Premiership defender Campbell Brown has predicted his top eight for the 2023 season.
With Round 1 less than a week away, Brown expects two teams that missed out last year to jump in and play in September.
While like many, Brown expects Carlton to play finals, he’s also boldly tipped Gold Coast to make the eight for the first time in club history.
“I’ve got Carlton sneaking in and I’ve got the Suns in there,” Brown told SEN Afternoons.
“I think the Suns, this is their year, they’ll get King back at some stage.
“They’re a good side, they’ve been building, they’ve got stability there across the board.
“I think this will be a historic year for the Suns, they’ll make the finals for the first time.
“I think Brisbane are the team to beat right now as we speak, Richmond and Melbourne are snapping at their heels and I think the Cats will be around the mark again, I don’t think they’re going to have a premiership hangover.”
With the Blues and Suns jumping in, Brown expects Collingwood and Fremantle to be the two teams that slide out.
“Collingwood fall out, only because they won so many close games last year, that probably made them look a little better than they were,” Brown said.
“Probably Fremantle (will also drop out), they’ll be pretty consistent again, but I’ve got Fremantle missing as well.
“It’s really tough doing (top) eights this time of year, I always look silly, I think I had Sydney not even in the top eight last year so there’s no exact science to it.
“This is the last week of optimism for fans, players and everyone involved because reality will hit hard by the end of next week for quite a few sides.”
The 2023 AFL season kicks off on Thursday with Richmond and Carlton facing off at the MCG in their traditional season-opener.