Which clubs to rise and fall 2016

[Dwight Schrute 16,782]

I reckon the Swans will be right back up the top

[Demonic Faves 39]

Port, Hawks, Eagles, Crows, Freo, Tiges, Magpies, North..............Dees.

 

Rounds out my Top 9. Toump to star for Port playing in a better side that will use him the way he was meant to.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

6 hours ago, ILLDieADemon said:

I don't understand how some people on here can't see Richmond in the top 8 next year? They were only one game out of the top 4 and beat the Hawks in the last few games of the season. 

If you think we will make the finals in the 2016 season your dreaming, we will finish in the 12 11 10 bracket. We won 7 last year and need to win another 7 on top of that to make the finals which I can't see that happening, I would be happy if we win 10 to 12.

Adelaide will fall, new coach no DF.

North will fall, just made it this season and haven't made any trades to get better. 

Bulldogs will fall, got in last year from easy run.

Fremantle

Richmond 

Sydney 

West Coast 

Hawrthon 

Port Adelaide

GWS

Geelong

Bulldogs

Collingwood

Melbourne

North Melbourn

St Kilda

Adelaide

Brisbane

Gold Coast

Carlton

Essendumb 

Essendon and GWS also beat Hawthorn last year, but I can't see them in the top 4. Anyone can beat anyone on their day, but it's about maintaining consistency over 22 round + finals that determines who's the cream of the crop. Can't see Richmond doing that...I'd be very surprised to see them in the top 6. 

[DEE fence 4,471]

Hawthorn – Offence is the new black, am scared they are going to become the greatest side since WW2 (no smiles), really hoping someone finds some Kryptonite.

 

Pies - The big improvers, as much as I hate to say it, I reckon they won’t have the same lapses after midway through the season, expect them to play a bit like the Crowbots used to.

 

Sydney – I think this side rejuvenates as well as the Cats, and still have some serious talent. Haven’t worked out how much they are going to miss Pike/Goodes, they will be a little lighter around the packs. What is keeping them up is I expect Buddy and Tippet to finally be the weapons we have always feared. Am curious to see if Buddy is marking out in front of his head or on the chest, will be a big sign of how they are going to go I reckon.

 

West Coast – Can’t see them dropping that far, you don’t accidentally get into a flag, I do however think they are limited.

 

Bulldogs – A good solid season, I reckon they have found their ‘A’ game, play really good team footy, like their recruits and with a bit of luck Libba comes back (hope he doesn’t get played back into form against us) and stretches a few sides, really like the coach.

 

Port – Tempted to put them lower, really couldn’t understand how much they had lost the way to play as a team, think its terminal. Happy to be wrong I like their running game.

 

Freo – I agree Pav is cooked, I think like Hamill and Gehrig, the injuries will cruel his season and Ross hasn’t got a winning score tucked up his sleeve from anyone else. They will however torch bottom eight sides all year.

 

Geelong – 3 to 7 don’t have daylight between them, recruiting keeps them in the 8, but not much more. I actually think Selwood is done.

 

Adelaide – No idea, but I reckon they should have stuck with Camporale. I reckon last year was about emotion.

 

Melbourne – 10 wins but the 8 is a tough gig, will only make it with our best 22. Am really nervous about who is going to step up into cross’s role, his sweeping intercept defense really kept us in a few games last year.

 

Richmond – reckon they’re mentally fragile, can’t keep barnstorming the back end of the season and easy to work out. Must admit a bit down on them with the latest Martin incident, what a drongo.

 

GWS – Could easily be in Adelaide’s spot. 9 to 12 a crap-shoot.

 

Saints – No clue but Riewoldt has got to be done too hasn’t he, Carlisle to be a big distraction – he will be the Fev of St Kilda.

 

Brisbane – Don’t really know.

 

GC – Culture issues have been exposed, the kids rule the roost, Ablett not able to fix it the culture issues and I think he has lost a step, still going to do amazing things though.

 

Carlton – I rate Bolton (I can’t even hate Carlton as much with his as coach) but this is ground zero. (smiles).

 

Essendon – So glad we didn’t get Worsfold, can’t see him standing up to all the vested interests around the club. The hubris of the EFC board will also see their angst continue (more smiles).

[Slartibartfast 15,774]

I’ve been giving this topic some thought and whilst I don’t consider myself an expert I do have some experience. 

There are clearly some clubs which will prove very successful in 2016.  My personal favourite it the recently introduced Great Big Bertha from Callaway.  It has the Next Gen R MOTO Technology which provides a thinner club face leading to higher ball speeds on both centre and off centre hits.  Most helpful for me.  It comes with the choice of 19 different shafts and an adjustable perimeter weight which has both a draw and fade bias. Loft can be varied by adjusting the hosle and the grip can be tailored to suit your hand which is something BBO will appreciate. I’ve used this club and it’s just fantastic.  Easy to swing and provided me with a little extra length and greater consistency. 

A popular rival is the new M1 which no doubt you’ve seen Jason Day use recently with the distinctive black and white club head.  Whilst I understand this club can perform very well it’s too fancy for me and I think it will only appeal to the bogan golfer. 

Others to consider are the ever popular Ping G30 and the Titleist 915D2 and 915D3.  One of these is bound to suit and you should trial them all. 

I like order in my club selection so having decided on Callaway’s Great Big Bertha driver I needed to match that up with a set of Callaway Irons.  There are many option here.  Personally I prefer the forged irons and so was really attracted to the Apex CF16’s.  They are the first Callaway Irons with Cup Face technology that’s redefined ball speed and coupled with precision engineering the club face gives you consistent ball speeds across the face of the club.  You can choose between the normal and the pro version of this iron and I went for the most forgiving being the normal.  Again there is a choice of shafts to match this beautifully constructed club.  I found on shot tracker I was getting excellent launch angles and slightly lower spin rates which increased the distance of my shots with each iron.  And I ask you, who doesn’t want a little bit of extra length?  My dispersion on these club was excellent with all my balls tightly clustered and my MOI figures were just terrific.  All in all a club to really look out for in 2016 and a real gamer if ever I’ve seen one. 

There are lots of other clubs out there but I really think Callaway is in for a big year.  Sliders could be Cobra, Wilson Staff and Srixon.  Beyond that, Titleist and Ping will be top performers again with TaylorMade a dark horse. 

I’d be interested in others views, with so much out there it’s hard to cover the whole field.

[H_T 2,941]

It's probably not a good thing for me BB, if Cobra is on the slide. But IMO - I'm no expert either - it bites well on contact and all my balls are tightly clustered too on dispersion, particularly on cold mornings.

[Devil is in the Detail 883]

3 minutes ago, H_T said:

It's probably not a good thing for me BB, if Cobra is on the slide. But IMO - I'm no expert either - it bites well on contact and all my balls are tightly clustered too on dispersion, particularly on cold mornings.

Talking about golf??

[mo64 5,209]

Geelong and Collingwood to rise. Crows and Dogs to fall.

Cats - The acquisition of Dangerfield and Zac Smith will be huge. 

Collingwood - A full season of Darcy Moore to complement Cloke, plus Treloar, and the Pies will be more competitive against better teams.

Crows - Loss of Dangerfield is massive. They don't have the midfield depth to cover his departure.

Dogs - Like Port the previous year, caught a lot of teams by surprise. Have great young talent, but with greater scrutiny, I expect a hiccup this year.

 

[Ungarie boy 233]

Unfortunately the draw plays a huge part in this:

• The good teams such as Hawks and Swans should be able to negotiate this without to much trouble. 
• Teams that benefited from favourable draws last year will find it so much more difficult to maintain the same results this year, think West Coast, Western Bulldogs and Adelaide.
• Teams that have had a couple of years in the tough draw without improvement will, naturally start dipping (they ain't climbing) which covers off North, Freo and to a lesser extent Tigers
• Teams outside the 8 have more scope for significant improvement and will benefit from an easy draw, which is now allowing for someone to unexpectedly jump into the finals, which could be anyone but likely GWS or the Dee's 
• and then there are going to be teams that under-performed this year and will benefit from not being a top 8-10 side with a tougher draw; which focuses primarily on Port Adelaide and to a lesser extent Magpies / Cats.

Considering this it could be anticipated that the top four to comprise of:

Hawks, Sydney, Port and one of Cats/West Coast

The final 8 to be rounded out by:

one of Cats/West Coast, GWS, Magpies and Freo

Next 4 teams would likely include:

Melbourne, North Melbourne, Bulldogs and Tigers - with a potential bolter from the bottom being the Lions.

Which of course leaves the rest.

Now factoring in the draw, recruitment, natural improvement/decline, and home ground advantage; my prediction is:

Port Adelaide
Cats (easy draw, huge home ground advantage, natural improvement in youth, while we all know the recruiting - don't underestimate the others i.e Smith, Selwood, etc)
Hawthorn
Sydney
GWS
West Coast
Freo
Melbourne
Magpies
Tigers
North Melbourne
Bulldogs
Lions
St Kilda
Adelaide
Gold Coast
Carlton
Essendon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2015 by Ungarie boy

[rjay 23,922]

2 hours ago, mo64 said:

Geelong and Collingwood to rise. Crows and Dogs to fall.

Cats - The acquisition of Dangerfield and Zac Smith will be huge. 

Collingwood - A full season of Darcy Moore to complement Cloke, plus Treloar, and the Pies will be more competitive against better teams.

Crows - Loss of Dangerfield is massive. They don't have the midfield depth to cover his departure.

Dogs - Like Port the previous year, caught a lot of teams by surprise. Have great young talent, but with greater scrutiny, I expect a hiccup this year.

 

Brad Crouch says hi....injured all last season will be a massive in for them.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

13 minutes ago, rjay said:

Brad Crouch says hi....injured all last season will be a massive in for them.

As good as Crouch is, they're still operating at a loss there.

[rjay 23,922]

54 minutes ago, Good Times Grimes said:

As good as Crouch is, they're still operating at a loss there.

Not a massive loss though 'Good Times', I really rate Crouch and think he could be a more consistent contributor than Danger in the long run...

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

14 hours ago, rjay said:

Not a massive loss though 'Good Times', I really rate Crouch and think he could be a more consistent contributor than Danger in the long run...

I agree that in the long run they'll be okay, and I think they did well in trading Danger rather than accepting the AFL compensation, but I think they will fall a bit next year due to the Danger loss.

[rjay 23,922]

1 hour ago, Good Times Grimes said:

I agree that in the long run they'll be okay, and I think they did well in trading Danger rather than accepting the AFL compensation, but I think they will fall a bit next year due to the Danger loss.

I think they probably will as well 'Good Times'. Danger will be a loss, the new coach is untried and who knows what the loss of Walsh did to the team in 2015.

They have been resilient though having lost more players to FA and the expansion clubs than any other team.

[ignition. 1,413]

My predictions:

Hawks, Swans and WC (+ J. Redden) should finish the H&A in a similar spot and fight it out come September.

Freo should decline, will struggle without a dominant forward and dare I say Pav isn't up to it anymore.

Port (+ Dixon & T. Menzel and 2014 form/ game plan) and the Dogs (+ Libba & one more pre-season on their young list) should rise, I believe both will be pushing for a spot in the top 4.

Cats will also be up there with their off season acquisitions and will be pushing the top 4.

The Roos will decline, I don't believe they have the list or game plan. Their top end is also aging.

I doubt Richmond will climb, nor do I think that they'll fall.

The Pies should push the 8 or at least push it with the additions of Treloar, Howe and Aish (if he can step up, I think he's currently overrated).

GWS (loss of Treloar) should fall slightly, their gun U18 recruits won't cover for him in the short term.

The Blues should slide or remain in the bottom three after the loss of T.Menzel and Bell (two of their proven and best youngsters). Let's face it their new U18 recruits won't have an immediate impact nor will their sub-par GWS recruits.

The Lions will either remain in the same position or elevate slightly. Rockcliff should play more games, and the addition of Bell is nice. However they did lose Redden.

Can't see the Dons rising, I really don't rate their list, but maybe the new coach may give the playing group a boost of confidence.

GC should be on the up slightly with a return of O'Meara, Swallow, Prestia, and Ablett free of injuries, despite the losses Dixon and Bennell.

Crows will be on the decline with the loss of Danger and can't really see the Saints climbing anytime soon but they have the right pieces in place for the long term.

As for us I believe we should see an improvement hopefully with the return of an injury free Jones, Tyson, Kent and Petracca (to debut in the forward line), and like the Dogs another pre-season into our best-22 youngsters like Viney, Brayshaw, and Hogan. I think T-Mac will come back even better again and the inclusions of Bugg and Melksham off the back line should be a sigh of relief. How far will we go, I doubt we'll make the 8 this year, but I also don't see why we can't.   

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by ignition.

[Dwight Schrute 16,782]

Given the way the cats attacked the off season top 4 is a par imo, a midfield of Selwood, Danger, Selwood, Duncan, Motlop, Caddy and co kicking to Hawkins and Clark should be hard to stop, especially if Zac Smith gets on the park. 

I think the dogs fall to between 8-12th

Port Rise to between 6-10

Freo fall to between 3-8

MFC anywhere from 8-18 

top 4 imo will be 

Hawks

Eagles

Swans 

Cats

[hemingway 7,589]

My only interest is to see as many stirring wins from my beloved old side and watch their rise up the ladder. I want to see them play tough hard contested football and gain the respect of the Demon tribe and the football world. I want to feel hope and feel passion. God almighty I want to embrace this old footy club and be proud of its exploits on the field. I want to see our old club become a force and regain its standing as one of the great clubs. I want to replace my feelings of loss and depression each weekend with hope and joy. I want new weekend Heroes and not dwell in the past. I want to be able to celebrate most weekends with my favourite glass of Ricard and not drink myself into oblivion with the sadness of defeat. I want to walk to the MCG with a quickness of step and a feeling of anticipation of watching our boys demolish the opposition. I want to live with the excitement and passion of the contest. I want to feel the adrenaline rush through my veins after another famous victory. I want to see a premiership before I die. I want my children to see a premiership before they die. To say, our boys did it !   

[greenmachine 21]

On 7/12/2015 at 0:09 AM, Unstable Dees fan said:

I reckon the Swans will be right back up the top

with no injuries they will be for shaw

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by greenmachine

[Carlos Danger 380]

It looks like Fremantle, WCE, Hawthorn, Sydney and Bulldogs are locks to play finals again next year. Despite missing finals action in 2015, Geelong and Port Adelaide are also locks.

The last team in the 8 to make up numbers could be anyone- though I can't really see a team outside of North Melbourne, Richmond, Adelaide or GWS taking that spot.

I don't see much rising or falling happening as far as September is concerned.

The bottom half of the ladder is a different story, so many young teams that are moving firmly in the right direction that it's too tough to call.

But I will say Collingwood's list is being overhyped like nothing else and their new recruits aren't going to change a whole lot. Buckley is my pick for the next coach fired.

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

I don't rate Geelong's trading as much as everyone else apparently.  Dangermouse is a great player, no doubt, but the others are all just ok.  They have a spare Selwood who's not as good as Joel, they have an injury-prone Ruck/Forward to go with their other injury-prone Ruck/Forward and Henderson is nothing special. 

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

3 hours ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

I don't rate Geelong's trading as much as everyone else apparently.  Dangermouse is a great player, no doubt, but the others are all just ok.  They have a spare Selwood who's not as good as Joel, they have an injury-prone Ruck/Forward to go with their other injury-prone Ruck/Forward and Henderson is nothing special. 

100% agree. They've added players that will enable them to be more competitive than in 2015, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them in the top 6, but I just think there are too many holes in their list and most of their young talent isn't very impressive. Their 2015 trade period is just prolonging the time they stagnate before their inevitable fall.

[Bombay Airconditioning 5,889]

Port over the Hawks just as it was Port over the Lions stopping their 4peat.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

2 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Port over the Hawks just as it was Port over the Lions stopping their 4peat.

Just as long as there's no 4peat, I'm not too fussy who it is that beats the Hawks (aside from us, obviously). 

[hells bells 2,022]

Tigers, Freo, North and to a lesser extent Adelaide to drop down the ladder.  Essendon to continue to fall - they are potential wooden spooners IMO.

Port, Geelong and GWS to improve and hopefully us of course.

i think we will improve but I can't see us winning more than 10-11 which doesn't get us in the 8.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

7 games against clubs we finished above should equal 7 wins if we continue to improve. Last year it took 13 wins to get into the 8, so we'd need to find 6 more wins out of matches against GWS, North Melbourne, Collingwood (2), Richmond, Bulldogs, Port Adelaide (2), Hawthorn (2), Sydney, Adelaide, Fremantle, West Coast, Geelong. I've bolded the teams that we've beaten in the last two years (since Roos took over and we started improving). 

I know that we probably won't win all of the games against teams below us or against the teams that we've beaten recently, but if you account for a few surprise wins, a couple of wins against teams on the slide, and, say, 5 wins against teams we should beat, I don't think that it's too much of a stretch to say that we can make the finals.