I cannot beleive that every single person has put Collingwood high up in the top eight. Back in my day, no self-respecting Demon supporter would dream of admitting to predicting that!

I guess the reason why people are doing that is that there is a big distance between what we would like and what will (most likely) happen.

1. Hawthorn

2. West Coast

3. Sydney

4. Collingwood (God I hope I'm wrong)

5. Carlton

6. Fremantle

7. Adelaide

8. Richmond

9. Geelong

10. Essendon

11. North Melbourne

12. Melbourne

13. St Kilda

14. Brisbane

15. Port Adelaide

16. Gold Coast

17. Western Bulldogs

18. GWS

I think it's going to be a looooong year for the doggies!

1. West Coast
2. Hawthorn
3. Collingwood
4. Fremantle

5. Sydney
6. Carlton
7. Richmond

8. North Melbourne

9. Adelaide
10. Geelong

11. Essendon
12. Melbourne
13. Brisbane
14. St Kilda
15. Gold Coast
16. Port Adelaide
17. Western Bulldogs
18. GWS

1. West Coast

2. Hawthorn

3. Collingwood

4. Fremantle

5. Sydney

6. Carlton

7. Richmond

8. North Melbourne

9. Adelaide

10. Geelong

11. Essendon

12. Melbourne

13. Brisbane

14. St Kilda

15. Gold Coast

16. Port Adelaide

17. Western Bulldogs

18. GWS

Not sold on Tigers.....too many overachieved last year. They'll be found out this year as their bottom 10 are quite poor.

Carlton in the 8 is something I agree on, but it chokes me to admit it.

Not sold on Tigers.....too many overachieved last year. They'll be found out this year as their bottom 10 are quite poor.

Carlton in the 8 is something I agree on, but it chokes me to admit it.

Can see why some won't have Richmond in. I think they'll be good enough with a good injury run. Chaplin and Edwards will add a new dimension for them and ease pressure on Reiwoldt and the young backs. I like their core 8 players.

I don't get the love for Essendon in top 8 predictions. Goddard is past his best and won't solve their one paced midfield woes.

Not sold on Tigers.....too many overachieved last year. They'll be found out this year as their bottom 10 are quite poor.

Carlton in the 8 is something I agree on, but it chokes me to admit it.

I'm more sold on the Tigers than I am the Blues, though I can see both teams missing the 8. Richmond might sneak in but if they get major injuries to Cotchin, Deledio or Reiwoldt they're in trouble. Martin - who knows? The interesting team to watch are the Cats. They've still got some great players on their list.

The Blues forward line is a bit dysfunctional and their backline isn't great either. They rely too much on Murphy and Judd. Look what happened to them last year when both of them were out (Murphy, primarily) ? There's the Malthouse factor but ...

Plus, Carlton should be hated by all and sundry

I'm more sold on the Tigers than I am the Blues, though I can see both teams missing the 8. Richmond might sneak in but if they get major injuries to Cotchin, Deledio or Reiwoldt they're in trouble. Martin - who knows? The interesting team to watch are the Cats. They've still got some great players on their list.

The Blues forward line is a bit dysfunctional and their backline isn't great either. They rely too much on Murphy and Judd. Look what happened to them last year when both of them were out (Murphy, primarily) ? There's the Malthouse factor but ...

Plus, Carlton should be hated by all and sundry

The Cat's are an interesting one 'Macca', by rights with the players they've lost over the last few years they should drop back. I'm not sure where to place them but I know in the end like with the Australian cricket team you can't replace champions easily. Ottens, Scarlett, Ling gone a fair few of the others getting near the end it could turn South for them very quickly. A lot is going to be placed on the heads of Selwood and Hawkins this year. I like Duncan and Christiansen but they have some big shoes to fill, Menzal a lot of ability but no guarantee to play a lot of football unfortunately for him.

I think the 'Tiges' drafted poorly this year and it will come back to bite them. The Malthouse factor will be interesting to watch at Carlton, they certainly haven't added anything to their list so what can Mick bring. Would love to see them come unstuck, the phone calls to 'Finey' would just make my weekend along with sack 'The Golden Boy' calls if the Dons struggle. We couldn't add 'Bucks' to the list could we? No, probably asking to much.

Betstar have just released a new bet where you can pick if a team will finish over/under their prediction of number of wins. It is essentially their ladder and is as follows:

1. Haw 16.5 wins

2. WCE 16

3 Coll 15.5

4 Syd 15.5

5. Carl 14

6 Freo 14

7.Adel 14

8 Geel 13.5

9 Ess 13

10 NM 12

11 Rich 12

12 Bris 9.5

13 St Kilda 9

14 Melb 6.5

15 PA 5

16 GWS 5

17 Suns 5

18 Dogs 4

1) Sydney

2) Adelaide

3) Fremantle

4) Hawthorn

5) Collingwood

6) Richmond

7) WCE

8) Geelong

9) Carlton

10) Brisbane

11) North Melbourne

12) St. Kilda

13) Melbourne

14) Essendon

15) Gold Coast

16) Western Bulldogs

17) Port Adelaide

18) GWS

No standout for me this year, but Adelaide and Fremantle to rise and contend.

Grand Final is tough to pick.

Essendon the big slide. Almost no goal kicking capacity.

The underlined teams could all shuffle positions. Whoever has the best draw might move up. Dees could reach 10th but probably need 2 interstate wins and 2 Etihad wins to achieve this.

1) Sydney2) Adelaide3) Fremantle4) Hawthorn5) Collingwood6) Richmond7) WCE8) Geelong 9) Carlton10) Brisbane11) North Melbourne12) St. Kilda13) Melbourne14) Essendon15) Gold Coast16) Western Bulldogs17) Port Adelaide18) GWS No standout for me this year, but Adelaide and Fremantle to rise and contend.Grand Final is tough to pick.Essendon the big slide. Almost no goal kicking capacity.The underlined teams could all shuffle positions. Whoever has the best draw might move up. Dees could reach 10th but probably need 2 interstate wins and 2 Etihad wins to achieve this.

So Melbourne will finish higher than Essendon? Easily?...

Really? We are talking about AFL?

I'll take those odds

So many defeatists .

Go wallow

Can see why some won't have Richmond in. I think they'll be good enough with a good injury run. Chaplin and Edwards will add a new dimension for them and ease pressure on Reiwoldt and the young backs. I like their core 8 players.

I don't get the love for Essendon in top 8 predictions. Goddard is past his best and won't solve their one paced midfield woes.

Frankly I am not sold on Richmond but pleased to have them make the eight as I predict that we will finish ahead of them this year!

Frankly I am not sold on Richmond but pleased to have them make the eight as I predict that we will finish ahead of them this year!

The tigers beat both the Swans and the Hawks last year, makes you want to throw up when we were considered further advanced than them.

I'll go out on a limb

Melbourne 10th win 11 loss 10 D 1 ( we're good at these lol ) For 2013 Against 1964 % 102 pts 46

So Melbourne will finish higher than Essendon? Easily?...

Really? We are talking about AFL?

I'll take those odds

I never mentioned the word "easily", but I cannot see where their improvement is to come from, and their forward line looks like ours did in 2011 and 2012. I visited their website and went through their list and honestly could not find a major goal kicker. Everyone mentions Hurley, but the minute they have a run against them Hird drops him down the back.

I too think the bombers, even with the Brendan Boy will be all ahead stop !!..just a gut intuition though .

I think with Hurley and a fit Ryder Crameri. 2 years training with the weapon will pay off this year. Heppel and Zaharakis are older fitter and stronger and Goddard and Watson should be able to release Stanton.

I suppose time will tell and I will be over the moon if we finish higher than them. But IMHO I would have them nearly top 4

Goddard does change their balance ( better ) but I just think Hurley is massively over-rated. Ryder..comme ci comme ca !!

I think theyre now a year behind in conditioning as will have to somewhat undo there over-enthusiasm by the weapon.

None of anyone I know thats ess are overly expecting much for 2013, in terms of improvement.

I wonder how much this Franklin puts contract talks on hold is going to affect Hawthorn's ultimate outcome in 2013?

To a lesser extent, there will be the Daisy Thomas issue at Collingwood and will the fact that Colin Sylvia becomes a FA at the end of the year affect us?

Colin Sylvia becomes a FA at the end of the year affect us?

He should, finally, have a good year then.

I wonder how much this Franklin puts contract talks on hold is going to affect Hawthorn's ultimate outcome in 2013?

To a lesser extent, there will be the Daisy Thomas issue at Collingwood and will the fact that Colin Sylvia becomes a FA at the end of the year affect us?

Won't be with the dees in 2014 is my prediction

1. Collingwood - With their excellent midfield they will be a Finalist but they need to get more from Cloke and Co to win a Flag

2. Sydney - Probably the hardest team to beat week to week and with Tippett in September could go back to back as they have an excellent defence and team ethic

3. Fremantle - Lyon IMO is the best coach in the competition and still needs to overcome their away from home performances and with an injury free season could be the Dark Horse

4. Hawthorn - Best kicking side in the competition and will no doubt be a finalist but need to get more from Buddy and Co , The buddy contract will effect them but not enough to drop from the top 4

5. West Coast Eagles - After a rapid rise in 2012 they still have some deficiencies compared to the best teams , very good at home which will help them reach finals

6. Geelong - Still competitive against all sides and at home really hard to beat , will be interesting how some of their new recruits perform within their structure , too good a team to miss the finals

7. Adelaide - Although i think they may slide i dont think it will be much , still need to be better at beating sides they are expected to beat

8. Essendon - The addition of Goddard could be a difference of making the finals or not , they do need to get better at keeping their players on the park , very capable although i am still not convinced Hird is the answer

9. Carlton - While they have some emerging talent Malthouse will take awhile to get Carlton's defence to his liking and probably will require some list changes

10. Richmond - Many say they will rise and while they could i really doubt they are consistent enough to make an impact if they play finals , like North they need to get better at defending against the best forward lines

11. North Melbourne - Still a building team and expect them to be around the same mark as 2012 but to go further need to improve their defence and i suspect will need to recruit to do it

12. Melbourne - Neeld's hard work will start paying dividends so expect a better and more consistent season but not quite good enough to be in the September action ,Neeld will also get another crack at de-listing some not quite right players for 2014

13. Brisbane - Still a year or 2 away from reaching the finals and IMO will need to gain some defenders and replace some significant retirements in 2014

14. Gold Coast Suns - Although not expected to win many games they do have some elite talent , Some improvement expected and will move out of the bottom 4

15. St Kilda - I expect them to slide until Watters has a chance to refresh his list , the loss of Goddard will hurt and I think Ross Lyon made a wise long term decision

16, Western Bulldogs - Not expected to win many games and will end the season in the bottom 4 , Need to rebuild some parts of their list as they have too many not quite right players

17. Port Adelaide - Not much expected from the Power with a new coach and may take awhile to rebuild their list to Hinkley's style of play

18. Greater Western Sydney - Still building and not expected to win many games, It will depend how much better they get at running out games but expect improvement in most areas