Adelaide, North Melbourne, Sydney, Hawthorn. Who would you rather be going forward and why???

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Boyohboywowwee

All Australian
Jun 3, 2015
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Port Adelaide
Just interested to see peoples thoughts on arguably the bottom 4 teams in the come come seasons end.
I believe the swans have the most upside by a long way and could potentially return to the finals from 2022. I don’t see the other 3 doing anything in years to come
 

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Foucault1989

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 16, 2016
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Carlton
Sydney. No question. They are three years ahead of the others in terms of their rebuild. Arguably Adelaide haven't hit rock bottom, Hawthorn probably have one more year mid table - will be interesting to see how they approach the off season and North....well the very definition of a battler. Lots of honest foot soldiers, some bright young, one or two good off seasons with an injection of youth and perhaps a Zac Williams could help them rise again.
 
Probably Adelaide - only because they're going so bad the playing group and footy department should be gutted without argument where the other three will still look to blame for the next couple of years and hold people who shouldn't be held
 

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Sydney for sure, they're miles in front of the other three sides at the moment when it comes to a rebuild.

North/Adelaide would be next, they've recognised what they need to do.

Hawthorn are a mystery. What they need to do seems clear, whether they buy into that or not remains to be seen.
 
Apr 11, 2012
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Hawthorn
Swans are miles in front of the other 3..their under 23 core is seriously elite and will be the cornerstone for their next flag tilt in 3 years time. They realised where they were at last year and did what we should have done two years ago.

North Melbourne have some nice young talent coming through in the likes of Larkey, Simpkin, Thomas, Scott, Davies-Uniake, zurhaar, Mahony & Taylor. Their issue is they have no 24-28 core to compliment their young talent. Their best players in Goldstein, higgins and Cunnington are also coming to the end and won’t be there when they are back playing finals.

Us and the Crows are in huge trouble over the next 3-5 years. I would say the Crows are in worse shape as their culture is absolutely cooked. The last two years has set their club back at least a decade. Our 24-28 year old core is decent but our under 23s are the worst in the league. Adelaide’s whole list is cooked.

In summary;

1) swans
Big gap
2) North
Small gap
3) Hawthorn
Small gap
4) Adelaide
 

Pykie

Cancelled
10k Posts A Star Wars Fan Pokemon is Life North Melbourne - North 2007 Player Sponsor North Melbourne - 2013 Daw, Black and Gibson Player Sponsorship
Sep 17, 2006
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Lord's
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North Melbourne
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We are in for some real pain for 3 years, but we are due a serious stint at the foot of the ladder in all honesty.


By that stage the current very promising group of 18-22 years olds will be in the 22-26 year old bracket, that group currently is really failing us atm.

I think our 18-22's are definitely the equal of Sydney's, I think we've had more RS noms than any other side in the last 18 months, including GC. We will be adding 2 x top 10 picks to that group this year as well.

Not all doom and gloom as next years draft is meant to be a belter akin to 2018.
 
Last edited:
Feb 28, 2007
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Sydney
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Sydney
We are in for some real pain for 3 years, but we are due a serious stint at the foot of the ladder in all honesty.


By that stage the current very promising group of 18-22 years olds will be in the 22-26 year old bracket, that group currently is really failing us atm.

I think our 18-22's are definitely the equal of Sydney's, I think we've had more RS noms than any other side in the last 18 months, including GC. We will be adding 2 x top 10 picks to that group this year as well.

Not all doom and gloom as next years draft is meant to be a belter akin to 2018.

I think North Melbournes problem is they got stuck in the dead zone, which is the zone in the middle of the ladder. Not good enough to be in premiership contention but too good for the top draft picks. Meant the list sort of stayed where it was, not fighting for flags and with no elite young players coming in. Made them a very workman like team.
 

NoPositiveTests!

Debutant
Jan 11, 2019
89
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AFL Club
Essendon
I think North Melbournes problem is they got stuck in the dead zone, which is the zone in the middle of the ladder. Not good enough to be in premiership contention but too good for the top draft picks. Meant the list sort of stayed where it was, not fighting for flags and with no elite young players coming in. Made them a very workman like team.
I wonder if this is a historic issue of not wanting to really bottom out, because the board know the consequences of repeated years at the bottom (e.g. relocation talk) - whether that's fair or not fair
 

Johnny Bananas

Premiership Player Hater
Sep 10, 2010
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Next door
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Brisbane Lions
Sydney and it isn't close. Premiership-winning coach, strong leaders like Rampe, guns like Papley, young talent like Blakey, and a heap of good academy players in this draft and in the future. Still have to pay off Buddy for another three years but they can use that time to collect heaps of young talent for another finals charge.
 
Feb 28, 2007
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Sydney
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I wonder if this is a historic issue of not wanting to really bottom out, because the board know the consequences of repeated years at the bottom (e.g. relocation talk) - whether that's fair or not fair

I am curious about your thoughts on the issue too as I would argue Essendon have been stuck in this zone for a while as well. I mean Essendon are not a bad team this year, but you are not going to be winning the flag. As a result you will likely get another middle of the road draft pick instead of a draft pick that will allow you to bring in someone elite. Other than the ASADA years Essendon have been a middle of the table team for a long time now.
 

NoPositiveTests!

Debutant
Jan 11, 2019
89
156
AFL Club
Essendon
I am curious about your thoughts on the issue too as I would argue Essendon have been stuck in this zone for a while as well. I mean Essendon are not a bad team this year, but you are not going to be winning the flag. As a result you will likely get another middle of the road draft pick instead of a draft pick that will allow you to bring in someone elite. Other than the ASADA years Essendon have been a middle of the table team for a long time now.
You are right, for various reasons, ASADA included, we haven't been able to get near the top (in my biased opinion, we underperformed), but haven't spent too long at the bottom. We ended up netting McGrath in the year of the suspensions, and traded some early picks to nab the likes of Shiel, Smith and co.

Looking at our list profile where i think our best players are evenly spread, we should be competing with the top 4 right now. It's hard to say to what extent we get an excuse this year based on injuries, but we are still only 6 points off fourth spot, with one game less than some. Still hoping it's a very late pick this year!
 

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