1-18: Where your AFL club’s list ranks after trade period

14. Melbourne

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Melbourne’s Steven King has vast ambitions to play a high-scoring aggressive game plan kicking 100 points every week.
Fair enough but so did Adem Yze in his first year at Richmond until he realised he didn’t have the cattle to pull it off.
So there will be growing pains for a side that has lost Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca and the club’s best lockdown defender in Judd McVee.
But instead of blundering on until this list hits a cliff, it has smartly pivoted to set up the next period of sustained success.
The best of this midfield will be when Max Gawn and Jack Viney go on a tear and allow young mids Harvey Langford, Kysaiah Pickett, Xavier Lindsay and Caleb Windsor to go along for the ride.
Langford already looks the kind of player who is made of something special as a goal-kicking tough-nut mid and Pickett will finally get a full year as a 70-30 mid-forward.
Trent Rivers will play more midfield, Brody Mihocek is the perfect role player for the previously misfiring forward line and Max Heath turns 23 this week as a ruck who can sneak forward to kick goals (three in four AFL games this year). 
No one will pick the Demons for finals but finally they have a very clear road ahead.
Across every line they will prioritise young but also have senior players who will add experience and hopefully school the youngsters on the right game plan.
Mihocek helps Jacob Van Rooyen and Matt Jefferson, Gawn mentors ex-Saint Heath and Steven May educates Dan Turner, Jed Adams and Harry Petty.

1. Brisbane

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To think Brisbane could be on the brink of a second three-peat this century, a titanic achievement for this organisation. 
The departures are underrated – Callum Ah Chee has churned out excellent back-to-back 26-game seasons and Brandon Starcevich is footy’s best pound-for-pound medium defender. 
But consider the upside – a fit-again Keidean Coleman, Jack Payne anchoring the defence, with Eric Hipwood forced to fire to play and the kids who might one day end up with resumes to rival the Hawks stars of this century.
Will Ashcroft, Jaspa Fletcher and Darcy Wilmot (21), Levi Ashcroft (18), Ty Gallop (19), Logan Morris (20), Kai Lohmann (22) and Cam Rayner only 25.
Consider Lohmann without his grumbly ankle, Morris without the opposition’s best match-up if Oscar Allen is fit and Fletcher eventually playing midfield.
The cautionary tale for those who believe Sam Draper and Oscar Allen will come in and turn into new Brisbane mega-stars is that Tom Doedee arrived fresh off a second ACL and has played a single senior game in two seasons.
The Dons held similar concerns about Draper rebounding from his achilles rupture as the Crows did about Doedee thriving off his second ACL tear. 
But who would doubt a team that won 16 home-away games despite the AFL’s toughest fixture and who won the flag despite losing the qualifying final?
And who won three straight finals by 53, 29 and 47 points.

2. Gold Coast

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It’s not about getting sucked into the recency bias of the bumper trade period.
It is realising that Charlie Ballard will return to free up Mac Andrew and that this club has the deepest halfback line in footy.
It is slotting Christian Petracca into a side with an already awesome midfield as he mentors Bailey Humphrey, with future stars Leo Lombard, Jake Rogers, Ethan Read and Jed Walter only scratching the surface and the path cleared for them to play with Sam Flanders, Ben Ainsworth, Conor Budarick and Brayden Fiorini traded elsewhere.
Who knows what the future holds for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan?
But Read was trounced by Alex Pearce and Harris Andrews at critical stages of both finals.
He might be better placed by September next year or it could be JUH or Walter in his place.
Is No. 2 on the depth chart too high? 
Maybe but this club got stage fright against Port Adelaide and botched a top four chance.
A year on, Gold Coast will move on having already addressed its 2025 weaknesses with top two draft pick Zeke Uwland set to play from round 1 as an elite kicking wingman and with Dylan Patterson as a Chris Yarran-style running defender who can put on the afterburners at will.

3. Geelong

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Watch the naysayers discount the Cats next year.
They whiffed on Curnow and they watched in dismay as Ross Lyon put his foot down over a Rowan Marshall trade. 
But this club won 17 home-and-away games with so much going right (Patrick Dangerfield mostly fit, Jeremy Cameron on fire and Bailey Smith as an All Australian) but also with Tom Stewart battling a knee injury then missing the Grand Final with concussion.
No one will believe this club has vast improvement capabilities but Lawson Humphries, Connor O’Sullivan, Mitch Knevitt, Sam De Koning, Oisin Mullin and Shannon Neale are all capable of taking another step. 
Toby Conway’s very brief AFL cameos have shown he’s capable of being the next Brad Ottens while Mitch Edwards is also injury prone but has huge potential as a project ruckman.
Conway has had recent surgery to strengthen his navicular bone and improve blood supply, but he has as much talent as any young ruck in the competition.
The clear concerns are age based.
Patrick Dangerfield is 36 in the first month of the season, the club’s established rucks Rhys Stanley and Mark Blivacs both turn 35 early in the year and Jeremy Cameron is 33 on April 1.
But for next year at least, this club is still firmly in the premiership race.

4. Adelaide

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What a September shambles. 
The Izak Rankine cluster-you-know-what. 
Straight sets.
Losing all eight quarters in finals. 
Jordan Dawson only able to provide finals cameos and not four-quarter efforts. 
Jake Soligo was worryingly quiet.
Darcy Fogarty with a single scoring shot. 
The rock-solid defence ripped apart against Collingwood.
And yet this team won 18 home-and-away games including nine wins on the bounce leading into the finals. 
With Christian Petracca touring the facilities then moving to Gold Coast and the only acquisition the likely pre-season pick Ah Chee the improvement has to come from within.
Ah Chee will allow Josh Rachele and Rankine to play more midfield.
But it is hard to suggest top five draft pick Sid Draper will be a finals presence when he played 10 games in a debut year with eight as the sub.
Dan Curtin is a spectacular overhead mark, makes good decisions and kicks like a mule.
Whether he’s capable of being an inside mid presence like mentor Jordan Dawson is another thing altogether. 

5. Fremantle

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This list wants for nothing. 
It has one of footy’s elite midfielders – Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw, Hayden Young and Shai Bolton. 
It has an elite ruck and a quality back-up, it has three quality forwards (Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and Patrick Voss), it has Judd McVee ready to provide half back drive along with 2025 All Australian Jordan Clark.
Now it’s about the big moments. 
Voss and Treacy both failed to meet the moment in the passage of play that saw Mac Andrew mark and goal as the Dockers dragged defeat from the jaws of victory in the elimination final.
Treacy has regressed across the past three years – 41 goals, then 36, then 32 last year. 
Shai Bolton had a very solid debut year in Dockers colours but was again hugely wasteful (28.29) playing high half forward rather than the centre square-deep forward split he would prefer.
So now Justin Longmuir has the elite list built by David Walls in the right age demographic and hopefully with a full year from Young. 

6. Hawthorn

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What have you got for us, Sam Mitchell? 
Can you turn a player with Mitchell-esque qualities in pick 7 Cam Mackenzie into someone who punishes the opposition instead of accumulating? 
Can fellow No. 7 pick Josh Ward’s 31 touches and five clearances in the Adelaide final be the norm instead of the exception?
Is it too early for Josh Weddle to get centre square looks after working on his footwork and midfield craft across summer?
Because as much as rivals are giggling at Hawthorn’s inability to land Zach Merrett last week, Mitchell will spend a few days wondering what went wrong then get down to business.
It would be boring if Mitchell’s list build was seamless – land Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson, then Josh Battle and Tom Barrass, then Merrett.
Now we get to see the creative genius who has to make ends meet at times given Will Day’s uncertain future and James Worpel’s departure.

7. Sydney

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The Swans roared home with eight wins in their final 11 games thanks in no small part to Errol Gulden’s return to the game.
Star power matters and now the Swans secure a dual Coleman Medallist in Charlie Curnow.
They would take any of his three seasons preceding this year’s injury prone 2025 season – 64, 81 and 57 goals.
Consider that the Swans might have the most dynamic mid-forward in footy (Isaac Heeney) and the most decorated key forward since 2022 (Curnow) at times hovering in this forward line.
It only means good things for the likes of Tom Papley and Joel Amartey, while Tom McCartin returns to defence full time.

8. Collingwood

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Too old, too slow. The premiership window slammed shut.
It’s an easy case to make and yet ….
This club won 16 home-and-away games and should have been the minor premiers if not for a late-season slip that saw them controversially rest players when streets ahead of their rivals.
They still have arguably the game’s best player in Nick Daicos and a system that works when there is pressure on the ball.
They should get a better season out of Dan Houston if the pattern of Lachie Schultz in his second season holds firm.
Do they have to consider Houston as the first receiver off the back of packs and put Josh Daicos back into the midfield? 
The best part of any prognostications over summer is that there is room for whatever narrative you want to push. 
That they are cooked because they lost Mason Cox (good in both finals) and the glue guy Brody Mihocek from their forward line and lost six of their final nine games.
Or that they have another crack at it because at one stage they won 14 of 15 games, Dan McStay and ex-Swan Jack Buller can replace Mihocek and Reef McInnes will return to help Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore.
The forward line is a fascinating watch.
The Pies cannot expect Elliott to kick 60 goals again and while McStay kicked four goals in a nine-goal defeat of Carlton and three in a 91-point win over the Power, in his 16 other games he kicked 12 goals.

9. GWS

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Clayton Oliver can work in this Giants midfield. 
Melbourne’s decision to move him on was based only partially on his form with the biggest reason they were sick of him as a distraction.
The Giants desperately needed more clearance strength and their view was they either tried to create an inside mid from a current GWS flanker or they just went and got one of the best inside mids of the past decade – at cents on the dollar.
On pure moneyball terms they got him as a $650,000 free agent (the Demons pay half his wage, the Giants give up a future third) so as long as he over performs that deal it puts him well outside the top 100 paid players it’s all upside.
While at times this midfield might look one-paced, Tom Green racked up nearly 10,000 metres gained (ave. 420 a game) and was also above average for scoreboard impact. 
With his quick feet he can bounce out of traffic and run the lines even if his exceptional clearance work typecasts him as a one trick pony.
From there the Giants will need more improvement from Aaron Cadman and Finn Callaghan and will hope for injury-free seasons from Sam Taylor and Brent Daniels, given Darcy Jones has torn an ACL and Josh Kelly’s hip injury might not see him return next year.
But of course they are a finals contender again.

10. Western Bulldogs

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It’s a hugely unflattering record since the 2021 finals series given the talent on display and the coaching brilliance of Luke Beveridge.
Two elimination final flame-outs and two missed finals series in that time, no matter how many excuses you muster or how much you quibble about the club’s bottom six.
With the Dogs having whiffed on a key back they will either need to create one from a current forward (can Jordan Croft spend the summer down back?) or adjust their playing style so they aren’t burned in a shootout.
Right now the Dogs play Russian Roulette.
That’s good enough for a 15-point quarter time lead in their must-win round 24 clash against Freo, then when belted in the midfield they gave up seven goals in 23 minutes of game time.
An adjustment must come, even if we will again get excited about Sam Darcy and Croft’s development, about Cody Weightman’s return and about Joel Freijah’s continuing improvement.

11. St Kilda

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Let’s dream for a moment.
There is a world where Max King peels off a 2022-style year (52 goals), where Tom De Koning plays a full year at his 2025 round 1-8 form before that debilitating throat injury, where Max Hall continues to emerge with midfield time after being the 35th ranked player in footy this year.
Where Sam Flanders plays a nice blend of half back and midfield like 2024 (as the 10th highest ranked player in footy), where Nas continues being Nas and is complemented by Mattaes Phillipou as a full time mid.
Where Darcy Wilson turns into a high half forward who can replicate his five goals against GWS and where Marcus Windhager continues to evolve as a ball-winner as well as a tagger.
Where the forward line at times becomes Max King-Rowan Marshall-Mitch Owens-Liam Ryan-Darcy Wilson-Jack Higgins and where Jack Silvagni shores up the defence and allows Alix Tauru and Cal Wilkie to fly for intercept marks.
Reality will eventually intrude – teams will hunt Wanganeen-Milera, Silvagni gets injured a lot and the TDK-Marshall tandem could be clunky.
But St Kilda refuses to be boring and so wherever the wild ride takes us we won’t be able to tear our eyes off it.

12. Carlton

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Michael Voss’s challenge is to extract the 2024 versions of Ollie Florent, Will Hayward and Harry McKay.
After a trade period where the club future-proofed itself with extra first-rounders in each of 2025-2027 but lost Tom De Koning, Jack Silvagni and Charlie Curnow, the focus will be on Voss’s coaching and development.
Can he maximise Florent’s ball use and dash and return him to the player who finished seventh in the Sydney best-and-fairest in a Grand Final year?
Can he extract another 41 goals from Hayward like in 2024 because although he kicked 29.10 this season in 21 games, he averaged only two shots at goal in a team crying out for his presence?
Can McKay stay concussion and injury-free and with the lion’s share of forward-50 targets again become a dominant forward after 49 goals in 2024?
Life without Charlie will be tough.
But if that trio can fire and Jagga Smith, Matt Cottrell and Nic Newman can return to add polish and ball use it allows Voss to try to focus less on contests and add running power and link-up play to a game plan that looked in all sorts across the past year.
Bombing it long to Charlie didn’t work this year so how do you craft a game-plan with only one key forward like Richmond in 2017, like the Dogs with Brad Johnson up forward?
Campbell Chesser’s raw pace will help and Ben Ainsworth is solid but must find another level.
Contest and defence will never go out of style – Brisbane won a Grand Final showing that – but Voss would be aware his coaching future depends on an evolution of this game plan while also turning this team’s collection of B-graders into something more.

13. Essendon

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With Essendon having put its stake in the ground over Zach Merrett it now must justify that decision on two fronts.
One, by unearthing more potential A-graders across its list it needs for the next flag because the only reason not to trade Merrett for three first-rounders is because this club believes it already has that quality on its list.
And two, by showing it can be the high-performance environment Merrett believed it was not.
What exactly did he mean by the lack of a high-performance environment? 
Coaching standards? 
Teammates not prepared to work hard enough? 
Culture? 
Surely after so many meetings with Brad Scott and new president Andrew Welsh that pair are now crystal clear on where this club needs to improve.
If Merrett does want out next year he will surely be open to multiple clubs this time, which will smooth his path and ensure the Dons get a fair deal like the Demons did with Petracca and the Blues with Curnow.
There is talent on this list for Scott to develop in a year of 15 debuts, who were Isaac Kako, Tom Edwards, Saad El-Hawli, Archer Day-Wicks, Lewis Hayes, Zak Johnson, Luamon Lual, Lachie Blakiston, Archer May, Angus Clarke, Vigo Visentini, Oskar Smartt, Liam McMahon, Jayden Nguyen and Rhys Unwin.
Nguyen shows potential as a close-checking defender, Edwards has a nose for goal, Hayes looked the part before an ACL in his AFL debut, May is tough, Visenti has the follow-up work to make it and Clarke has an elite tank.
So now Scott gets to work with that crew as he also tries to get more from Archie Perkins and Elijah Tsatas and build a forward line around Nate Caddy.

14. Melbourne

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Melbourne’s Steven King has vast ambitions to play a high-scoring aggressive game plan kicking 100 points every week.
Fair enough but so did Adem Yze in his first year at Richmond until he realised he didn’t have the cattle to pull it off.
So there will be growing pains for a side that has lost Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca and the club’s best lockdown defender in Judd McVee.
But instead of blundering on until this list hits a cliff, it has smartly pivoted to set up the next period of sustained success.
The best of this midfield will be when Max Gawn and Jack Viney go on a tear and allow young mids Harvey Langford, Kysaiah Pickett, Xavier Lindsay and Caleb Windsor to go along for the ride.
Langford already looks the kind of player who is made of something special as a goal-kicking tough-nut mid and Pickett will finally get a full year as a 70-30 mid-forward.
Trent Rivers will play more midfield, Brody Mihocek is the perfect role player for the previously misfiring forward line and Max Heath turns 23 this week as a ruck who can sneak forward to kick goals (three in four AFL games this year). 
No one will pick the Demons for finals but finally they have a very clear road ahead.
Across every line they will prioritise young but also have senior players who will add experience and hopefully school the youngsters on the right game plan.
Mihocek helps Jacob Van Rooyen and Matt Jefferson, Gawn mentors ex-Saint Heath and Steven May educates Dan Turner, Jed Adams and Harry Petty.

15. Port Adelaide

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Josh Carr’s honeymoon period will be limited in a season where the spectre of Zak Butters’ departure will hover over every weekend result.
The club says Butters is loyal and he’s a winner, so believes he will stay.
But how does he hold up the second part of that equation when the list has some A-plus talent but plenty of gaps.
There will be days when Butters, Jason Horne-Francis, Connor Rozee and Miles Bergman give the forward line silver service and everything will look hunky dory as Mitch Georgiades saves the day.
But so much relies upon the returning Todd Marshall to fire and for Jack Lukosius to justify his million dollar price tag after seven games and eight goals in 2024.
Willie Rioli has retired, Sam Powell-Pepper is coming off an ACL tear and top 20 pick Joe Berry played 12 senior games for three goals, so few will fear this forward line if Georgiades (58 goals in 2025) can be stopped or double-teamed.
Carr’s clear goal is to develop talent in Jack Whitlock, Christian Moraes, Berry, Jase Burgoyne and Josh Sinn.
But a club that admits the Hinkley-Carr handover was a distraction now gets another season of media focus, this time on its best player’s future.

16. Richmond

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Five wins was an incredible result for this rebuilding Richmond but no one should expect a jump to eight or 10 victories in 2026.
The wins were a round 1 stunner over Carlton, a round 6 stunner over Gold Coast but also West Coast twice and an injury-ravaged Essendon. 
There were also 11 losses by at least six goals with nine of those by eight goals.
So Richmond knows the path it is on, which will likely involve more on-field pain but is aware the early stages of the rebuild have been flawless.
Secure a critical mass of kids, don’t strip the list of all experience, don’t spend your cap space too early, make sure you give the kids exposure but also be prepared to educate them in the VFL.
The brilliant part is that every one of its seven first-round picks from 2025 showed at times why they were recruited so early – apart from Josh Smillie, who battled soft-tissue concerns and is yet to debut. 
Sam Lalor is a freak (even if the hamstring concerns are a worry), Jonty Faull is brave and tough (but kicked 9.18), Taj Hotton is as silky as advertised, Luke Trainor makes quality defensive decisions, Harry Armstrong could be a steal at pick 23 and ruck-forward Tom Sims will gain plenty from 11 AFL games.
The trade period was boring but bringing in list cloggers who would have stifled the opportunities for the kids would have been the worst possible play.
So with two top-five picks coming in the national draft Richmond has set its course for a lightning fast rebuild.

17. North Melbourne

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Let’s go glass half full.
For six weeks mid-season North Melbourne got its defensive methodology and intent right and won three games, drew with the Lions and ran Fremantle to six points in Perth.
In the final fortnight they belted Richmond and ran the Crows to 13 points at Marvel Stadium.
In those games the midfield hunted, Paul Curtis fired, Tristan Xerri tackled like a madman and Jy Simpkin looked better suited to a wing role.
But there were also many times this year when the Roos looked like a rabble.
For North Melbourne the 2026 improvement cannot come from talent alone as Colby McKercher, Finn O’Sullivan and Harry Sheezel get more midfield time and Charlie Comben and Will Dawson become the club’s long-term defenders.
It must be playing that full-ground defence and the midfield replicating the tackle pressure of George Wardlaw.
Only then will we stop putting the Roos in our bottom two in summer predictions.
The talent is there, the kids have miles under their belts (Sheezel 67 games, McKercher and Wardlaw 39, Comben 48, Curtis 78, Tom Powell 91).
Now for Alastair Clarkson to find the consistency that has eluded this club for so long.

18. West Coast

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A super trade period where the club could finally believe they have hit rock bottom and started the path upwards.
Harley Reid re-signed in late August and while the club didn’t bolster its midfield in the trade period it secured the draft picks (1, 2, 13) to draft yet more elite talent around him.
Elijah Hewett looks a player, Liam Baker showed he was worth the club’s trade outlay and hopefully Elliot Yeo can have an uninterrupted summer. 
The backline now looks a potential area of strength with Brandon Starcevich and Tylar Young joining the fray.
Starcevich and Brady Hough can take the best small and mid-sized defenders, Young is under-rated, Reuben Ginbey and Harry Edwards can take the talls, Tom McCarthy rebounds at will along with Ryan Maric and Bo Allen should emerge in his second year.
Up forward there is potential even with Oscar Allen’s loss as Jake Waterman returns from injury while Jack Williams and Archer Reid are given even more time as key forwards.
The club still desperately needs a quality ruckman but the dark days might just be over. 
Why wouldn’t they consider Mason Cox when he has been delisted and helps both the forward line and ruck stocks?

In what universe is Collingwood's list stronger than the Giants?

Talent wise, it is not even close

And the bombers better list than ours?

Good grief!

5 minutes ago, DubDee said:

In what universe is Collingwood's list stronger than the Giants?

Talent wise, it is not even close

And the bombers better list than ours?

Good grief!

To be fair… the bombers finished 1 game below us despite having about 17 injured players at one point.

We had bugger all injuries this year.

14th again 😭

2 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

14th again 😭

Wash your mouth out....!

Seinfeld had the Big Salad. This was a big word salad. It kinda looks right but you just know it's as good as cliched and in reality it's not accurate right now and certainly won't be next year.

I think looking at the list 14th is about right. What I am hoping for is some X factor from coach and list changes.

2 hours ago, Fritta and Turner said:

I think looking at the list 14th is about right. What I am hoping for is some X factor from coach and list changes.

Nothing groundbreaking - it's almost impossible to tell. Some players will improve - maybe some surprisingly so, some may regain form , some may lose form. It might be that our players skills, fitness and physical strengths and limitations are the same as this year. But the team will feel different and obviously it's a different coach. If players were (or felt they were ) being held back what's to say some of our players will have a new lease on life. All I know is every year at least 3 non-finalists go back into the 8 and sometimes it's a real surprise packet. All will be revealed in time

7 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

14th again 😭

Unlike 2024 and 2025 I’d actually take 14th next year. Particularly if we improve the following year.

Overly, pessimistic re MFC. Hopefully, the old coach has taken his funny ideas with him and MFC wins 6 of 7 by less than 10 points rather than 1. And gives up less than 7 goals in the last quarter.