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The AFL season is set to resume on June 11th, but a lot has changed since the pre-season.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the goal posts for a few teams, in particular the sides forced to hub in Queensland.
On the other hand, the lockdown has allowed a few teams to rest up and get players back from injury and their expectations might be higher now than they were in February.
To get a pass mark in 2020, some teams need to go all the way to the Grand Final while others simply need to give their fans some hope that they’re heading in the right direction.
Here’s what every club needs to do to get a pass mark in 2020:
The last few years have been a bit of a battle for the Crows, mainly from an off-field point of view. Frequent problems have arisen largely in the wake of the 2017 Grand Final defeat which has produced so much negativity in recent times.
So with a new head coach in place and some key changes in backroom personnel, the new regime will be hoping for an incident-free season from here on in after the Tyson Stengle and COVID-19 breach issues.
With a weakened list due to the departures of some experienced players, outside expectations on Adelaide are not high. Making finals would be seen as an overachievement, but there would be no doubting that on the inside there would be fires burning and they’d be absolutely intent on making their footy do the talking.
Pass mark: Go the rest of the year without any off-field trouble.
Andrew Slevison
The Lions improved out of sight in 2019, with nobody expecting them to finish as high as second on the ladder. Unfortunately, they could not convert that momentum into finals success, going out in straight sets.
Improvement isn’t linear and time at the top of the ladder can end as quickly as it starts if teams become complacent. They’ll have every chance to get off to a strong start, playing their first four games at the Gabba. But Brisbane needs to keep that momentum going by proving they can win when the whips are cracking in finals.
Pass mark: Win a final.
Nic Negrepontis
Carlton fans have been incredibly patient over the last five years dealing with loss after loss and rebuild after rebuild. For the Blues, their pass mark in 2020 is as simple as it gets – win games.
They still have a young team and highly drafted players at the beginning of their careers, but they need to give their fans some reward for their patience and break out of the bottom four.
The Blues don’t need to make finals, they don’t even need to be in the finals mix in 2020, they simply need to be a competitive team outside of the bottom four that starts to build a winning culture under new coach David Teague.
Pass mark: Get out of the bottom four.
Nic Negrepontis
Collingwood is a team in the premiership window, but poorly timed injuries have kept them from reaching their full potential.
The Pies have everything required to be a top team again in 2020 and their performance against the Western Bulldogs in Round 1 showed what they can achieve when everything has been put together.
Given how close they have been in recent years, it’s fair to assume Collingwood fans won’t be accepting anything less than another shot at winning a flag.
Pass mark: Get back to the Grand Final.
Nic Negrepontis
The Bombers stand to benefit significantly from the league’s shutdown, with the extended break allowing the likes of Dyson Heppell and Joe Daniher to continue their respective recoveries from long-term injuries without missing any matches.
It’s no secret Essendon haven’t won a final since 2004 and in John Worsfold’s last season as senior coach, a pass mark in 2020 has to be not just making finals but finally winning one.
Heavy elimination final defeats to Sydney in 2017 and West Coast in 2019 would still sting, especially after their close loss to North Melbourne in the 2014 elimination final.
The Bombers of late have been known as a middle of the road side and there’s one way to change that – by snapping a long drought without finals success and winning one this year.
Pass mark: Win a final.
Laurence Rosen
It’s fair to say that there isn’t any great expectations on Fremantle this year in Justin Longmuir’s first season as senior coach.
Ross Lyon’s departure last season marked the end of an era for the club, with a fresh set of eyes needed on a playing list that haven’t played finals and finished no higher than 13th since 2015.
At the very least, 2020 needs to be a year where Fremantle show the footy world they’ve made strides towards implementing a new game plan and renewed style under Longmuir.
They face a tough stretch at the start of the rebooted season by playing exclusively in Queensland but if they can weather the storm early, they should be rewarded with plenty of home games in the back half of the season.
Pass mark: Make strides under Justin Longmuir.
Laurence Rosen
Is Geelong’s premiership window closing?
The Cats have made the finals seven times since their last flag in 2011 but have failed to make a Grand Final, falling at the preliminary hurdle on four occasions.
With champion duo Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins on the wrong side of 30 and Gary Ablett Jnr likely to retire, 2020 is a premiership or bust year for Chris Scott’s side.
Scott, in his 10th season as coach, has won just four of 15 finals in the eight years following the premiership in his first season.
Hosting more games at GHMBA Stadium would give Geelong a massive boost in its chase for a top four spot.
Pass mark: Win a premiership.
Alex Zaia
There’s been plenty of talk about the benefits Brisbane will have by Queensland playing host to four extra clubs for the early parts of the season from next week, but why can’t that benefit Gold Coast as well?
With star youngsters Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Izak Rankine all poised to play in the same team for the first time in Round 2, there’s suddenly a sense of quiet optimism at the Suns.
They’ll have to capitalise on having a string of early home games but if they can, their pass mark is showing some form of progress after years of underperforming. That may mean only a handful of wins but as long as they are getting better under Stuart Dew.
Pass mark: Show progress.
Laurence Rosen
The Giants have taken a lengthy sip and certainly have the taste of finals on their lips.
The last four years they’ve experienced two preliminary final defeats, a semi-final loss and the mother of all Grand Final beatings. Without doubt, the much talked about finals experience is there. Now it’s time to hold the cup aloft.
There are no excuses for GWS any more. They know what it takes to win it all and they have the absolute quality to do it. To many, close enough is good enough, but you sense a steely resolve at this club. Restoring pride after last year’s capitulation is paramount and the only way to do that is by cracking the champagne bottle after a history-making win and drinking it all in.
Pass mark: Win their first flag.
Andrew Slevison
On paper, Hawthorn's list looks very dangerous. Tom Scully and Chad Wingard have both got a season under their belt, Jon Patton and Sam Frost are up and running at their new club and Tom Mitchell is back. That’s a handful of experienced players ready to make a difference.
The Hawks probably overachieved in 2018 when making the fop four, before dropping out of the eight last year, but you sense this side has a fair bit of substance and anything less than finals footy would be a disappointment.
The way they dismantled Brisbane in Round 1 shows they are a very decent team and they will be expecting to mix it with the best come season's end.
Pass mark: Finish top 6 and give the contenders a scare.
Andrew Slevison
The Demons showed in 2018 just how good they can be, winning two finals before bowing out to eventual premiers West Coast.
But after a disastrous 2019 which saw them finish second from bottom, Melbourne this year at the very least need to show that 2018 wasn’t an outlier.
Before finishing fifth in 2018, the club hadn’t played finals since 2006 so despite their success two years ago, Dees fans are still relatively starved of success in the modern era.
A pass mark in 2020 sees them pushing towards finals again and putting behind them the disappointment that was last season.
Pass mark: Play finals and make amends for 2019.
Laurence Rosen
North Melbourne is a tough team to grade given they have a new coach and have struggled to break out of mediocrity for some time. The Roos are a team in flux where you can’t put their pass mark as high as making finals, but they also must start pushing their way out of the mediocre cycle.
They have a number of young talented players who are capable of breaking out and adding new dynamics to the team like Tarryn Thomas, Jy Simpkin, Nick Larkey, Luke Davies-Uniacke and others.
For the Kangaroos in 2020, they need to develop these players and show fans that the next wave is ready to take the team up the ladder under Rhyce Shaw.
Pass mark: Build the next generation of stars.
Nic Negrepontis
Port Adelaide were consistently inconsistent in 2019.
If the Power want to play finals football they must bring their best on a more regular basis and ensure key players such as Charlie Dixon and Ollie Wines stay fit and healthy.
Ken Hinkley is eyeing finals and a premiership in the club’s 150th year anniversary but faces the early test of a Round 2 Showdown before the Power relocate to a hub in Queensland for the next three games.
It could be finals or bust for Hinkley after it was revealed he has a trigger clause in his contract where a top eight spot is required for him to continue beyond 2020.
Pass mark: Play finals.
Alex Zaia
If two out of three ain’t bad then three out of four is pretty darn good. But only great teams achieve things like that and the Tigers will need to be just that in what promises to be a strange old season.
Not winning the flag would not be seen as an enormous failure given there are two new ones at Punt Road but the ultimate success is quickly becoming the new expectation. As much as the Tiger faithful would be yearning for a third premiership in quick succession, they must be appreciative that they are very hard to win and just to again be at the pointy end will be a challenge in itself.
The hunter is certainly now the hunted and just maintaining the side’s overall quality be the focus. The rest, as Damien Hardwick says, will take care of itself.
Pass mark: Maintain excellence. Make another Grand final.
Andrew Slevison
St Kilda's Round 1 loss to North Melbourne was a reality check after the hype surrounding the club’s sway of off-season recruits.
The challenge for coach Brett Ratten is getting the five acquisitions, the fit-again Dan Hannebery and prodigious young forward Max King to gel as quickly as possible so the Saints can start marching up the ladder.
Western Bulldogs, Richmond, Collingwood and Carlton make for a challenging first block of fixtures that could determine whether finals are a possibility in 2020.
Ratten would hope to have his side playing cohesively by the season’s end in what is likely to be a year of transition.
Pass mark: Collective improvement with at least a 50 per cent winning record.
Alex Zaia
2019 saw Sydney miss the finals for the first time in a decade but they'll be buoyed by their Round 1 win away from home over Adelaide.
The Swans will look to their impressive batch of youngsters to right the wrong of last season but a serious hamstring injury to Lance Franklin is a massive blow to their finals hopes.
Franklin is expected to miss a large chunk of the revised 17-game season that will hurt Sydney’s hopes of kicking a winning score.
With Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, Tom Papley, Callum Mills and the experience of Josh Kennedy, Dane Rampe and Luke Parker, expect John Longmire’s side to be ultra-competitive in 2020.
Pass mark: Play a bolder brand of football while competing for a finals spot.
Alex Zaia
The 2020 season will throw up obstacles for every club but not as many as the Eagles (and Fremantle) will face. A month away on the Gold Coast to restart the campaign will undoubtedly be challenging and beyond that there is no certainty with the fixture.
West Coast must play two genuine away games in a row then get a pair of games at a neutral venue against strong opposition. It isn’t an ideal way to begin a shortened season but if they can come out relatively unscathed, then get back to some semblance of normality by playing and winning games in Perth, then they will be in a strong position.
Last year’s late-season failures will be back of mind. Setting themselves up with home finals will be paramount.
Pass mark: Overcome adversity early, play home finals late.
Andrew Slevison
The Western Bulldogs finished 2019 on fire to make finals and while it didn’t lead to a 2016-style fairy tale, they showed the capabilities of being a top team in 2020 and beyond.
The key to the excitement surrounding the Bulldogs is their incredibly strong midfield, but the additions of Alex Keath and Josh Bruce to their key position stocks at either end on paper gives them the stability they need to take a big step forward.
It will take time for them to settle their line-up and they clearly had their struggles in Round 1 against Collingwood, but if the Bulldogs can work out what their best 22 looks like and also have some luck with injuries, they can be a serious threat in 2020.
Pass mark: Put all the pieces together and make finals
Nic Negrepontis