Christmas is nearly here and all through the AFL, coaches, club officials and players are stirring, setting their goals and expectations for the 2021 campaign.
While Santa, probably, can’t actually deliver on any of these, we have gone through what all 18 AFL teams would be wishing for in 2021 if they could wish for anything … other than a premiership … that’s a bit too obvious.
Whether it’s a certain player’s health, improvement in a certain area or something behind the scenes, here are our Christmas wishes for every AFL team.
A clean slate
It’s been a tumultuous 2020 for the Crows. They were rocked by several off-field incidents while battling away on the field under rookie coach Matthew Nicks.
What the club would be hoping for in 2021 is a clean slate. To start anew and to resurrect their culture. To win games of footy and to avoid any negative headlines. That would be a nice Christmas gift.
It’s safe to say that Adelaide is in a rebuilding phase, so the fans may need to be patient, but as long as things are on the right track and the self destruct button is out of reach, then at least they can look ahead with positivity.
Andrew Slevison
Immediate return on the Joe Daniher investment
The Lions swooped on the Joe Daniher sweepstakes in the trade period and if things all go to plan, he could be the final piece of the Brisbane premiership puzzle. While the Lions have finished top four in the last two seasons, their key forwards haven’t delivered when it’s mattered most.
Daniher has the skillset to get the job done and has stood up in big games like Anzac Day during his stint with Essendon.
Of course, all of this depends on the key forward getting his body right and Brisbane will be hoping he gets a clean run to attack 2021.
Nic Negrepontis
Charlie Curnow’s knee problems subside
Charlie Curnow flashed what his peak could look like in the middle of 2019, kicking 14 goals and taking 25 marks in a four-game stretch. However, we haven’t seen him since as ongoing knee issues continue to plague him.
Carlton will simply be hoping this latest bout of knee surgery is his last and that he gets back into the side as 2021 unfolds. Curnow is a key part of the Blues’ finals hopes next season and beyond and his fitness will be crucial to that.
Carlton fans have barely seen what Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Curnow can do as a trio and there’s few things they’d want more in 2021.
Nic Negrepontis
Hope that things will work out
Collingwood has endured a rocky end to the year.
The Magpies scraped their way into the finals but were swiftly dealt with by a stronger Geelong outfit, before heading into the Trade Period from Hell.
It can't be overstated just how negative those few weeks were; some long-time Pies fans were shaken to the core of their support.
Their AFL Draft provided a bit of hope, and that's what Pies fans will be wishing for this Christmas - Hope.
Whether it's signs of positivity and team bonding in the pre-season, strong results on the training track, or good JLT form, Magpies fans need some reasons to hope that their previously successful team can challenge for the Premiership again, after such a torrid back half of 2020.
Ben Vernel
Break “that” drought
16 years. 5,953 days. It’s been a while since Essendon last tasted success in September.
After a fruitful off-season brought two former first-round picks in Peter Wright (Gold Coast) and Jye Caldwell (GWS) to the club, as well as three top-10 picks from the recent draft, optimism is high heading into Ben Rutten’s debut season as coach.
With a few significant names departing in the trade period - notably Adam Saad (Carlton), Orazio Fantasia (Port Adelaide) and Joe Daniher (Brisbane) - the new faces at the club will be expected to have an immediate impact and help the Dons find September success again.
Port Adelaide and St. Kilda both jumped from the middle of the ladder to finals victors in 2020. Essendon fans hope that will be them in 2021.
Brent Sternberg
A functioning forward line
Defensively, Fremantle was excellent in their first year under new coach Justin Longmuir, and that was without key personnel in Alex Pearce, Joel Hamling and Griffin Logue as well.
However, only Adelaide and North Melbourne scored fewer points in 2020 than Fremantle and so, simply, the Dockers need their offensive prowess to keep up with their defence.
If Freo can put together a forward line that puts their defensive control on the scoreboard, coupled with their improving youngsters, they could be a top eight team in 2021.
Nic Negrepontis
Beating Richmond when it counts
It’s fair to say that Richmond have got the wood over Geelong in big finals matches.
The Tigers toppled the Cats on their way to back-to-back premierships – winning the 2019 preliminary final and last season’s Grand Final – after trailing at half-time in both of those games.
Geelong averaged just 40.5 points across their two meetings with Richmond in 2020, despite being the highest-scoring team in the competition during the regular season.
In response to the Grand Final defeat, the Cats added a trio of big-name recruits: Jeremy Cameron, Shun Higgins and Isaac Smith – a statement of intent for 2021.
They have a powerful side on paper, but can Chris Scott crack Richmond’s system? To win the flag, they're going to have to.
Alex Zaia
A fully fit Matt Rowell
The return of young gun Matt Rowell will give Gold Coast a huge boost heading into 2021.
Rowell, the No.1 pick in the 2019 AFL Draft, was on track for a stunning debut season before dislocating his shoulder in the Suns’ Round 5 loss to Geelong.
Three consecutive best on ground performances saw the first-year Sun sit on nine Brownlow votes after four rounds before suffering that unfortunate season-ending injury.
Rowell remains on light duties at the start of pre-season but is expected to resume contact training after Christmas.
The 19-year-old is an emerging star of the competition and having him at full fitness can only improve Gold Coast’s hopes of being ultra-competitive in 2021.
Alex Zaia
How to move the ball
The Giants had a problem in 2020. And it did not relate to retaining players.
After making the Grand Final in 2019, the Giants somehow forgot how to move the ball. This is evidenced by their average of 38 inside 50s per game - the third worst return in the competition.
Perhaps this has something to do with Jeremy Cameron’s substandard return and eventual exit.
Anyways, Leon Cameron must find a way forward with ball movement so the new-look forward line of Harry Himmelberg, Jeremy Finlayson, Jake Riccardi and Jesse Hogan get a chance to kick a score.
A full and uninterrupted season from Toby Greene would also be helpful.
Andrew Slevison
Health and prosperity
There’s been a bit of a curse befallen on some big name Hawks recruits in recent seasons.
Jonathon Patton, Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Mitchell and Jarman Impey have all suffered major injury setbacks early in their Hawthorn careers.
Granted some have brought injury histories with him to the club, but Alastair Clarkson and Hawthorn fans have rarely seen a full strength team together in the last few years.
There’s little doubt Hawthorn, with a healthy and confident Patton up forward, resurgent Mitchell and O’Meara in the middle and a menacing Impey roaming on the periphery of packs are a finals contender under Clarkson.
If the injury bug could just bite somebody else in 2021, that would be great.
Brent Sternberg
Their new-look forward line to fire
The Demons got their Christmas present early, picking up Ben Brown from North Melbourne for significant unders and will now need to work out what their best forward line looks like.
They certainly have options, with Brown, Sam Weideman, Tom McDonald and Luke Jackson as tall targets, Kysaiah Pickett comes into his second season, Bayley Fritsch and Jake Melksham are goal kickers and Christian Petracca could always be thrown forward.
On paper it looks great, but the Dees have had their struggles hitting targets inside 50 and converting forward half control into scores. Maybe 2021 is the year they rectify that.
Nic Negrepontis
A high draft pick and a strong culture
There’s apparently no such thing as tanking in the AFL, but North Melbourne will be hoping for a high draft pick to add to their collection of young talent in 2021 all the same.
At the same time, they’ll be wanting to build a competitive nature and strong culture under new coach David Noble. You only have to look at what the Miami Dolphins did in the NFL in 2019, where their unofficial slogan all year was to ‘Tank for Tua Tagovailoa’, but they did so in a way that allowed them to bounce straight into playoff contention one year later.
The Roos have overturned their list and will be hoping to build something strong from scratch, starting in 2021. They want to be a top four team in two years after all.
Nic Negrepontis
Batch of youngsters continue to improve
Port Adelaide’s exciting crop of youngsters had contrasting 2020 seasons.
While it wasn’t quite second-year blues, Connor Rozee was quieter last season after bursting onto the scene during his debut campaign in 2019 and dealt with injuries.
Xavier Duursma has become a fan favourite, but he found himself out of the side after some indifferent mid-season form.
Zak Butters went under the radar during his debut season, but enjoyed a breakout year in 2020 that was recognised with selection in the All-Australian squad of 40.
Big things will be expected of the talented Power trio next year as the club looks to prove last season’s minor premiership and preliminary final appearance was not just a one-off.
Alex Zaia
No negative headlines
There’s not much the Tigers desperately need for Christmas.
On the field, it’s all in order after three flags in four years. But off the field, things could improve.
Another Sydney Stack misdemeanour was certainly not welcomed after a tough year which produced many unwanted headlines.
There was ‘gropegate’, which was strangely not reported as heavily when players from other clubs partook, there was the Gold Coast hub COVID breach by Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones, and there were a few other unnecessary bits and bobs.
As the club focuses on further on-field success, they could do without these distractions, just to keep the name untarnished more than anything.
But all in all, Richmond would be happy with its lot heading into 2021.
Andrew Slevison
Smooth integration for recruits
St Kilda successfully bedded in their five key recruits last season with hub life enabling them to integrate quicker than originally thought.
The Saints were once again active during the trade and free agency period, securing the services of Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch, Richmond forward Jack Higgins, delisted Essendon tall Shaun McKernan and veteran Hawthorn defender James Frawley.
Ensuring the four new names fit in as successfully as last year’s trade haul will be crucial if Brett Ratten’s side is to hit the ground running in 2021.
St Kilda, the surprise packet of 2020, made the eight and ended a decade-long drought without a finals win, and expectations leading into 2021 will certainly be high after last year's success.
Alex Zaia
Buddy to beak 1,000 goal barrier
Let’s be honest, this is something the football world wants to see, not merely Swans fans.
By the time Sydney’s round one clash with Brisbane at The Gabba rolls around, Lance Franklin will have been stranded on 944 goals for almost 18 months after not playing a game in 2020.
The historical significance of a player breaking the 1,000-goal barrier should not be understated, particularly in the modern game where scoring is as difficult as ever.
Only five players in the games history have broken the threshold – Tony Lockett (1,360), Gordon Coventry (1,299), Jason Dunstall (1,254), Doug Wade (1,057) and Gary Ablett Snr (1,031). For Franklin to not join that group only through injuries would be a crying shame.
We likely won’t see a player get near the 1,000 mark for a long, long time. Frankin only needs 56.
Brent Sternberg
Finish top two
The Eagles premiership window has been open for a while. How much longer will that remain the case?
Despite boasting one of the best lists in the competition, West Coast has limped out of the past two seasons without really giving a yelp after winning the flag in 2018.
In 2019, a late-season loss to Hawthorn cost them a top-four finish, while last season's upset to Collingwood in the elimination final shockingly ended a season that never really got going.
West Coast will be back at home for 12 games again this season and there’s not too much turnover on the playing list.
A top two finish gives them the best shot at a second flag under coach Adam Simpson.
Brent Sternberg
Small forwards
Christmas came early for the Dogs, with Next Generation Academy graduate Jamarra Ugle-Hagan sealing his passage to Whitten Oval weeks ago.
Touted as the next Lance Franklin, the former South Warrnambool forward and Gunditjmara man will sell jumpers before he even plays a game, and electrify crowds with his marking and goal sense.
On the morning of the 25th however, Luke Beveridge would love to unwrap a small forward on course to lock down a place in his team.
Recruit Mitch Hannan has 50 league games under this belt and plays below his 189cm stature, but one of Cody Weightman, Ben Cavarra or Rhylee West has to be ready if the Dogs’ forward line is to run to current specs.
Nathan John