Nathan Buckley has made his ladder predictions for the 2022 AFL season.
Buckley has split his ladder into three sections with seven ‘locks’ inside the top eight, a group of seven teams vying for one finals spot and a bottom four.
The former Collingwood coach has also identified a group of four sides whose fortunes are a little trickier to predict, forecasting their best and worst case scenarios.
“I’ve got seven teams - Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Geelong, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide and Richmond as locks,” Buckley said on SEN Breakfast.
“That’s seven of our top eight.
“I have Collingwood, GWS, Essendon, Fremantle, Carlton, West Coast and St Kilda in a second tier that are vying for that eighth spot.
“I have Hawthorn, Gold Coast, Adelaide and North Melbourne as my bottom four.”
Looking more closely at the Power, Magpies, Blues and Eagles, Buckley feels there is a much wider range between their best and worst winning tallies than most other clubs.
It includes a bold best case prediction for his former club.
“These are the four teams that stand out for me as the teams that are going to make the biggest impact on the final ladder positions,” he added.
“I reckon Port can have a 17 win season again as they did last year, but I think they can win as little as 12 (games).
“Collingwood has got the biggest gap. They could have an eight win season, which is two wins better than last year, and that’s as bad as they will do.
“I reckon they could win 15 games if they keep their best side on the park.
“Carlton as little as eight (wins), as many as 13.
“And West Coast, with Jack Darling coming back, that might be another couple of wins. Then you find out that Tim Kelly gets COVID.
“Sometimes personnel is going to be an issue, but I’ve got West Coast as little as eight (wins) and as many as 16 - that’s a bit high though.
“So I’ve got Port Adelaide, Collingwood, Carlton and West Coast as the ones with the biggest gap or spread between what their best and worst season will look like.
“(Those four) a little bit harder to predict.”
The highly anticipated 2022 season kicks off on Wednesday night with a Grand Final rematch between premiers Melbourne and runners-up Western Bulldogs at the MCG.
