Trade week has been a complete waste of time for the most part with very little happening and no big names changing homes. Therefore, with no further ado I have looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict how season 2012 may pan out. Let’s look at my ladder prediction:
01 Collingwood – Grand Final loss will burn and deter any chance of a drop in intensity
02 Hawthorn – Shocking run with injuries in 2011 and still went within a kick of the big one
03 Carlton – Continue improvement will see them break into the top four
04 Fremantle – Another with a bad injury list in 2012. New coach and a chance to push for top four
05 Geelong – Are getting older and have been up for a long time. Can they go again?
06 StKilda – Lack depth,but have superstars who will carry them to the right once more
07 North Melbourne – Time to step up. AFL must give a decent draw which will help.
08 West Coast – Best players are getting older and game plan won’t be such a surprise in 2012
09 Essendon – Lack champions. Will need a lot of improvement to make finals again
10 Sydney – Gone to well once to many times? Best players are getting late in their careers.
11 Western Bulldogs – 2011 was a disaster, and hard to see next season being much better.
12 Richmond – Building a decent list, but still lacking at the book ends. Mid field needs to carry long way
13 Adelaide - New coach. Good young list as well, but sill lack good forwards who can kick winning scores
14 Melbourne – Ditto Adelaide. Who will kick their goals and defence will be hard pressed to stand up
15 Gold Coast – Young side will be improved, but still several years away from being competitive week in week out
16 Brisbane – Competitive in so many matches, but won few. Fit Brown would help, but he may be past it
17 Port Adelaide – So many rats trying to leave the sinking ship. Hard to see much future in short-term.
18 GWS – May not win a match. Don’t expect a repeat of the Suns competitiveness.
So, there we have it. I am sure that there will be plenty of debate and a few raised hackles by my predictions. Would love to hear what others think will happen. No doubt I will be back peddling come late March 2012 when some teams have shown improvement in the pre-season, whilst others have done little. Enjoy the break from the footy – we’ll be back into it within a little over five months. No doubt it will be here before we know it.
