Predictions are always dependant on how many injuries you get to your best 23, loss of players like Oliver and Petracca is damaging to our chances this year but Steele will add some respite, McVee's replacement in Jaith is refreshing in his run and taking the game on, Spargo was never the same after his injuries took a toll on his body.

Mihocek is a bonus and Heath is an unknown quantity.

Players like Jefferson, Henderson, Johnson, Kentfield, Laurie and Culley need a good season to remain on the list in 2027.

To start well,

ie: to win at least one of the first five games

To start each game with purpose unlike beginning to play football in the second or third quarter

And to finish the “red time” with energy and purpose and a game plan to run the quarter or game out.

The position on the ladder will take care of itself. I want to walk away from watching the games feeling as if “the demons” are worth watching and have a future.

Can’t help but be optimistic at this time of year. Go Dees Finish 10th

5 hours ago, bing181 said:

Winning 10 games feels pretty optimistic to me. It also depends on how you win them — and just as importantly, how you lose them. If we’re competitive and in most matches we'll be doing well, and I’d take that over a categoric win/loss ratio any day.

The worst thing that could happen is that we do an Essendon, where we look like a million dollars in some matches but get seriously hammered in (a lot of) others.

The latter is much more likely with a young team in transition to a new style of play.

Goodwin gave us the former with his defence-first orientation.

Who makes up this [censored]?

Edited December 5, 2025Dec 5 by Rab D Nesbitt

6 games: Pass
9 games: Credit
12 games: Distinction
15 games: High Distinction
18 Games: Dux

Avoid wooden spoon.

Find a home base (wherever that may be).

Zero Hangar's had a go now.

Just 6 wins for us. Only Tiges and Worst less (4). Essendon 8 and the rest 'more wins than losses' or better.

Coupla dozen grand finalists - on-field numbers will be bigger than the crowd.

On 07/12/2025 at 10:16, dice said:

Avoid wooden spoon.

Find a home base (wherever that may be).

I hear there’s lots of space in Warracknabeal for a footy stadium…

For me, the only real pass mark is winning the Grand Final. Realistically, I think we’ll win somewhere between four and six games this season. Anything beyond that is a bonus. A few extra wins on top of that would be nice, but I wouldn’t call it a pass or a success in itself.

Given all the changes that the team list, the coaching staff and the Administration has been through over the last few months I find it hard to look for a 'pass mark' for '26.

I want to see a true development of the game plan and a team of players week in week out enjoying their footy and being competitive. I can see this year as an opportunity for the coaches to have a good look at the players response under pressure of league footy, their adaption to the game plan and individual development.

This pre-season is critical in establishing the standards on and off field.

The first six games will give an idea of what we can expect for the season a there is a bit of travel and we play a good mixture of teams.

R1 - Saints @The G (h)

R2 - Dockers Perth (a)

R3 - Carlton @ The G (a)

R4 - Suns @The G (h)

R5 - Bombers Adelaide (a)

R6 - Brisbane @ The G (h)

4 at the G One in Perth and one in Adelaide. Come away from that with a couple of good wins and a couple of close games and then I will grade them.

1 hour ago, CHF said:

R1 - Saints @The G (h)

R2 - Dockers Perth (a)

R3 - Carlton @ The G (a)

R4 - Suns @The G (h)

R5 - Bombers Adelaide (a)

R6 - Brisbane @ The G (h)

Easy to see us going 0 - 6 or 1 - 6 on that (Essendon?).

I feel we have a decent enough backline (though losing McVee + Bowie won't help), a decent enough forward line now with Pickett x 2 plus Mihocek. But around the ball some of those teams could cut us to ribbons.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Easy to see us going 0 - 6 or 1 - 6 on that (Essendon?).

I feel we have a decent enough backline (though losing McVee + Bowie won't help), a decent enough forward line now with Pickett x 2 plus Mihocek. But around the ball some of those teams could cut us to ribbons.

Very possibly correct bing. I see 2-4 as a very good result given the situation we are in list and coaching wise.

I also agree with your general outline of the areas of the ground with the midfield as an unknown.

However, I am looking for an interesting ride in ‘26.

I think our midfield is one of worst in the league when you consider that a 32 year old Viney is now our ‘premier’ midfielder, and even he’s in doubt for round 1. Just compare our midfield with Gold Coast for a second - it’s actually humiliating.

I doubt we’ll win more than 3 games this year, with 5 wins being my satisfactory pass mark.

If you have a poor midfield, you don’t win AFL games.

I think we will be a bit better than last year and win 8-10 games, don't think we will be as bad as a lot of ppl think. Petracca is our only real loss from last season, Oliver did not contribute to any wins in a meaningful way

We won 7 games in 2025 with Trac and Oliver.

We lose Trac. We “cover” Oliver to an extent with Steele. We gain in some other areas (Mihocek and CJ, another (full) pre-season for Langford and Lindsay). We also get to see what the rest of the list does when freed from whatever the previous administration had hanging over them.

With all that said, I don’t see us making finals but I’d be more surprised at us winning 6 games or fewer as I would at us winning 10+ games.

1 hour ago, sisso said:

Petracca is our only real loss from last season

And a heck of a loss he is. 20 goals a year, plenty of scoring assists and other on field stuff that only a few in the league are capable of.

Bowey will also be sadly missed for most of the year and McVee will typically have a bounce back year after an atrocious 2025.

I’m not ruling out a 10 to 12 win season, but I think it’s far more likely we’re around the 4 to 6 mark.

10 wins. A bit less predictable and better in some areas than last year.

A new gameplay that works

that is all

Wins and losses not that important. We could make the ten (🤮) or be bottom 6 but it’s not very different. We need to build a new game plan and style which takes time

9 hours ago, Edward Langdon said:

I think our midfield is one of worst in the league when you consider that a 32 year old Viney is now our ‘premier’ midfielder, and even he’s in doubt for round 1. Just compare our midfield with Gold Coast for a second - it’s actually humiliating.

I doubt we’ll win more than 3 games this year, with 5 wins being my satisfactory pass mark.

If you have a poor midfield, you don’t win AFL games.

You think Gawn Viney Kozzi Langford (with Rivers, Lindsay, Windsor, Steele back up) is poor?

Not excellent but far from poor

I'd like 8 wins, but just want to see some cohesion on the field. And some accurate kicking at goal 😁

Sportsbet has us at $3.50 to make the 10 along with Carlton. Only Eagles, North, Tigers and Bombers outside that.

On 05/12/2025 at 10:30, Bombay Airconditioning said:

I think we can finish between 8-10.

Yep pass mark 10th make playoffs

Pass mark for me will be to increase our conversion of i50 to goals while being strong defensively (75-80 ppg against). If King is planning for a more expansive offensive game, and we defend like we did when Goodwin started last season with more offensive intent, then we'll be lucky to be a 2 and 21 team.

Yet to see many green shoots in the key areas around being good defensively (able to win one on one's and preparedness to apply pressure) amongst our list, so I think some are in for a shock as to how low we're going to go this season.

Be a team i am proud of, regardless of result.

8-14th is pass mark for mine.

In terms of wins, who knows? Anywhere from 6 to 12 wins depending on any number of factors

Much like winning, losing can be a habit so if we don't win games, we can lose confidence and lose the will to win

This is where King's coaching is all-important. He and the FD have to take a realistic approach. As do the supporters

I believe our main area of concern is the development of many of the players (old & new) And having a healthy list is also A1 important

The development of the new game plan with a good dose of patience thrown in is another important facet

I still believe that it's our senior players who need to lift and be accountable

Because if that doesn't happen, up ahead is a major rebuild. Of course, we're in a rebuild of sorts by default anyway, but we're not bereft of talent

A rebuild of sorts with a revamped FD, some added experience (or veterans), along with a few mature age types and a good sprinkling of youth

I'm reasonably confident that we'll advance forward to point where we can attack 2027 with gusto. This year is all about development

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Macca