The captains of all 18 AFL clubs have made their predictions ahead of the 2020 season.
All the skippers were polled on a number of categories including which other club (apart from their own) will make the Grand Final, which clubs will make the finals and individual awards such as the Brownlow Medal, Coleman Medal and Rising Star.
Last year’s runners-up GWS were picked by seven captains to make the Grand Final, ahead of 2018 premiers West Coast (five), reigning premiers Richmond (four) and Collingwood (two).
The Eagles, Tigers and Giants have all been forecast (17 votes) to make the finals ahead of Collingwood (16), Brisbane (15) and the Western Bulldogs (13).
Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps is the player favoured to take out the Brownlow, receiving five votes, with Lions gun Lachie Neale next on four and two-time Charlie winner Nat Fyfe on three.
Richmond’s Tom Lynch has been selected by six captains to kick the most goals in 2020 with reigning Coleman Medallist Jeremy Cameron next on five and West Coast’s Josh Kennedy on three. Despite kicking just 37 career goals, Melbourne’s Bayley Fritsch was the surprise recipient of one vote.
Gold Coast young gun Matt Rowell landed 50% of the Rising Star vote, nominated by nine captains as their choice to win the Ron Evans Medal.
The full AFL captain’s voting below:
Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?
(18 times seven selections)
17 – West Coast, Richmond, GWS
16 – Collingwood
15 – Brisbane
13 – Western Bulldogs
10 – Port Adelaide
8 – Geelong Cats
5 – Melbourne
3 – St Kilda
2 – Hawthorn
1 – Essendon, North Melbourne, Sydney
Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
7 – GWS
5 – West Coast
4 – Richmond
2 – Collingwood
Who do you think will win the 2020 Brownlow Medal?
5 – Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
4 – Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
3 – Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
2 – Dustin Martin (Richmond), Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
1 – Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Stephen Coniglio (GWS)
Who do you think will win the 2020 Coleman Medal?
6 – Tom Lynch (Richmond)
5 – Jeremy Cameron (GWS)
3 – Josh Kennedy (West Coast)
1 – Charlie Cameron (Brisbane), Ben Brown (North Melbourne), Bayley Fritsch (Melbourne), Lance Franklin (Sydney)
Who do you think will win the 2019 NAB AFL Rising Star?
9 – Matt Rowell (Gold Coast)
2 – Tom Green (GWS), Max King (St Kilda)
1 – Chayce Jones (Adelaide), Caleb Serong (Fremantle), Noah Anderson (Gold Coast), Luke Jackson (Melbourne), Dylan Stephens (Sydney)
