Legendary AFL journalist Caroline Wilson has named her top 10 stories of the 2023 season.
In Wilson’s mind, these were the stories that mattered most from last pre-season all the way until the end of the 2023 trade period.
Wilson ranked her stories from 10 to 1, with number one the biggest footy story from the entire campaign.
Check out her list below.
10 – Clayton Oliver, Joel Smith and Melbourne’s overall implosion
“Number 10 was the implosion of Melbourne champion Clayton Oliver this year,” Wilson said on the Don't Shoot The Messenger podcast.
“Culminating with some real issues involving some really concerning off-field stuff after the season. It was exacerbated by his mate Joel Smith who we found out at the end of the season tested positive to a banned substance.
“Melbourne’s overall implosion as well, going out in straight sets of both the AFL and AFLW finals series as well.”
9 – The appointment of Laura Kane as the AFL’s GM of Football
“Number nine is the appointment of the 33-year-old woman Laura Kane to the most powerful position in footy.
“I think Andrew Dillon the new CEO was going for a couple of other people, but Laura ended up getting the job. She’s done a pretty good job and made a good fist of it so far.
“You would not have picked that a few years ago.”
8 – Brodie Grundy’s trade to Melbourne and then to the Swans
“Brodie Grundy and the very highly-publicised trade to Melbourne and the disaster it became.
“Of course, he's gone now within a year and is playing for Sydney (in 2024).”
7 – Stuart Dew’s Gold Coast sacking
“The sacking of Stuart Dew, something that Stuart Dew himself said was a witch hunt and wasn’t going to happen.
“The club said it wasn’t going to happen, but it happened a week later.
“I thought that was pretty interesting.”
6 – The Ben Keays non-goal
“The Ben Keays non-goal for the Adelaide Crows, it should have been a goal.
“The reverberations have continued, the Adelaide Crows have got the most generous fixture next year.
“Don’t think that their President Greg Olsen didn’t use and manoeuvre what happened to make sure Adelaide got a good deal.
“It put pay to their finals hopes, it was a disaster.”
5 – The procrastination of AFL Chairman Richard Goyder
“Number five is the procrastination of the AFL Chairman in finding a successor for Gillon McLachlan and accepting that Gillon McLachlan was actually going to leave.
“Also refilling his Commission with someone who’d actually played an AFL game, he’s finally done that.
“He finally appointed Andrew Dillon (as CEO), it took about 18 months.
“It took so long for Richard Goyder to reshape his Commission, it took three years. It hurt the game in many, many ways.”
4 – The success of Gather Round
“We knew it was coming last year, but no one could have imagined what a wild success it was going to be.
“I’ve got my tickets for next year.”
3 – Alastair Clarkson's year after joining North Melbourne
“The four-time premiership coach went to North Melbourne, had to stand out of the game after the allegations from First Nations families at Hawthorn.
“He started coaching and had that terrible altercation with a female journalist … he later completely fell apart emotionally … he had almost two months away from the game.
“You couldn’t have imagined it. In a way, it was a great admission that he could say he was really hurting.
“It was a massive, massive story.”
2 – Damien Hardwick’s Richmond resignation
“Number two was the stunning resignation after losing by less than a goal in the Dreamtime game of then Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.
“He was burnt out and said it was time to go. A few months later he found the hunger again.
“Tom Morris broke that story and everyone went, ‘Jee, we did not see that coming’.”
1 – Collingwood’s premiership victory
“Number one is Collingwood.
“The momentum built really from last year. For Craig McRae to win that Grand Final and win all three finals by a total of 12 points … the father-son stories, Nick and Josh Daicos. The performance of Darcy Moore … the speech he made on Anzac Day and Grand Final day.
The coach himself announced his wife had given birth on Grand Final morning to a baby girl.
“It was one of the most romantic (premiership wins). People started barracking for Collingwood, people who couldn’t even utter the word of the club previously.
“That was I think, by far the biggest footy story of the year.”
