Looking forward to 2024

[KSAS]

"Built like Tarzan plays like Jane" as i recall Gerard Healy once describing Craig!

I remember seeing him playing on Tony Lockett at Moorabbin back in the day. He tried to rough up Plugger, who duly ripped off his headband during a wrestle & threw into the St Kilda faithful. Plugger was unstoppable kicking a big bag of 12+ .

[giant]

Including 2017 when we played the Bulldogs at Marvel and they unfurled the 2016 premiership flag ????.

Did they present the umps with their premiership medallions and life memberships at the same time?

[i'm-uninformed2]

Put your neck on the line, and your predictions on line.

Swans: 5-8 (wanna see us fix centre square/clearance/contested ball and kick forward of 50 problem before I believe more)
If Chad popped in 22, Errol popped in 23, in 2024 . . . . Logan will pop with 50 goals
Logan will stay or go at seasons end, after a $1m+ a year contract and 2x first round draft pick offer from Freo. . . stay.
If JPK fell away in 22, Buddy in 23, in 2024 . . . Lloyd will.
First time AA: Tom McCartin.
The enigma Issac Heeney will …. Kill it as a 70/30 mid/forward.
My man McInerney will . . . Slay, including finally getting amongst it as a pinch hitting centre square player.
My other man McLean will . . . Take more contested marks than any Swan

Top 8: Brisbane, GWS, Pies, Carlton, Swans, Dogs (vomit, but watch Sam Darcy do a Cam Green and go from ungangly puppy to a nightmare in an instant at some point), Dees and Adelaide.

Big slider: Port and Saints.

First coach sacked: Simon Goodwin, once the text messages on Joel Smith’s phone are revealed.

Sleeper: Freo. Reckon they’ve got a better pool of young talent than many realise. Just a @@@@ coach.

Bottom four: Norf, Richmond, WC, and Hawks.

[dejavoodoo44]

Put your neck on the line, and your predictions on line.

Swans: 5-8 (wanna see us fix centre square/clearance/contested ball and kick forward of 50 problem before I believe more)
If Chad popped in 22, Errol popped in 23, in 2024 . . . . Logan will pop with 50 goals
Logan will stay or go at seasons end, after a $1m+ a year contract and 2x first round draft pick offer from Freo. . . stay.
If JPK fell away in 22, Buddy in 23, in 2024 . . . Lloyd will.
First time AA: Tom McCartin.
The enigma Issac Heeney will …. Kill it as a 70/30 mid/forward.
My man McInerney will . . . Slay, including finally getting amongst it as a pinch hitting centre square player.
My other man McLean will . . . Take more contested marks than any Swan

Top 8: Brisbane, GWS, Pies, Carlton, Swans, Dogs (vomit, but watch Sam Darcy do a Cam Green and go from ungangly puppy to a nightmare in an instant at some point), Dees and Adelaide.

Big slider: Port and Saints.

First coach sacked: Simon Goodwin, once the text messages on Joel Smith’s phone are revealed.

Sleeper: Freo. Reckon they’ve got a better pool of young talent than many realise. Just a @@@@ coach.

Bottom four: Norf, Richmond, WC, and Hawks.

Logan will stay, but Fremantle will give us a good pick for Buller, after he spends much of the year tearing up the VFL.

[Maltopia]

Put your neck on the line, and your predictions on line.

Swans: 5-8 (wanna see us fix centre square/clearance/contested ball and kick forward of 50 problem before I believe more)
If Chad popped in 22, Errol popped in 23, in 2024 . . . . Logan will pop with 50 goals
Logan will stay or go at seasons end, after a $1m+ a year contract and 2x first round draft pick offer from Freo. . . stay.
If JPK fell away in 22, Buddy in 23, in 2024 . . . Lloyd will.
First time AA: Tom McCartin.
The enigma Issac Heeney will …. Kill it as a 70/30 mid/forward.
My man McInerney will . . . Slay, including finally getting amongst it as a pinch hitting centre square player.
My other man McLean will . . . Take more contested marks than any Swan

Top 8: Brisbane, GWS, Pies, Carlton, Swans, Dogs (vomit, but watch Sam Darcy do a Cam Green and go from ungangly puppy to a nightmare in an instant at some point), Dees and Adelaide.

Big slider: Port and Saints.

First coach sacked: Simon Goodwin, once the text messages on Joel Smith’s phone are revealed.

Sleeper: Freo. Reckon they’ve got a better pool of young talent than many realise. Just a @@@@ coach.

Bottom four: Norf, Richmond, WC, and Hawks.

I was hopeful for a top four finish with the recruitment of Grundy, Adams and Jordon as replacements for Hickey, Mills for half a season, and Stephens.

The injuries to Parker and Adams have me concerned though now.

Sheldrick for example, nuggety as he is, is still a young relatively unhardened body, and if gets injured again, we expose another less hardened body and so on.

We saw how hard it was when more and more talks got injured, and hoping it isn’t that way this year with our mids.

[liz]

Put your neck on the line, and your predictions on line.

Top 8: Brisbane, GWS, Pies, Carlton, Swans, Dogs (vomit, but watch Sam Darcy do a Cam Green and go from ungangly puppy to a nightmare in an instant at some point), Dees and Adelaide.

Big slider: Port and Saints.

First coach sacked: Simon Goodwin, once the text messages on Joel Smith’s phone are revealed.

Sleeper: Freo. Reckon they’ve got a better pool of young talent than many realise. Just a @@@@ coach.

Bottom four: Norf, Richmond, WC, and Hawks.

Can't argue with your individual player predictions, though I'm hoping for a bit of a pop, too, from Campbell. Right now I think I'll be disappointed if we finish 5th-8th but it's always hard to know. It really depends on how things pan out across the season - ie injuries; what style we play; what causes us to fail, if we fail; how other teams improve (or don't).

I agree with your bottom four prediction. Which six of the other teams misses is really hard, though I wouldn't put Geelong in any version of my top 8. Maybe that's because I dislike them, not solely due to 2022.

I am very confident of Brisbane making the top eight (and top four) but they're the only team I'll be amazed at if they don't qualify for finals. That's partly because they seem immune to injury curses, and partly because I think they have a fair bit of depth even if their somewhat charmed (or skilled) run with injury is broken this year. They just have so many highly skilled smaller forwards to run around at the feet of Big Joe and Hipwood, plus half backs capable of regularly floating forward and nailing goals from 50m.

I don't expect Collingwood to fail, but I will be less surprised if they do than if Brisbane fall. There's the "hangover" factor, plus the fact they will be even more hunted than last year, and teams will have been working on strategies to stop their run and gun late in matches. They - like Geelong the year before - were also one of the oldest squads in the competition, something that makes them a little more susceptible to a poor injury run.

Re the Saints: Did you ever deliver on your promise of a nude run through south-east Queensland at the end of last season?

I agree with you about Freo. I think their "young brigade" is excellent. The equal of ours, maybe stronger. Though it doesn't help that players like O'Driscoll and Chapman have struggled to get on the park consistently. And yes, Longmuir does seem dour in his approach to football. He's almost the anti-McRae.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I think we have moved into the “beyond my expectations cycle”

Just like every supporter before round 1 it can feel a little scary

I’m confident we can push very hard for that top5

Top4 would be awesome

[i'm-uninformed2]

I don't expect Collingwood to fail, but I will be less surprised if they do than if Brisbane fall. There's the "hangover" factor, plus the fact they will be even more hunted than last year, and teams will have been working on strategies to stop their run and gun late in matches. They - like Geelong the year before - were also one of the oldest squads in the competition, something that makes them a little more susceptible to a poor injury run.

Re the Saints: Did you ever deliver on your promise of a nude run through south-east Queensland at the end of last season?

Spot on re an element of the Pies. My big query on them is the age thing. Pendles is Benjamin Button and I could see him still running round in five years. And what he did in the fourth quarter of the granny was so elite and commanding it was ridiculous.

But a batch of their other elders have battled injuries and looked cooked a couple of years back. Elliott, Sidebottom, Howe etc had all bad stretches but suddenly, in their early 30s, found their mojo again. That - and I’m not wishing concussion issues on anyone - combined with the fragile situation with Nathan Murphy is an issue. He’s structurally so important for them.

And thanks for the reminder on the nude run. It’ll kick off from noon in the ocean front park opposite the Lennox pub today.

PS: I did consider Campbell for my pop candidate but I think he’s more of a continuous improver. I was super happy with the ground he gained last year and think he will make more strides this year. I just think Logan’s going to really bust down the door. There’s a reason Freo are amassing a war chest of dollars and draft picks to go hard at him.

[dejavoodoo44]

Spot on re an element of the Pies. My big query on them is the age thing. Pendles is Benjamin Button and I could see him still running round in five years. And what he did in the fourth quarter of the granny was so elite and commanding it was ridiculous.

But a batch of their other elders have battled injuries and looked cooked a couple of years back. Elliott, Sidebottom, Howe etc had all bad stretches but suddenly, in their early 30s, found their mojo again. That - and I’m not wishing concussion issues on anyone - combined with the fragile situation with Nathan Murphy is an issue. He’s structurally so important for them.

And thanks for the reminder on the nude run. It’ll kick off from noon in the ocean front park opposite the Lennox pub today.

PS: I did consider Campbell for my pop candidate but I think he’s more of a continuous improver. I was super happy with the ground he gained last year and think he will make more strides this year. I just think Logan’s going to really bust down the door. There’s a reason Freo are amassing a war chest of dollars and draft picks to go hard at him.

I doubt if anyone here will be able to make it to Lennox today. Perhaps you'll have to post it online? What could possibly go wrong?

And personally, I'll be death riding Brisbane this season. I mean, I don't mind one or two injury free seasons, but four or five is bordering on the obscene.

[Auntie.Gerald]

So pumped !!!!

Game one SCG !!!!

And a great audit against the Dee's

[Dow]

Put your neck on the line, and your predictions on line.

Swans: 5-8 (wanna see us fix centre square/clearance/contested ball and kick forward of 50 problem before I believe more)
If Chad popped in 22, Errol popped in 23, in 2024 . . . . Logan will pop with 50 goals
Logan will stay or go at seasons end, after a $1m+ a year contract and 2x first round draft pick offer from Freo. . . stay.
If JPK fell away in 22, Buddy in 23, in 2024 . . . Lloyd will.
First time AA: Tom McCartin.
The enigma Issac Heeney will …. Kill it as a 70/30 mid/forward.
My man McInerney will . . . Slay, including finally getting amongst it as a pinch hitting centre square player.
My other man McLean will . . . Take more contested marks than any Swan

Top 8: Brisbane, GWS, Pies, Carlton, Swans, Dogs (vomit, but watch Sam Darcy do a Cam Green and go from ungangly puppy to a nightmare in an instant at some point), Dees and Adelaide.

Big slider: Port and Saints.

First coach sacked: Simon Goodwin, once the text messages on Joel Smith’s phone are revealed.

Sleeper: Freo. Reckon they’ve got a better pool of young talent than many realise. Just a @@@@ coach.

Bottom four: Norf, Richmond, WC, and Hawks.

I really love your predications - I also think McInerney will have big year.

[Thunder Shaker]

My predictions:

Top 8: Brisbane, Collingwood, GWS, Sydney, Carlton, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Melbourne.
Gold Coast finishes ninth, then Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Essendon.
Bottom six: Geelong, Fremantle, Richmond, North Melbourne, West Coast, Hawthorn (last).

Gulden finishes 3rd in the Brownlow with 27 votes.
Logan McD kicks 66 goals and finishes 3rd in the Coleman, Papley gets 40.
Sydney rotates younger midfielders at selection to get games into all of them while Mills, Parker and Adams are injured. The rotations continue after the injured players return, with fewer spots available.

After criticism of the "Opening Round" concept, the AFL considers a split round 1 to open the season next year.
AFL gets really serious on head high contact. The Tribunal hands out a nine-game suspension as its biggest suspension for such an offence.

AFLW increases length of season to 12 games. Despite this, the AFLW doesn't implement the obvious 4-4-4 balanced fixture (4 games against top 6, 4 games against middle 6 and 4 games against bottom 6 for each club).
Sydney AFLW gets a significantly harder fixture this year and finishes 10th with 6 wins despite a stronger team performance.

[Thunder Shaker]

Spot on re an element of the Pies. My big query on them is the age thing. Pendles is Benjamin Button and I could see him still running round in five years. And what he did in the fourth quarter of the granny was so elite and commanding it was ridiculous.

Another prediction: Pendlebury will keep playing until his body tells him it's time to hang up the boots. That will be in 2027 when he is 39 and he will end up with the record for most games played.

[Mountain Man]

i plan a visit to Optus for the Fremantle game in May.

Can anyone inform me of the best seating position for a visiting Swan?

[cherub]

i plan a visit to Optus for the Fremantle game in May.

Can anyone inform me of the best seating position for a visiting Swan?

The Swans cheer squad sit behind the Eastern end goals. Block 105. Most Swans fans who can't fit there are above (305.306) or next to them (106). if it's an afternoon game, you don't want to be too far on the southeast part, as the sun can be bad.