Predictions - and discussion - in lead up to 2015 season..

[Footy Smart]

Adelaide

Best Case Scenario- Patrick Dangerfield re-signs and has a career best season on his way to a Brownlow Medal win, forming one of the most lethal midfield combinations with Sam Jacobs and Rory Sloane building towards elite, and Brad Crouch emerging as one of the games stars. Tex Walker relishes in his role as captain and places high in the Coleman Medal race. Talia leads a back 6 brimming with confidence following a breath of fresh air under new coach Phil Walsh, with Adelaide's first look at their 2 pillars in Talia and Lever exciting fans that a weakness is all of a sudden a strength. A cohesive, team first attitude sees Adelaide create massive inroads towards a premiership assault in the coming years.

Worst Case Scenario- Dangerfield accepts a lucrative deal with a Victorian powerhouse. Jacobs and Talia suffer lengthy injuries exposing Adelaide to an obvious lack of depth of key position players, and Phil Walsh's first year in tenure produces inconsistent results, causing Adelaide's fan base to scream sabotage from their cross town rival.

Valleys' final thoughts It's hard to see Adelaide missing the 8 this year. A dream run from a fixture perspective, and what can be described as almost the complete spine, Phil Walsh will be looking to bring a hard nosed, team first approach to this line up. Fresh change often brings out the best in young groups, and with an average age of 24.2, its a matter of getting games into the kids to see the crows become a serious threat in the coming seasons.

Position: 6th
Best & Fairest: Rory Sloane

Young guns to watch: Matt Crouch, Jake Lever

Valleys your always provide a well balanced view on things. Im looking forward to you match reports during the season also.

[valleys07]

Cheers FS, appreciate it mate!

[woodublieve12]

another ridiculous decision by the AFL...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-01-28/b ... s-kneejerk

[GWW]

Unfortunately for current CEO, he has to fix up the stupidity of Demetriou.

[daysofourlives]

another ridiculous decision by the AFL...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-01-28/b ... s-kneejerk

How so? Seems legit to me
Dont know about 3 picks for Heeney but I reckon your 1st 2 picks would be fair. As Sydney finished so high it is very cheap to get him with pick 18. Wouldnt be complaining if say they had a pick in top 10 and had to use that, that seems fair.
Hope it gets changed very soon, the article mentions Sydney may have this years potential No 1 pick at their academy. That Buddy deal must have really pissed the AFL. Hope he can win you a flag on his own back cos you arnt getting any help anytime soon

[gadj1976]

I hope you're right with Carlton's prediction! That way Malthouse will go, finally.

BUT, we have a much easier draw than last year, when we illegitimately finished 6th in 2013. So we'll win about the same, maybe a couple more than 2014 I reckon, thereby having the unfortunate side effect of "improving" and Malthouse keeping his job for 2016 and beyond (sigh).

[woodublieve12]

another ridiculous decision by the AFL...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-01-28/b ... s-kneejerk

How so? Seems legit to me
Dont know about 3 picks for Heeney but I reckon your 1st 2 picks would be fair. As Sydney finished so high it is very cheap to get him with pick 18. Wouldnt be complaining if say they had a pick in top 10 and had to use that, that seems fair.
Hope it gets changed very soon, the article mentions Sydney may have this years potential No 1 pick at their academy. That Buddy deal must have really pissed the AFL. Hope he can win you a flag on his own back cos you arnt getting any help anytime soon

didn't right this so i can't take credit for it but i agree with it...

I can already hear the chorus of fans from the other 14 clubs screaming, "we want the same". It's natural to have your own club's interests at heart – we all do - but if you consider the below points, I'm sure you'll see the value in the four Queensland and NSW clubs continuing to run their own academies and having primary access to those players. The only reason this is even an issue is because of Isaac Heeney. No one blinked twice when the Brisbane Lions selected Jonathan Freeman 12 months earlier under the same system, but now because the Swans landed a future gun for unders, all hell has broken loose. It's a vexed issue, but northern clubs lose players to the 'go home factor' far more often than any other clubs. While they've done well to spread the AFL message in the past 25 years, participation numbers in Queensland and New South Wales are still relatively low. The two states simply don't produce enough AFL talent at the moment, meaning their predominantly interstate lists are more open to being raided. The Swans, Giants, Lions and Suns aren't able to fill their teams with locals (like the Eagles, Crows or most Victorians clubs), so having academies to firstly lure talent to the sport, and then nurture it to an AFL standard, is a great way of levelling this out. Heeney wouldn't even be playing the game if it wasn't for the Swans' academy. Not only do rugby league and rugby get more media attention, they also get the majority of young sporting talent up north. The advent of the academies has slowly started to swing that player balance and provide the AFL with a greater pool of quality from two more states. The more players the academies produce, the more regularly other clubs will outbid their northern rivals to access this pool. Perhaps the system could be reviewed in years to come, but for the time being, having Queenslanders play in Queensland and New South Welshmen play for New South Wales is great for the code. - Michael Whiting

[GWW]

How many Swans players have wanted to leave the club recently - Mumford, perhaps, but he stayed in the city and went to GWS.

Its the same for all clubs - get some success and/or stabilise the club, and players will stay....I'm not a Crows fan, but given how they lost Davis, Tippett, Bock, Gunston etc, it seems a little silly to be giving certain clubs a benefit when another club has been just as affected, but hasn't received the same concession.

[valleys07]

Port Adelaide

Best Case Scenario- Paddy Ryder becomes the missing link in a Power side that sweeps all before them on their way to a 2nd premiership. Robbie Gray gets noticed enough to feature prominently on Brownlow night, and Port Adelaide complete a remarkable turnaround in a premiership season by turning an operating profit.

Worst Case Scenario- Ryder and Monfries fall victim to ASADA sanctions, Port suffer crippling injuries to KPP's, and after a tough start, never really recover and fall from the premiership race.

Valleys' final thoughts- A side that has achieved so much, but so little over the last 2 years must begin to stamp its authority this season. The recruit of Ryder is a massive piece to the premiership puzzle, but wont do the job on his own to reach the heights of Hawthorn. The ASADA presence leaves a lingering cloud over Port Adelaide's premiership aspirations, and until sanctions are finalised, its hard to place Port in the echelon of Hawthorn and Sydney. 3 points from a grand final shows our best is good enough- can they go the next step?

Position: 2nd
Best & Fairest: Travis Boak

Young guns to watch: Karl Amon, Tom Clurey

[valleys07]

Richmond

Best Case Scenario- Teams decide that they can't be bothered competing for 8th spot, and hit the snooze button as Richmond decide to again line up for a September bashing. For a change- this time it happens in the semi final, as a minor miracle sees them win the Elimination Final.

Worst Case Scenario- Dustin Martin goes off the rails, Ivan Maric sustains a lengthy injury and too much is left to too few as the Tigers go awol and return to the all familiar slums of the bottom 10.

Valleys' final thoughts- The september massacre of 2014 will live long in Tiger fans memory, who would out rival any fan base for celebratory rioting, should they actually win something. Sadly for them, 2015 will be much of a muchness, as their average list peters along. Deledio, Martin, Cotchin, Ellis and Maric headline their A grade talent, but it doesn't get pretty from there. Rance headlines a relatively mediocre defence (Chaplin- LOL), Riewoldt is far too inconsistent to ensure Richmond can rely on him lifting them into the top 4, and Players such as Vickery and Hampson leave alot to be desired. Their top draftees in Conca, Vlastuin & Lennon are some of the names that need a huge spike in improvement if Richmond are to progress anywhere.

Position: 13th
Best & Fairest: Brett Deledio

Young guns to watch: Anthony Miles

[valleys07]

St.Kilda

Best Case Scenario- The saints continue to get valuable games into their kids, and get a 12 month look into their post-Riewoldt forwardline, with young Paddy McCartin headlining the new age Saints.

Worst Case Scenario- Youngsters such as Newnes, Billings, Dunstan and McCartin accept a lucrative offer from one of the big 4 vic clubs, stifling the clubs re-build.

Valleys' final thoughts- Another long year for Saints fans, but one i'd be quite happy to sit through as a supporter. Its obvious Richardson has a clear goal in mind, and the Saints are moving on most who are list clogging or on the wrong side of 30, in favour of games into their youngsters. Dunstan, Billings and Newnes will be stars, and the Hickey/Longer ruck combo holds huge potential. A long year with the occasional belting, but 2016 is where I begin to see improvement in their list.

Position: 18th
Best & Fairest: Nick Riewoldt

Young guns to watch: Paddy McCartin, Jack Newnes

[valleys07]

Sydney

Best Case Scenario- Sydney extract revenge for last years Grand Final hammering, sweeping all before them on their way to the flag. Buddy justifies his move on field, with another premiership medallion, and Tom Mitchell and Issac Heeney make their presence felt in a midfield group which grows from strength to strength. Kurt Tippett manages to show that he is worth at least a quarter of his actual salary.

Worst Case Scenario- Buddy continues to offer distractions with off field news, Tippett proves as useless as a nuns tits for a $1m player, and opposition players smash into Sydney's midfield, exposing obvious fragility of a star studded midfield group.

Valleys' final thoughts- I can't help but think the 2014 GF has opened up some obvious deficiencies in Sydney's line up. Don't get me wrong, they have natural talent to see them through to a top 4 position, but when the heat was on in the kitchen, Hawthorn's tackling pressure and complete and utter contested mauling of Sydney's midfield was unlike anything I have ever seen from two high calibre sides in a grand final. It will go one of two ways..


Position: 3rd
Best & Fairest: Lance Franklin

Young guns to watch: Issac Heeney, Tom Mitchell

[valleys07]

West Coast

Best Case Scenario- NicNat avoids injury to feed Priddis a 2nd Brownlow, along with a huge spike in midfield output. Kennedy gets much better supply generating a serious challenge for the coleman, and the likes of McKenzie, Schofield and McGovern heading their back 6 begin the resurgence of the Eagles to the top 8.

Worst Case Scenario- The Eagles pedestrian midfield and injuries to their big men deliver another mediocre season.

Valleys' final thoughts- The Eagles are a hard team to assess. I really like their back 6, and I think their front 6 has a lot of potential working around Josh Kennedy and Scott Lycett, but their midfield is a huge concern. Priddis is obviously their chief ball winner, but after that Selwood, Shuey, Masten, Gaff and Wellingham are nothing outstanding as a midfield group. A group that lacks quality outside delivery against the gun sides, and a midfield incapable of having players regularly cause opposition headaches, its hard to see the Eagles doing much damage this season.


Position: 12th
Best & Fairest: Matt Priddis

Young guns to watch: Alec Waterman, Dom Sheed

[valleys07]

Western Bulldogs

Best Case Scenario- Tom Boyd takes all before him, earning every bit of his $1m salary with a 50 goal season. Young guns Macrae, Bontempelli, Stringer, Dalhaus, Liberatore, Wallis provide significant growth and show signs of improving the squad towards a top 8 spot in the coming seasons. Best case this year is a bottom 3 finish and another crack at some key position talent.

Worst Case Scenario- Boyd sends a "Scully stench" through the Whitten Oval, as the dogs key position stocks go from bad to worse. Macrae or Bontempelli depart for the lucrative offer from a big 4 club.

Valleys' final thoughts- Jeez, what pressure on Boyd! the dogs great white hope on a ridiculous deal. I can only see this one ending in tears, and the dogs to remain stagnent around the bottom, with the dogs finding it hard to hang onto the likes of Macrae, Bontempelli and Libba as they get better and demand lucrative deals elsewhere. Their off field dramas are as big as their on field IMO.

Position: 16th
Best & Fariest: Marcus Bontempelli

Young guns to watch: Shane Biggs, Caleb Daniel

[woodublieve12]

Sydney

Best Case Scenario- Sydney extract revenge for last years Grand Final hammering, sweeping all before them on their way to the flag. Buddy justifies his move on field, with another premiership medallion, and Tom Mitchell and Issac Heeney make their presence felt in a midfield group which grows from strength to strength. Kurt Tippett manages to show that he is worth at least a quarter of his actual salary.

Worst Case Scenario- Buddy continues to offer distractions with off field news, Tippett proves as useless as a nuns tits for a $1m player, and opposition players smash into Sydney's midfield, exposing obvious fragility of a star studded midfield group.

Valleys' final thoughts- I can't help but think the 2014 GF has opened up some obvious deficiencies in Sydney's line up. Don't get me wrong, they have natural talent to see them through to a top 4 position, but when the heat was on in the kitchen, Hawthorn's tackling pressure and complete and utter contested mauling of Sydney's midfield was unlike anything I have ever seen from two high calibre sides in a grand final. It will go one of two ways..


Position: 3rd
Best & Fairest: Lance Franklin

Young guns to watch: Issac Heeney, Tom Mitchell

good write up, BUT Buddy has already proven himself (his performance in the GF was very good) I reckon and his off field issues haven't been an issue since preseason last season...

It is also the first time in a long time we have been out pressured...

[valleys07]

Sydney

Best Case Scenario- Sydney extract revenge for last years Grand Final hammering, sweeping all before them on their way to the flag. Buddy justifies his move on field, with another premiership medallion, and Tom Mitchell and Issac Heeney make their presence felt in a midfield group which grows from strength to strength. Kurt Tippett manages to show that he is worth at least a quarter of his actual salary.

Worst Case Scenario- Buddy continues to offer distractions with off field news, Tippett proves as useless as a nuns tits for a $1m player, and opposition players smash into Sydney's midfield, exposing obvious fragility of a star studded midfield group.

Valleys' final thoughts- I can't help but think the 2014 GF has opened up some obvious deficiencies in Sydney's line up. Don't get me wrong, they have natural talent to see them through to a top 4 position, but when the heat was on in the kitchen, Hawthorn's tackling pressure and complete and utter contested mauling of Sydney's midfield was unlike anything I have ever seen from two high calibre sides in a grand final. It will go one of two ways..


Position: 3rd
Best & Fairest: Lance Franklin

Young guns to watch: Issac Heeney, Tom Mitchell

good write up, BUT Buddy has already proven himself (his performance in the GF was very good) I reckon and his off field issues haven't been an issue since preseason last season...

It is also the first time in a long time we have been out pressured...

Don't recall saying that Buddy hasn't proven himself. We all know his pay packet justifies the move, but on field he did come up to Sydney to achieve another premiership. Given his old side is already 1 up, if he misses another 2-3 flags, if the games accolades mean something then he has partly missed out on true greatness. On the flip, if he manages 2 with Sydney- then a 4 premiership winning forward leaves him among the games greatest players.

As for the off field stuff. Worst case scenario is exactly that. Not saying he will be apart of the Sydney Herald..

That GF worried me. Yes- it was a once off, but you don't think that opposition coaches will be studying the contested side of that Hawthorn win, just like Horse will be focusing on having your mids handle the heat better?

[stan]

Sydney

Best Case Scenario- Sydney extract revenge for last years Grand Final hammering, sweeping all before them on their way to the flag. Buddy justifies his move on field, with another premiership medallion, and Tom Mitchell and Issac Heeney make their presence felt in a midfield group which grows from strength to strength. Kurt Tippett manages to show that he is worth at least a quarter of his actual salary.

Worst Case Scenario- Buddy continues to offer distractions with off field news, Tippett proves as useless as a nuns tits for a $1m player, and opposition players smash into Sydney's midfield, exposing obvious fragility of a star studded midfield group.

Valleys' final thoughts- I can't help but think the 2014 GF has opened up some obvious deficiencies in Sydney's line up. Don't get me wrong, they have natural talent to see them through to a top 4 position, but when the heat was on in the kitchen, Hawthorn's tackling pressure and complete and utter contested mauling of Sydney's midfield was unlike anything I have ever seen from two high calibre sides in a grand final. It will go one of two ways..


Position: 3rd
Best & Fairest: Lance Franklin

Young guns to watch: Issac Heeney, Tom Mitchell

good write up, BUT Buddy has already proven himself (his performance in the GF was very good) I reckon and his off field issues haven't been an issue since preseason last season...

It is also the first time in a long time we have been out pressured...

Don't recall saying that Buddy hasn't proven himself. We all know his pay packet justifies the move, but on field he did come up to Sydney to achieve another premiership. Given his old side is already 1 up, if he misses another 2-3 flags, if the games accolades mean something then he has partly missed out on true greatness. On the flip, if he manages 2 with Sydney- then a 4 premiership winning forward leaves him among the games greatest players.

As for the off field stuff. Worst case scenario is exactly that. Not saying he will be apart of the Sydney Herald..

That GF worried me. Yes- it was a once off, but you don't think that opposition coaches will be studying the contested side of that Hawthorn win, just like Horse will be focusing on having your mids handle the heat better?

Its one thing to study what the Hawks produced but its another to produce it. But I see you point.

[stan]

another ridiculous decision by the AFL...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-01-28/b ... s-kneejerk

How so? Seems legit to me
Dont know about 3 picks for Heeney but I reckon your 1st 2 picks would be fair. As Sydney finished so high it is very cheap to get him with pick 18. Wouldnt be complaining if say they had a pick in top 10 and had to use that, that seems fair.
Hope it gets changed very soon, the article mentions Sydney may have this years potential No 1 pick at their academy. That Buddy deal must have really pissed the AFL. Hope he can win you a flag on his own back cos you arnt getting any help anytime soon

didn't right this so i can't take credit for it but i agree with it...

I can already hear the chorus of fans from the other 14 clubs screaming, "we want the same". It's natural to have your own club's interests at heart – we all do - but if you consider the below points, I'm sure you'll see the value in the four Queensland and NSW clubs continuing to run their own academies and having primary access to those players. The only reason this is even an issue is because of Isaac Heeney. No one blinked twice when the Brisbane Lions selected Jonathan Freeman 12 months earlier under the same system, but now because the Swans landed a future gun for unders, all hell has broken loose. It's a vexed issue, but northern clubs lose players to the 'go home factor' far more often than any other clubs. While they've done well to spread the AFL message in the past 25 years, participation numbers in Queensland and New South Wales are still relatively low. The two states simply don't produce enough AFL talent at the moment, meaning their predominantly interstate lists are more open to being raided. The Swans, Giants, Lions and Suns aren't able to fill their teams with locals (like the Eagles, Crows or most Victorians clubs), so having academies to firstly lure talent to the sport, and then nurture it to an AFL standard, is a great way of levelling this out. Heeney wouldn't even be playing the game if it wasn't for the Swans' academy. Not only do rugby league and rugby get more media attention, they also get the majority of young sporting talent up north. The advent of the academies has slowly started to swing that player balance and provide the AFL with a greater pool of quality from two more states. The more players the academies produce, the more regularly other clubs will outbid their northern rivals to access this pool. Perhaps the system could be reviewed in years to come, but for the time being, having Queenslanders play in Queensland and New South Welshmen play for New South Wales is great for the code. - Michael Whiting

Interesting. I think you will find a good slab of Vics and other I interstate players for the crows and port as well. Yes they have some good SA boys playing for them but in the Crows case its fair to say a chunk of there better players are not SA. Ie Dangerfield, Sloane, Crouch, Walker, Talia etc.

[valleys07]

Sydney

Best Case Scenario- Sydney extract revenge for last years Grand Final hammering, sweeping all before them on their way to the flag. Buddy justifies his move on field, with another premiership medallion, and Tom Mitchell and Issac Heeney make their presence felt in a midfield group which grows from strength to strength. Kurt Tippett manages to show that he is worth at least a quarter of his actual salary.

Worst Case Scenario- Buddy continues to offer distractions with off field news, Tippett proves as useless as a nuns tits for a $1m player, and opposition players smash into Sydney's midfield, exposing obvious fragility of a star studded midfield group.

Valleys' final thoughts- I can't help but think the 2014 GF has opened up some obvious deficiencies in Sydney's line up. Don't get me wrong, they have natural talent to see them through to a top 4 position, but when the heat was on in the kitchen, Hawthorn's tackling pressure and complete and utter contested mauling of Sydney's midfield was unlike anything I have ever seen from two high calibre sides in a grand final. It will go one of two ways..


Position: 3rd
Best & Fairest: Lance Franklin

Young guns to watch: Issac Heeney, Tom Mitchell

good write up, BUT Buddy has already proven himself (his performance in the GF was very good) I reckon and his off field issues haven't been an issue since preseason last season...

It is also the first time in a long time we have been out pressured...

Don't recall saying that Buddy hasn't proven himself. We all know his pay packet justifies the move, but on field he did come up to Sydney to achieve another premiership. Given his old side is already 1 up, if he misses another 2-3 flags, if the games accolades mean something then he has partly missed out on true greatness. On the flip, if he manages 2 with Sydney- then a 4 premiership winning forward leaves him among the games greatest players.

As for the off field stuff. Worst case scenario is exactly that. Not saying he will be apart of the Sydney Herald..

That GF worried me. Yes- it was a once off, but you don't think that opposition coaches will be studying the contested side of that Hawthorn win, just like Horse will be focusing on having your mids handle the heat better?

Its one thing to study what the Hawks produced but its another to produce it. But I see you point.

Hence why I have predicted Sydney finish 3rd. I believe that Hawthorn and Port are capable of matching Sydney in the contested stakes, and will.

[woodublieve12]

Hence why I have predicted Sydney finish 3rd. I believe that Hawthorn and Port are capable of matching Sydney in the contested stakes, and will.

will they now??