Do the Cats manage to go back to back in 2023? Can the Swans bounce back after a devastating thrashing in the Granny? And what is going to happen with my beloved Bulldogs? Let’s explore it, shall we? Here are my 2023 AFL Predictions including the final ladder, premiers and who takes home the Brownlow.
Yes, the season doesn’t start for a long, long time, but I couldn’t help myself from having a stab at some predictions this far out from September. So below I have listed my predicted Ladder, Premier, Runner-Up, Brownlow Medalist, Coleman Medalist and Rising Star. As the season is so far away and I will probably find myself with an egg on my face after this, think of this as the teaser to my yearly predictions, with a more in-depth, serious attempt taken closer to Round 1
1st: Melbourne – They were everybody’s prediction last year to win the Minor Premiership and they will most likely be this year as well. Injury-Free, they can thrash anyone in the comp if they decide to turn up on the day.
2nd: Brisbane – They haven’t lost too many valuable assets in the offseason and they managed to pick up two young guns at the Draft and Josh Dunkley and Luke Hodge in the trade period, they’ll be the strongest they’ve been in a while in 2023.
3rd: Carlton – Last year it was their season to lose and lose they did, with an incredible choke that saw them tumble from the Top 4 to 9th in a matter of weeks to miss the finals. As the old saying goes, they’ll be fitter for the run and come back stronger next year.
4th: Geelong – They’re the reigning premiers and they proved a lot of doubters wrong by dominating the league all the way through the Grand Final. They’ll be up there again, they always are.
5th: Richmond – The Tigers were finally looking like the Richmond of old towards the back end of the season and that momentum will carry them a long way into a strong start to the season I feel. A fit, firing and motivated Dusty, Shai Bolton only getting better and throw in Hopper and Taranto and you have one of the most dangerous lists in the comp on paper.
6th: Fremantle – Flagmantle anyone? They finally got some finals experience last year and that will help immensely, plus they managed to snag Luke Jackson and having him and Sean Darcy act as a Key Forward/Ruck rotation powerhouse duo could be very exciting.
7th: Sydney – They won’t have as strong a season as last year, nobody ever does coming off a thrashing in a Grand Final, but they’re too good not to be playing in September. As long as they stay injury free, they’ll be in the 8.
8th: Gold Coast – Yes, I say it every year and yes, they do always look like they’re going to make it before choking in the final 6 weeks, but surely 2023 is the year. Ben King will be back and he’ll be a massive help considering they lost the likes of Rankine and Bowes, but I feel as though things will just click for them this year and they’ll just squeeze in on percentage. The team on the losing side of that percentage battle you ask?
9th: Collingwood – Proved a lot of doubters wrong last year who thought they’d be contenders for the spoon, but they were just too desperate to prove them all wrong to let that happen. But this year will be different. They lost Grundy, but they picked up Tom Mitchell, which should help, but I feel as though he isn’t the impact player he used to be and with the harder draw they’ll be given thanks to their stellar season last year I think they might start losing those last-minute thrillers that they got so accustomed to.
10th: St Kilda – The Saints are always a team that is going to be thereabouts without actually making the 8 and 2023 will be no different. They’ve recruited fairly well through the draft and managed to do fairly little in the trade period and they’ve brought in a new coach to try and change the club’s complacent culture. So, props to them for trying, but the list still has too many holes to be playing finals footy.
11th: Western Bulldogs – As a Doggies fan, that hurts to write, but boy how badly have we fallen since the successes of previous years? They lost Dunkley, Wallis and Hunter, but brought in Rory Lobb, a key forward that they do not need and stars Naughton and Bontempelli are far from their best due to niggling injuries. The only positive is they now have two genuine key defenders to fill the massive void down back that they have always had. 2023 will be a year that the Dogs are humbled and realise they need a mini-rebuild to put the pieces back together.
12th: Adelaide – They did pretty well in the off-season, bringing in excitement machine Izak Rankine in what should surely inject some energy into the Crows. They displayed brief moments of class last year which they can build upon to get a few more wins in what will be their most positive season in years.
13th: North Melbourne – Call me crazy, but I think with Clarkson and Ratten at the helm, this team can do some great things this year. Sheezel and Wardlaw were great pickups as well and quite frankly, I think getting rid of Horne Francis will be the best thing to have happened to the club in years.
14th: Port Adelaide – They made the wrong move by sticking by Ken Hinkley. He has allowed the club to sink into a tired brand of formulaic football that leaves them exposed. They lost Karl Amon and picked up Juinor Riloi and Jason Horne Francis, both of whom aren’t the game changers that the media so desperately want them to be. They’ll struggle again.
15th: GWS – Lost half of their midfield to the Tigers in what was a strange move for not much in return. They got Aaron Cadman which is a plus, but key-forward number 1 draft picks always take time to develop, so they’ll have to spend another year rebuilding before any sort of success comes their way.
16th: Hawthorn – Also lost half of their midfield for not much in return in what I believe was just Sam Mitchell trying way too hard to make a splash in his first proper trade period as a coach. They’ll be good in 5 years when all of their 20-year-olds actually grow up.
17th: West Coast – What a mess. They barely scraped a few wins together last year, even when they didn’t have covid. I am shocked that their coach still has a job because the list is in disarray and they play as if they don’t even have a game plan. Strap in Eagles, you’re going to be clenching onto that 2017 flag for longer than you thought.
18th: Essendon – The whole club is just a mess, from top to bottom. Surely that can’t translate to good football on the field.
PREMIERS: MELBOURNE – Maybe this is the bias talking coming from the fact that they’re my $100-$1 bet on BetR, but Melbourne has the most bulletproof list in the comp. There isn’t a single hole and it will be up to them if they win the comp this year. Last year, they clearly just didn’t want it enough, but if they remain relatively injury-free and motivated, they can go all the way.
RUNNERS-UP: CARLTON – Boy wouldn’t a Granny between Carlton and Melbourne shatter attendance records at the MCG?! I think the Blues will be very classy this year and have the chops to go all the way through to the big dance, but when they get there, they will meet a team that has the experience factor over them and they’ll fall short.
BROWNLOW MEDAL: ANDREW BRAYSHAW – Fremantle are a team I am expecting to win plenty of games and Brayshaw is their Number 1 poller because he is literally always at the contest with the footy in his hands and now that he has Luke Jackson to serve as a target up front, you can expect Brayshaw will only increase his score involvements and poll very strongly again off the back of a Top 5 season in 2022. Mind you, for a little extra fun, I’ll say Patty Cripps grabs the second spot and Chad Warner of the Suns as a sleeper to finish Top 5.
COLEMAN MEDAL: JEREMY CAMERON – Would have won it in both 2021 and 2022 if it weren’t for injury in my mind, so if the farmer boy from Dartmoor can actually stay fit and play 20+ games this year, he can win the Coleman for sure.
RISING STAR: REUBEN GINBEY – A little left field I know since everyone else will be claiming Ashcroft will be a shoe-in and I predicted West Coast to finish 17th. However, I feel that Ginbey is one of the few draftees this year that will play in every single game if he remains injury-free. The reason is, he is already the size and shape of an AFL footballer with strength and athleticism his main attributes, with a clean intercept mark and high footy IQ. Plus, West Coast will actually have the spot to give a draftee a lot of game time, unlike a lot of the others. Your team doesn’t always have to be doing well to win the award either, Sam Walsh won it for Carlton when they finished 16th, so yeah, Ginbey will do me as a dark horse pick.
Thoughts on my predictions?
What are your way too early-predictions for the AFL in 2023?
Sound off in the comments!