Opinion Realistically...where's your club finishing and why? (Unbiased edition)

[Tandy]

We can all have a bias opinion...some club supporters more than others. But realistically, where do you see your side finishing.
For me, Geelongs best players are on the downhill now. We could make the 8. But I see us anywhere between 7th-13th. No better than a Semi final.

 

[Colonial]

Top 4 fighting for the flag.

 

[RUNVS]

Anywhere between 3rd and 10th I think. I very much hope it is closer to 3rd than 10th though but it depends on injuries and also how well our backline gells. Wish we still had Paddy though as I would feel more confident then.

 

[bradfisher14]

Top 4 and ideally a Qualifying Final at the MCG. From there, who knows what can happen.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Who the hell knows with Essendon I reckon anywhere between 14th - 6th, which is such a big gap that it's basically fence sitting.

If i had to pick 4 spots I'd say between 10th-7th

 

[YeoShuey]

Who the hell knows with Essendon I reckon anywhere between 14th - 6th which is such a big gap that it's basically fence sitting.

If i had to pick 4 spots I'd say between 11th-7th

That’s 5 spots but good try.

 

[TheUnicorn]

That’s 5 spots but good try.

 

[Cleansweep17]

8th-12th

Most likely 11th

I think with Yze’s fresh gameplan and returning players from injury and new players gelling more I don’t see how we don’t do better than 13th last year.

A lot of people forget we went through last year with a coach who didn’t care, another one who was a dud and carried two old players to reach their personal milestones. It affected the team performance a lot. It doesn’t guarantee he’ll be good this year but we pretty much went through the whole last year without Lynch. If he plays 20+ games I think a push for finals is a possibility.

Dusty is also looking like he’s shaken the rust off. Last 1/3 of the season was AA quality.

 

[M Malice]

The big prize or bust.... Not really a bust, IMO our flag window realistically has 2 more seasons well and truly open after 2024.

For 2024 top 4 and then anything can happen from there, hopefully if we get there our list is healthy.

 

[Hinkleys Donuts]

If it results in the club sacking Hinkley, I'd take bottom four.
Otherwise I think we will finish in the top 6-8 clubs

 

[Tandy]

If it results in the club sacking Hinkley, I'd take bottom four.
Otherwise I think we will finish in the top 6-8 clubs

Love the honesty HD

 

[Tandy]

Who the hell knows with Essendon I reckon anywhere between 14th - 6th which is such a big gap that it's basically fence sitting.

If i had to pick 4 spots I'd say between 10th-7th

Yeah a finals win seems a must for Essendon but it's really hard to see them doing it. Seems like they're always waiting for the younger players to come on and I think this year is the same. Is Perkins, Reid, Jones, Hobbs, Cox ready to be the guy? Or are they still 2 years away

 

[Bradkli]

12th-16th

8-10 wins

 

[TheUnicorn]

Yeah a finals win seems a must for Essendon but it's really hard to see them doing it. Seems like they're always waiting for the younger players to come on and I think this year is the same. Is Perkins, Reid, Jones, Hobbs, Cox ready to be the guy? Or are they still 2 years away

Of our young players.

Reid looks impressive and his body seems ready to finally string games together. So having him and McKay should be a considerable difference in defence, compared to our perpetually undersized defense. Should free up Ridley a bit too.
Perkins and Hobbs seems the most likely if any to improve this year out of the young crop.
Jones seems to have regressed from his earlier years a bit so hopefully he can show some improvement or he may just fall behind Caddy at this rate.
Cox is the biggest question mark of them all. We aren't even sure what position to play him at the moment, although we seem to be settling on HB. He's probably not even best 22 at the moment though.
Nic Martin is moving to HB so we can utilize his damaging foot skills.
Durrsma to the wing.
We seem to be playing with the idea of rotating Durham through the middle. Not sure how it will play out but he has added a bit of size and loves throwing his body around.
Caldwell is quite young still and it would be nice if he could take it to another level. He did show a bit when Parish was out of the team.
Tsatas probably isn't ready just yet. Has been impressive but we have plenty of young midfielders in our rotation and he probably needs to fix up his disposals via foot. May see some wing time.
Baldwin looks solid and is pressing his case for a spot in our defense.
Hayes is also coming along nicely in defense. All of a sudden our defensive line isn't look too shabby but if McKay goes down it will spell trouble as Reid can't cover him for size yet.
Nick Bryan has been competing well vs Goldstein this pre season and may be ready to compete at an AFL level. Which is good for depth if nothing else, seeing as Draper is still yet to join the main training group.


The rest.

Having a fit Setterfield really helps balance out our midfield so hopefully he stays on the park, as he missed most of the year.
Stringer had a fairly interupted season and always looked a bit pudgy, This year he looks in very good shape and his body seems right, will be good to rotate through the guts and good for 25 or so goals.
Wright missed half of last year and once he came back he appeard to be a bit cautious of his shoulder.
Our small forwards have been a little questionable for a while, Menzie did alright last year for a young fella. Gresham has impressed this pre season, so hopefully he can fill that hole.
If Parish can replicate his 2021 season that would also be a decent boost.

Fitness and Training seems to have improved with the addition of some new staff etc.
Brad Scott said at the start of last year that his first year would be a bit of a "Look and see" year, so potentially we actually have somewhat of a gameplan this year.
Our depth overall has improved and our list is looking quite healthy knock on wood

This is all hearsay and wishful thinking, but this is basically where I see our improvements (If any) coming from.

I don't think we necessarily need to make the 8 this year, our list age is in quite a good spot. It would be nice to see us stay competitive for the full season and not roll over like we did in the back of last year.

 

[Arr0w]

I think top 6

 

[Arr0w]

12th-16th

8-10 wins

I have you 10-11 wins

 

[Blue1980]

If everything goes right we can win the flag.

If all goes wrong I’d say about 10th.

 

[Schauermann]

Probably inside that big group of teams fighting for the lower top 8 spot. 5th-14th.

 

[Roddy]

I’m predicting improvement, but not enough to get us into finals just yet. 9-10 wins.
Finals next year.
Flag in ‘27.

 

[Cyclops]

I think the Pies could be top 6.

We're coming off a flag, good list which we've added a little to, and really top notch coaches.

A whole bag if key players are over 30, a few over 35, when injuries come rhicker and faster. It could all go south very fast.

The quality of our list isn't as central to our success, so long as rhe coaching panel is on the ball they've proven they can patch winning combos out of bit players like Frampton, Noble, Mihocek and many others.

Worst case would be a rash of injuries forcing retirements and forcing our stars into covering unfamiliar roles. Say Pendles Sidey and De Goey all miss 20 games, or both rucks go down long term, Id still back us to win 12 to 14 games and maybe pinch a final.

We did cover some extended gaps on 2023 (Daics and de Goey out, Frampton first ruck for a few weeks).

It'll take a lot if luck (like we had in 2023) but we could jag back to back flags. I bloody hope so I've been shooting my mouth off about our looming 4peat.

 

[burge13]

Undefeated, Dawson Brownlow, Tex Coleman and North Smith in a 10 goal GF win over the Pies. We play so well the AFL grant us a home GF after a media and fan push.

Or, more likely 7th-10th.

 

[JayJ20]

Improved list, but not top 6. 7th-11th

 

[Milanista28]

10th, mid table is home now.

 

[Mr Meow]

The last time Geelong didn't bounce back and improve after a poor season was 2003.

There's about 12 extra players who have had a full pre season.

Our 2020/2022 BnF midfielder is back.

A softer draw and early games at GMHBA.

Anything below 10th would be surprising. Finals expected. Top 4 would need everything to go right.

About 7th or so I guess.

 

[juss]

Can't pick a specific spot, but every club has a range, I usualy break mine down into top 6 (1-6), middle 6 (7-12) bottom 6 (13-18).
Some teams cross over ranges but I reckon you can put a decent category on each club within those ranges.

I have Richmond in the 7-12 range, and probably more realistic to be the lower end of that range.
A lot will be injury dependent, particularly if Lynch can stay on the park for 18+ games he is so structurally important to us that will directly effect a few wins.

The midfield return of Dusty Martin will be very interesting, with Bolton earmarked to play more forward where he was AA in 2022(?) I think as a 40+ goal forward.

I like Taranto and Hopper improving in their second years at the club too.

But a new coach will mean change, and that could see us struggle to make finals. I think we have enough talent to win a chunk of games, which will avoid us completely bombing out, but it's likely to be within the chasing ladder pack in that gridlock of middle teams, and probably slightly miss out on finals as we transition with a new coach.