Maybe experience will count for something

 

[beetz]

1. Hawks
2. Freo
3. Sydney
4. Port
5. Kangas
6. Geel
7. Crows
8. Tigers

9. GC
10. Carlton
11.Essendon
12. Brisbane
13. Melbourne
14. Collingwood
15. West Coast
16. GWS
17. Western Bulldogs
18. St Kilda

 

[Schauermann]

1 Hawks
2 Swans
3 Freo
4 Port
5 Cats
6 Roos
7 Crows
8 Suns

9 Richmond (who else?)
10 Egos
11 Essendon?
12 Pies
13 Lions
14 Blues
15 GWS
16 Saints
17 Melbourne
18 Bulldogs

Like a few others I am not sold on the Port hype. The Hawks have been run close in their past 3 Prelims so nothing to hang your hat on there IMO.

Freo need luck with injuries perhaps more so than some other sides.

Egos have got an amazing draw so there will be plenty of talk about how great they are until they collide with reality mid season.

Essendon = ASADA quagmire and how would anyone know what will happen there?

Agree on Top 6 and bottom 3 (perhaps Freo below North and Port, but I am naturally more pessimistic). Both will most likely be between those team. Last two finals spots are pretty much between the 9 remaining teams. But would agree again that GWS and Carlton probably the most unlikely ones. Hard to split. Injuries and close games will play an important role for finals ladder position.

 

[clogged]

Swans
Hawks
Port
Freo
North
Dogs
GWS
Geelong

Adelaide
Tigers
West Coast
GCS
Carlton

Collingwood
Melbourne
Essendon
Saints

 

[beetz]

Swans
Hawks
Port
Freo
North
Dogs
GWS
Geelong

Adelaide
Tigers
West Coast
GCS
Carlton

Collingwood
Melbourne
Essendon
Saints

What?

 

[Unique Name]

Speaking of the Dogs, who's everyone tipping in the Eagles v Dogs game? I've still got Eagles penciled in but I'm wavering slightly.

 

[gaskin]

Speaking of the Dogs, who's everyone tipping in the Eagles v Dogs game? I've still got Eagles penciled in but I'm wavering slightly.

Bulldogs. They are my surprise bolter this season.

 

[freo84]

Bulldogs. They are my surprise bolter this season.

I agree.

I've been telling a few Eagles supporters at work that beating the Doggies round 1 isn't a given. They all laugh at me scoffing loudly and asking how many premierships I've won. I walk away with a shake of the head and a sad smile.

1 - Hawks - Still the best IMHO
2 - Freo - Improvement from injured players will drive us to be better than last year.
3 - Port - Going to be tough to beat
4 - Sydney - Same same for Sydney. Chock filled with talent

5 - Norf - I reckon they will win a few more of the close ones and push up
6 - Geelong - I have no idea where to put them but you can't write them off.
7 - Suns - They will push up this season. A lot to like.
8 - Adelaide - A lot to like.

9 - Richmond - Not sure where to put them. Anywhere from 5th to 9th
10 - Essendon - ASADA Dependant
11 - Doggies - Improving and will only get better
12 - West Coast - middle of the road.

13 - Brisbane - Will surprise some but ultimately fall short
14 - Melbourne - Slowly climb the ladder with an emerging team
15 - GWS - Same as Melbourne. Won't finish last.
16 - Collingwood - Horrid team lacking on every line. Buckley has ruined a powerhouse.

17 - Carlton - Lost Malthouse's marbles. The dude is crazy.
18 - Saints - In full rebuilding mode.

 

[salim malik]

$100.000.000 on the table if you get it right at seasons end for a 5 buck investment

 

[Schauermann]

Bulldogs. They are my surprise bolter this season.

Well, Grifffin, Cooney, Liberatore gone leaves a huge hole in their midfield. Not sure how they can improve dramaticly even when it still doesn't look totally bad. But a lot of young player would have to step up...

 

[clogged]

Cooney hadn't contributed in a consistent way for years.

They look more well rounded this year. Maybe they'll still be crap, but they looked quite impressive in parts of the preseason.

 

[ep2018]

Bulldogs. They are my surprise bolter this season.

Too many preseason injuries. We should get the job done.

 

[Schauermann]

Cooney hadn't contributed in a consistent way for years.

Nö, but he has was often very decent. And experienced.

 

[Swan Districts Kid]

Here's where some of the pundits predict us finishing on the 2015 AFL ladder:

• Shane Crawford 3rd
• Grant Baker 3rd
• Michael Whiting 4th
• Dermot Brereton 4th
• Jonathan Brown 4th
• Scott Gullan 4th
• Sam Edmund 4th
• Jay Clark 4th
• Daryl Timms 4th
• Nathan Schmook 5th
• Harry Thring 5th
• Callum Twomey 5th
• David King 5th
• John Anderson 5th
• Michael Warner 5th
• Glenn McFarlane 5th
• Rebecca Williams 5th
• Mat Windsley 5th
• Nick Bowen 6th
• Ashley Browne 6th
• Nat Edwards 6th
• Travis King 6th
• Peter Ryan 6th
• Gerald Whately 6th
• Sam Landsberger 6th
• Ron Reed 6th
• Jen Phelan 7th
• Mark Robinson 7th
• Warwick Green 7th
• Ben Guthrie 8th
• Jon Ralph 8th
• Ben Collins 9th

Overall, this sample reflects us finishing between 5th & 6th spot on average.

I honestly believe Fremantle will finish in 4th spot & has a fair chance of finishing 3rd. The main reason for this is our fixture - because we finished 2nd in 2013, we had the second hardest fixture in 2014. Our post finals 6th place 2014 finish means we have a much easier fixture this season. Lyon is still one of the best game day coaches around.

I think that the vast majority of pundits are eastern states based & simply don't really follow the Dockers very closely, and therefore subscribe to the current collective mantra that we're too old & have passed by our premiership window.

The question is - Are my rose tinted glasses too strong? Is the overwhelming sentiment of the pundits right? Am I missing a big trick here?

 

[ImperialPurple]

I honestly believe Fremantle will finish in 4th spot & has a fair chance of finishing 3rd. The main reason for this is our fixture - because we finished 2nd in 2013, we had the second hardest fixture in 2014. Our post finals 6th place 2014 finish means we have a much easier fixture this season. Lyon is still one of the best game day coaches around.

Unfortunately there's no difference finishing 1st or 6th as far as the draw (fixture) goes - the teams are grouped in sixes (top third, middle third, bottom third) and then supposedly the draw is made up from that.

 

[Eski3]

All the pundits that are having us miss the 4 don't seem to realise that we had the exact same number of wins in 2014 as we did in 2013. We were beaten up and exhausted by the time the finals came around and our wayward kicking coupled with our injuries to key defenders meant we lost to Port in a game we should have won. Crowley aside, we haven't had any major injuries and there are a few players that are coming out of the pre-season showing signs of serious improvement. I see absolutely no reason why we can't get another 16 wins and top 4 again this season

For some reason, when pundits are asked to give their opinion on football in this country, the only thing that they look at is the last game a team played. Memories of goldfish. It's also why Port are tipped to win the premiership, because at the end of the year they almost beat Hawthorn. We all saw how terrible they were when they copped some injuries in the middle of the year, but that's apparently irrelevant

 

[rodney hoo]

Anyway seasons here & I'm a always out of left field here goes.
Freo
Norths
Hawks
Cats
Swans
Tigers
Port
Crows
Suns
Lions
Eagles
Pies
Bombers? ASADA
Dogs
Giants
Demons
Blues
Saints

 

[pavsbootlace]

The question is - Are my rose tinted glasses too strong? Is the overwhelming sentiment of the pundits right? Am I missing a big trick here?

The answer to your question is here.

the vast majority of pundits are eastern states based & simply don't really follow the Dockers very closely, and therefore subscribe to the current collective mantra

 

[FreoLyons]

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

 

[GilG]

For what it's worth...

1. HAW
2. FRE
3. PORT
4. NML
5. SYD
6. GEE
7. RICH
8. WCE
9. ESS
10. GCS
11. ADL
12. BNE
13. COLL
14. MEL
15. GWS
16. CARL
17. STK
18. WBD

 

[Patty_Moz]

Really not sure where we'll finish at this stage. I think there are question marks over a number of players atm which I can see going either way.

I feel Clarke, Clancee, De Boer, Danyle, Suban, Sheridan, Mayne & Ibbo (injury wise) even Croz and Tabs have all shown they've good enough at times but need to do it consistently for 22 games for us to really progress- if they can then I'm really positive.
Then there are the pure unknowns Crowley, Sylvia & Mora and who knows what will come of them and how they will affect us?
Finally there's the age of Pav, Sandi, Macca and Johnson will they still dominate? can they be managed? or will they start to fade?
There's also some good kids which I'm excited to see.

I wish Crowls all the best and hope he gets off but I'm happy that his omission forces us to go about it a bit differently I think we needed a bit of a change.

For me a lot rests in this 1st 4 weeks and if we can come out 4-0/ 3-1 then I'll be confident of top 2/4 but if we go 2-2 or worse then I think we'll be also rans.

Just hanging for Sunday I'll be screaming my lungs out!!!! Go Freo lets make 2015 ours!!!

 

[Alfonz]

Agree with the previous post.

Without being flippant about the other games (which we should win if we play to capabilities, chances are we'll lose the odd one though), we have the following main games in my opinion:
Freo v Port
Gee v Freo
Freo v Syd
Haw v Freo
Port v Freo

I think we need to go 3-2 in these games to finish top 2. Maybe 2-3 at worse. Gives a slight margin for error to lose 1 or 2 of the other games, which will probably happen (e.g. North away, WC is bound to win a derby one of these days, a few other tricky ones). The Hawks/Port games in latter part of year are most probable losses, so I think if we want to be serious (which means top 2), we basically need to start 4-0 or 3-1 at worst with our really tough draw.

The Port game might just be one game to start a long season, but it is incredibly important and shape our season significantly. Drop the Port game, and it might indicate we aren't as good as we hope, some of the other possible wins would be losses based on that form, and we'll be down in the 5th-8th bracket.

 

[Simmofreo]

For what it's worth...

1. HAW
2. FRE
3. PORT
4. NML
5. SYD
6. GEE
7. RICH
8. WCE
9. ESS
10. GCS
11. ADL
12. BNE
13. COLL
14. MEL
15. GWS
16. CARL
17. STK
18. WBD

That would mean we have to play port in a final again

Haha the better they get the sicker I am of having to play them In crucial games all the time haha