Author: The Mock's

The AFL season is finally here for 2023 and we here at The Mock Sports could not be more excited. Footy is our bread and butter so expect to see plenty of articles surrounding the previewing of games, predicting the Brownlow Medal outcome and making plenty of bets along the way. For now, we need to look at each team’s individual chances and what sets them apart from the others. How will each club go in 2023? Well, let’s dive deep into each of our prepared season previews! Adelaide Crows After a 2022 season that was passable at best, the…

Boy have we been waiting patiently for this one. For those who don’t know The Mocks are made up of a Swans Fan and a Bulldogs fan, so it should come as no surprise that we grew very impatient sitting on our hands waiting to discuss our teams’ seasons at the tail end of the pack. But we are finally here at the final team of all 18 current AFL clubs – the Western Bulldogs. The Bulldogs had a bit of a fall from grace last year, as was to be expected after their 2021 Grand Final thrashing at the…

In a very refreshing change of pace, the Eagles were not the dominant WA-based team last year, but that also came with the not-so-refreshing tumble down the table. COVID, unfortunately, ravaged Perth last year after they had been cooped up the entire pandemic and the Eagles suffered because of it. Most weeks, they were fielding a WAFL quality side against AFL lineups, so there were some excuses. But in those weeks in which they actually had their full-strength squad on the field, there was nobody to hide. Little gameplan, and zero grit and they were completely rolled over all but…

The Sydney Swans are in dangerous territory this year. They suffered a thumping defeat in the Grand Final last year and historically, teams just don’t come back from that very quickly. Let’s look at the results recently, GWS crumbled after their Richmond loss, as did Adelaide, Port Adelaide took years to recover after their 2007 loss to Geelong and the Bulldogs had to scrap and claw their way into the finals last year by an absolute whisker after the Demons laughed them off the park in 2021. But, that being said, who was the last team to take a large…

St Kilda is one of those clubs that you always want to root for, as they always seem like they are on the brink of a massive breakthrough and about to launch a premiership-winning run. You start to believe this potential so much that it has you convinced that they will be different. And then Round 1 comes. But Ross Lyon is back at the club, the playing group have a fire lit under their belly and they showed some great signs in the practice match, but to be fair, that was against Essendon. However, the signs were there nonetheless…

Tigerland saw a very refreshing return to form in 2022 after having a very torrid 2021 and squashed any notions of the ‘Dynasty Is Dead!” rumours. The Dynasty is far from dead and are still capable of playing top-quality football and with new recruits and greater momentum heading into 2023, there is no reason why they can’t add another piece of silverware to that cabinet. Shai Bolton is quickly becoming the most exciting player in the AFL, Dustin Martin has both his head and body right for the first time since the 2020 Premiership and they managed to recruit both…

Port Adelaide are in a very interesting situation this year. It is honestly coming close to D-Day for them. They miss the 8 and we feel a full-on re-shuffle will be in order. Their last big rebuild was almost 10 years ago and what has it produced? How many flags? Oh, that’s right, doughnuts, 0. The closest they have gotten is a couple of Preliminary Final losses. Who has been coaching this entire time? Ken Hinkley. How does he still have a job after 10 years with no results? Oh yes, the chairman loves him. But there will be nowhere…

Kanga Kanga Kanga! Roo Roo Roo! Arden Street is looking quite positive for the first time in a long time as they continue their never-ending ‘re-build’ but with an actual direction under coaching guru Alastair Clarkson. Some strong talent has been recruited, some negative influences on the team culture have been removed and fans are quite adamant that the blue and white stripes will be getting off the bottom of the ladder in 2023. And you know what? We can’t help but agree with them, but how far will they get up the ladder? The Top 8? No, certainly not,…

Here is a team that came out with plenty of fire under their new coach last year but then ended up tiring out just about every game and finishing 13th. Nothing to turn your nose at under a first-time coach, but you would have wanted to see more, especially considering how many times they were in front at the half or even the 3 Quarter-Time mark before being run down. But can they bounce back? Are they the team to watch this AFL Season? Let’s find out. Squad Changes INKarl Amon (free agent, Port Adelaide), Josh Bennetts (category B rookie), Fergus Greene (delisted free agent,…

There’s a big big sound in the west of the town, its the sound of the mighty Orange Team? Kelli Underwood’s favourite AFL team will have a big year in front of them as they have a brand new look. New coach, new structure and plenty of new recruits looking to fill the massive void that is left in their midfield after half of it ran off to Richmond. Can Adam Kingsley do a Craig McRae and take his Giants from bottom to top in his very first season? Unlikely, but crazier things have happened. Squad Changes INAaron Cadman (No.1 draft…