Making ladder predictions this time of year is an absolute mug's game, but anyway here's mine........
Hawthorn
West Coast
Sydney
Geelong
Fremantle
Adelaide
Collingwood
Richmond
Essendon*
Carlton
North Melbourne
St Kilda
Brisbane
Melbourne
Western Bulldogs
Port Adelaide
GWS
Gold CoastHawthorn has to start as premiership favourites and I think the Eagles will be there or thereabouts this year.
However.....Beware the Cats!! That's my tip for 2013. They have a good draw and are still a premiership threat. Despite losing the ageing Scarlett, the Cats have improved their list, they are well coached and are ready to go IMO. I'd laugh my arse off if they carried their 'hoodoo' over the Hawks into the GF and revenge 2008 (I'm not a big fan of Clarko, in case you can't tell, and Bruce's regular Friday night furious masturbations over Cyril and Buddy has made me dislike Hawthorn even more.....but, putting those irrational feelings aside, you must respect the Hawks and they should win the flag in 2013.....unless someone can spoil the party like Sydney did last year, and I reckon Geelong is the most likely to be capable of doing it).
For me, Collingwood are the great unknown factor going into 2013. I've gone the 'safe' option and lumped them as 7th, but I can equally see them making the top 4 as bombing out and missing the finals totally. The latter is unlikely, but I'm just not quite sure what we're going to get from the Pies in 2013.....
Adelaide has too good a midfield and too good a draw to not make the finals, and unless Pavlich goes down I can't see Freo not making the finals.
About this time last year, I think I upset a few TCers by saying I thought that a lot would have to go right for Carlton to make the 8 (let alone the top 4). To be quite honest, I think the same applies this year. Don't get me wrong, I think we'll be right in the mix for a 5th-8th finals spot (I think there will be very little difference between Fremantle & North on the above ladder) - but we'll need luck with injury and in close games to finish ahead of the teams I have above us. I don't agree that injury was the only reason we didn't make the top 4 last year - I think we still have some issues that Malthouse can't change in one pre-season. A tough early season draw doesn't help.
I've gone with Richmond to nudge ahead of Essendon*, us & NM for 8th spot. I know it's risky business to back the Tigers, but I think they have finally got their act together....Their midfield is equally as dynamic as ours, and by the end of 2013 will perhaps have gone past ours. They have a key forward who stays on the park, can kick 70 goals in a season and has developed into an unselfish footballer. Their defence is still a question mark, but is getting better. Their list runs deeper than it has in years. Like all teams, but particularly the teams in that 5th-11th bracket (including us), the Tigers can't afford injuries to key players and will need their "bottom 6" to step up, but I almost think a spot in the 8 is their's to lose at this stage. Unlike us, the Tigers have had stability in their coaching ranks and the addition of Choco Williams will help them along. Their supporters will be unbearable over the next few years....
Essendon* of course may finish lower than 9th if players get suspended for alleged "irregular practices" etc, but otherwise I think the effect of the controversy will be that it brings the players closer and they won't be an easy side to beat in 2013 IMO.
St Kilda might be in trouble. Unlike the Cats & the Swans, the Saints weren't able to keep improving their list through smart recruiting while they were at the top end of the ladder (a la Bulldogs). They are staying competitive at the moment because the likes of Hayes, Riewoldt & Milne have hung on....but the end comes quickly sometimes for players like that and when there isn't a great deal coming up from underneath, sides can fall away suddenly. Maybe I'm underestimating what the Saints have in their ranks, but I can see them slipping down to bottom 4 in the next few years as GWS & GC start to lift themselves up.
Anyway, as I said, ladder predictions this time of year are a fairly pointless exercise probably, but I thought I'd have a go because (a) it's a bit of fun; (b) it's in the spirit of the thread; and (c) I wanted to get in before the media 'experts' start publishing their predictions....
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