Former Richmond, Brisbane, Melbourne and North Melbourne assistant coach Jade Rawlings has looked into his crystal ball and predicted the top eight for the 2023 AFL season.
Possessing significant experience in the coaching box while having 143 senior games to his name as a player, Rawlings has broken down what teams he expects to play in finals based on a variety of key indicators.
Speaking on Sportsday SA, Rawlings named his eight teams and explained why he expects them to feature in September.
Rawlings’ rankings are been loosely ordered from first to eighth.
Geelong
“It’d be wrong to not start with the premiers,” Rawlings said.
“They’ve got some aging veterans, but they’ve got a model that works with Chris Scott as coach and Simon Lloyd in charge of footy.
“They’re happy and they’re able to develop youngsters … they got young (Jack) Bowes from Gold Coast for nothing and got a first-round draft pick, what they did in the off-season was fantastic.”
Richmond
“I think Richmond are the ones (that can challenge them).
“I’m a bit biased, I spent some time there and I’ve watched them a lot.
“But you bring (Jacob) Hopper and (Tim) Taranto there, they’re A-grade midfielders walking right in.
“I think Richmond are a team that can do some real damage this year.”
Collingwood
“I think Collingwood does some real damage.
“They were unbelievable in 2022, they were well coached, and they had a clear, identifiable game style.”
Melbourne
“Melbourne, they’re going to be there.”
Sydney
“Sydney, it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with a Grand Final loss.
“It can scar individuals and clubs, we’ve seen it before over and over again.
“But I think John Longmire’s leadership will see them through that.”
Brisbane
“I think they’re good enough to be a top-eight team.
“But they’re just approaching a period for me where is this the last possibility for this group to go through (to a Grand Final)?
“I’ll never say it’s make or break … but the Lions are strong enough, they play well at the Gabba and they’re mature.”
Fremantle
“I’m a big fan of Fremantle and they’re coming into an age profile now which is bang on.
“They played two finals last year and that was about right I thought.”
Carlton
“Carlton are the other one.
“I think they’re the other one that comes in, they have so many stars.
“They bring in Blake Acres who is a very good wingman and people underrate the value of wingmen.”
The other contenders
“I think Port Adelaide are dangerous this year, they could potentially take a spot from Fremantle or Carlton.
“But I only see one coming in this year and that’s Carlton. That leaves the Western Bulldogs out, and I’m a Bulldogs fan but I just don’t know if they’ve got the resources to be where they were a couple of years ago.”