Can your team get off to a flying start to the 2020 season?
Every club has three specific types of supporters - The Optimist, The Realist and The Pessimist - and we have forecast what they might be thinking.
We have gone through the fixtures of all 18 teams, looking at the opening six weeks to predict where your team could be.
ADELAIDE
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Sydney (home)
Round 2: Port Adelaide (away)
Round 3: Brisbane (home)
Round 4: Richmond (away)
Round 5: Essendon (home)
Round 6: St Kilda (away)
The Optimist: 5-1
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 2-4
We will learn a lot about the Crows across the first six games thanks to a good mixture of match-ups. Coming off a tough year, they will need to get off to a strong start under new coach Matthew Nicks. A Showdown and a clash with Richmond at the MCG loom as the biggest tests. None of their home games will come easy either, taking on Essendon, Sydney and Brisbane.
BRISBANE
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Hawthorn (away)
Round 2: North Melbourne (home)
Round 3: Adelaide (away)
Round 4: Collingwood (home)
Round 5: Western Bulldogs (away)
Round 6: Sydney (home)
The Optimist: 6-0
The Realist: 4-2
The Pessimist: 2-4
If the Lions can get through road games against the Hawks and Crows early, they could get off to another flying start. They should pick up wins against Sydney and North Melbourne at the Gabba, while they will want to avenge a poor home loss to Collingwood from 2019. They could set up a huge year with early wins, but those tough interstate games could also set them back.
CARLTON
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Richmond (away)
Round 2: Western Bulldogs (home)
Round 3: Essendon (home)
Round 4: Sydney (away)
Round 5: Hawthorn (away)
Round 6: North Melbourne (home)
The Optimist: 3-3
The Realist: 1-5
The Pessimist: 0-6
Carlton has drawn a difficult fixture and their opening six weeks reflect that. Reigning premiers Richmond to kick off the year, Sydney away and bogey side North Melbourne loom as big tests, while the Bulldogs, Bombers and Hawks all project to be stronger in 2020. The Blues will want early momentum after an awful start to 2019 saw Brendon Bolton sacked.
COLLINGWOOD
by Ben Vernel
Round 1: Bulldogs (away)
Round 2: Richmond (home)
Round 3: Hawthorn (away)
Round 4: Brisbane (away)
Round 5: Port Adelaide (home)
Round 6: Essendon (home)
The Optimist: 6-0
The Realist: 5-1
The Pessimist: 2-4
The Pies ended the 2019 finals with a bit of a whimper - despite a late comeback against the Giants, it was not a great outing from the 2018 Grand Final Runners Up, and they’ll be keen to kick the 2020 season off with a series of decisive performances. Collingwood should take care of the Bulldogs if they’re at peak output, but Richmond will most likely prove too tough a task. If the Magpies are the real deal they’ll beat the likes of the Hawks, Lions, Power and Bombers but continued improvement from these middle-range teams could see the Pies take a loss - or several - early in the season.
ESSENDON
by Andrew Slevison
Round 1: Fremantle (home)
Round 2: Sydney (away)
Round 3: Carlton (away, MCG)
Round 4: GWS (home)
Round 5: Adelaide (away)
Round 6: Collingwood (away, MCG)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 1-5
The Bombers have some winnable games early with the Dockers at home and the Blues at the ‘G. They’ll be off a six-day break to Carlton’s five for that one. The Round 2 fixture in Sydney promises to be a huge game with the Joe Daniher scenario at the forefront. But rounds 4-6 are a little trickier, including Anzac Day which is a genuine 50-50 every year. Can’t see the Dons going through unscathed early but they are likely to be around the mark.
FREMANTLE
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Essendon (away)
Round 2: Hawthorn (home)
Round 3: Melbourne (away)
Round 4: Gold Coast (home)
Round 5: Geelong (home)
Round 6: West Coast (away)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 2-4
The Pessimist: 1-5
The Dockers face a difficult start to the season, with two trips to Victoria, a game in Tasmania and a Derby in the first six weeks. They host Geelong, Hawthorn and Gold Coast at Optus Stadium and while the latter should be comfortable enough, the former two will not come easy. Road games against Essendon and Melbourne in the first three weeks will be key to a strong start.
GEELONG
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: GWS (away)
Round 2: Gold Coast (home)
Round 3: West Coast (away)
Round 4: Hawthorn (home)
Round 5: St Kilda (home)
Round 6: Fremantle (away)
The Optimist: 5-1
The Realist: 4-2
The Pessimist: 2-4
Three interstate trips in the opening six weeks is not ideal for the Cats, especially given two are against West Coast and GWS. It doesn’t get much tougher than that, but home games against Gold Coast and St Kilda helps balance that out. They head to Perth twice in this stretch and also have the traditional Easter Monday game against the Hawks. The Cats came flying out of the gates in 2019 and can realistically do that again in 2020.
GOLD COAST
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Port Adelaide (home)
Round 2: Geelong (away)
Round 3: Sydney (home)
Round 4: Fremantle (away)
Round 5: Melbourne (home)
Round 6: GWS (away)
The Optimist: 2-4
The Realist: 0-6
The Pessimist: 0-6
The Suns have a chance to pick up early wins, hosting Port Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne at Metricon Stadium, but could just as easily go 0-6. All three teams should be stronger in 2020 and their interstate games are quite daunting. They take on the Cats in Geelong as well as Fremantle and GWS, games that could put a dent in the early part of their season.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
by Ben Vernel
Round 1: Geelong (home)
Round 2: Melbourne (away)
Round 3: Bulldogs (home)
Round 4: Essendon (away)
Round 5: Sydney (away)
Round 6: Suns (home)
The Optimist: 5-1
The Realist: 4-2
The Pessimist: 2-4
The Giants were embarrassed in the Grand Final, failing to fire a shot against a rampant Richmond. However, they are a team packed with stars, and they did manage to win their way to the last Saturday in September. They’ll be looking to open the season with a vengeance, and while one of the Cats or Bulldogs could take them down, the Demons, Bombers, Suns and Swans are beatable. They may drop a couple early, but things would have to go horribly wrong to see them win as few as two.
HAWTHORN
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Brisbane (home)
Round 2: Fremantle (away)
Round 3: Collingwood (home)
Round 4: Geelong (away)
Round 5: Carlton (home)
Round 6: West Coast (home)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 1-5
This is a very tough draw for the Hawks, taking on four of the top five teams from last year as well as Fremantle in Perth and Carlton at Marvel Stadium. Outside of that Perth trip, they luckily land Brisbane and Geelong at the MCG, while they face West Coast in Tasmania. Despite an incredibly tough fixture on paper, Hawthorn is more than capable of picking up early wins.
MELBOURNE
by Daniel Ewart
Round 1: West Coast (Away)
Round 2: GWS (Home)
Round 3: Fremantle (Home)
Round 4: St Kilda (Away)
Round 5: Gold Coast (Away)
Round 6: Richmond (Home)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 2-4
The Pessimist: 0-6
Melbourne’s season could not have a more difficult start with a trip to Perth to face the Eagles being no one’s idea of a good time. A string of games in Melbourne follow, with the Demons to fancy themselves a chance of picking up some early season wins against the likes of St Kilda and Gold Coast. Round 6 provides the toughest test against the reigning premiers at the MCG, but if they can generate some momentum there’s no reason they can’t put up a challenge.
NORTH MELBOURNE
by Daniel Ewart
Round 1: St Kilda (home)
Round 2: Brisbane Lions (away)
Round 3: Port Adelaide (home)
Round 4: Western Bulldogs (home)
Round 5: Fremantle (home)
Round 6: Carlton (away)
The Optimist: 5-1
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 1-5
North Melbourne has drawn favourably to start the season with four home games and four in Melbourne in the first six. Home games against St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Fremantle loom as very winnable while the Good Friday game against the Bulldogs is will be a test. An away to trip to Brisbane will spark the most fear of all the games but the Kangaroos will feel that they could come away with four or five wins to set up their year if all is going well.
PORT ADELAIDE
by Andrew Slevison
Round 1: Gold Coast (away)
Round 2: Adelaide (away, AO)
Round 3: North Melbourne (away)
Round 4: West Coast (home)
Round 5: Collingwood (away)
Round 6: Western Bulldogs (home)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 1-5
The Power should be 1-0 to kick off proceedings by accounting for the Suns, but things get immediately tricky thereafter. An early Showdown against the Crows, a trip to Melbourne to take on the Roos and a home clash with the Eagles provide solid tests. Collingwood at the ‘G and the Dogs at home ensue suggesting that an absolute best case scenario will still include a couple of defeats. If Port aren’t on early, it could mean curtains, but the likelihood is they’ll be thereabouts.
RICHMOND
by Andrew Slevison
Round 1: Carlton (home)
Round 2: Collingwood (away)
Round 3: St Kilda (away)
Round 4: Adelaide (home)
Round 5: West Coast (away)
Round 6: Melbourne (away)
The Optimist: 6-0
The Realist: 5-1
The Pessimist: 3-3
The 2019 premiers are expected to get off to a winning start in their annual opener against Carlton and should account for St Kilda, Adelaide (at the MCG) and Melbourne. The Collingwood clash is always tough to predict while West Coast away is a daunting task for any side. The Tigers are more than likely to be well on the positive side of the ledger after the opening six rounds.
ST KILDA
by Alex Zaia
Round 1: Kangaroos (away)
Round 2: Eagles (home)
Round 3: Tigers (home)
Round 4: Demons (home)
Round 5: Cats (away)
Round 6: Crows (home)
The Optimist: 3-3
The Realist: 2-4
The Pessimist: 1-5
With a host of new recruits, St Kilda hopes to hit the ground running in 2020. With Brett Ratten at the helm on a full-time basis, a positive start would be the perfect tonic as a new era dawns at Moorabbin. Five of their first six games under the roof at Marvel Stadium gives St Kilda a big boost, with the last two premiers - Richmond and West Coast – to provide stern tests of their credentials. Melbourne, North Melbourne and Adelaide will be winnable games but a trip to face Jack Steven’s Geelong is a daunting task.
SYDNEY
by Nic Negrepontis
Round 1: Adelaide (away)
Round 2: Essendon (home)
Round 3: Gold Coast (away)
Round 4: Sydney (home)
Round 5: GWS (home)
Round 6: Brisbane (away)
The Optimist: 4-2
The Realist: 3-3
The Pessimist: 1-5
The Swans host Essendon, Gold Coast and Carlton at home in the opening six weeks which could see them get some early wins under their belt. Nothing is certain of course, with the Blues beating them at the SCG in 2019 and the Bombers taking them to the final siren. Trips to Adelaide and Brisbane coupled with a Sydney Derby makes for a strong challenge for a team that will likely rebound in 2020.
WEST COAST
by Alex Zaia
Round 1: Demons (home)
Round 2: Saints (away)
Round 3: Cats (home)
Round 4: Power (away)
Round 5: Tigers (home)
Round 6: Hawks (away)
The Optimist: 6-0
The Realist: 5-1
The Pessimist: 3-3
West Coast open the season against Melbourne and St Kilda and will fancy themselves to go 2-0. Home matches against Tim Kelly’s old side Geelong and reigning premiers Richmond loom as mouthwatering fixtures. Hawthorn in Tasmania and Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval will be tricky early-season assignments for the Eagles.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
by Carly Waters
Round 1: Collingwood (home)
Round 2: Carlton (away)
Round 3: GWS (away)
Round 4: North Melbourne (home)
Round 5: Brisbane (home)
Round 6: Port Adelaide (away)
The Optimist: 5-1
The Realist: 4-2
The Pessimist: 2-4
Carlton and Port should be wins for the Bulldogs, while North and Brisbane will prove challenging, but certainly winnable at the Doggies’ fortress that is Marvel Stadium. The game against Collingwood should be close, and it will be interesting to see how much Tim English has improved when he goes up against Brodie Grundy in the first game back. The match to watch will be against arch-rivals GWS in Canberra. It’s often a close game and with these two it’s always 50/50 as to who gets the chocolates.