It’s a raffle for recruiters trying to determine which of the available key position 18-year-old draftees is going to be a star. The odds are that at least one of several selected will be. The first one picked in the draft wasn’t the one that most pundits thought. I’d have taken a punt on one of the remaining available ones at Pick 27, but I would not have exchanged Pick 27 for next year’s first rounder, which will likely be in the Top 10. Most of the top tier key position players have been selected within the first 20, but North Melbourne have good form after having selected Nick Larkey with Pick 73.

I haven’t seen enough of these guys to know. With Luke Parker now at North Melbourne, I put forward the possibility of Caiden Cleary at the Swans.

There are some players mentioned above who are not far into their careers, but it is said that they could make the Top 100 next season. Does that mean your Top 100 game players and goalkickers lists exclude players who represented the Fitzroy Lions and/or the Brisbane Bears? The South Melbourne Swans becoming the Sydney Swans was a relocation and rebranding, akin to a Dr Who regeneration, and you seem to have treated South Melbourne/Sydney as one in the same franchise, as the club conceptually seems to view itself. I understand that the birth of the Brisbane Lions was a little different in that the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Lions merged. Therefore, for the purpose of this exercise, are you viewing the three versions of Fitzroy/Brisbane as three different franchises?

Buddy had an injury riddled couple of seasons in 2019-2020 before returning to give the Swans a couple of fifty goal seasons as a veteran in 2021-2022. Maybe Nat Fyfe also can have an Indian Summer before the veteran’s form hits the winter chill. Maybe, then maybe not.

Battle and Barrass are both experienced and in their prime and should improve Hawthorn. Until the season progresses, we won’t know if either Breust or Gunston, or both, will provide more of the same as they did in 2024, or whether they will have played a season too long. Hawthorn played without weight of public expectation in 2024. Public expectation for further improvement by the Hawks may weigh on them in 2025. Plenty of clubs will have been looking at ways to counteract their game plan over the off-season. Some pundits say Sydney overperformed in making the 2022 grand final ahead of time. Hawthorn were a surprisingly good performer in 2024. Perhaps they overachieved in making the finals in 2024. We’re yet to see if their addition of Battle and Barrass will be enough to prevent them from taking a step backwards before they take another step forward, or whether it will be onwards and upwards for the Hawks.

Jeremy Cameron finishing his career fourth on the Geelong goalkicking list behind Ablett Snr, Wade and Hawkins may be a bridge too far if injuries and age catch up with him. Cameron turns 32 in April. Were Cameron to play for four full seasons and retire aged 35, he would need 232 goals at an average of 58 goals per season to overtake Johnson (452 goals for Geelong) and he would need 221 goals at an average of 55.25 goals per season to overtake Bill Brownless (441 goals for Geelong). However, Cameron (648 goals) only needs 149 goals to overtake Tom Hawkins (796 goals) who is 13th on the all-time AFL goalkicking list. If he were able to overtake Johnson’s Geelong goalkicking tally by kicking another 232 goals, he would also finish 10th on the all-time AFL goalkicking list, overtaking Matthew Richardson, Bernie Quinlan and Peter McKenna.

That scenario almost occurred in 2019. After leaving Richmond for GWS, Brett Deledio was injured earlier in the 2019 finals series and was unable to be selected to play in GWS grand final team, which then lost to Richmond, Deledio’s former club.

With such a low bar to entry, the Top 100 statistics are unlikely to indicate whether Gold Coast will have a successful season in 2025. Several of the Top 10 Game Players still at the club won’t necessarily be amongst the first 23 names called at season’s beginning and may not play AFL games regularly unless there are injuries. Whether Gold Coast has nailed their first-round draft picks, the number of games those players have played, and the maturing of the average age of the squad may to be factors, as well as another season experience fine-tuning the coach’s game plan. While it may not affect improvement in performance, it’s notable that few No 1 draft picks are selected in an AFL grand final winning team, especially with the club that selected them. Gold Coast have both David Swallow and Matt Rowell on their books as former No 1 draft selections. Can they buck the trend?

Top 100 long-time Giants, Callan Ward, Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Stephen Coniglio and Josh Kelly, as well as latter day hero, Jessie Hogan, will all be over 30 when the season commences. Though not yet indicating a decline in performance, these mainly foundation players are getting towards the end of their careers and are running out of time to win a premiership. Some of the draftees of recent seasons may need to play a role well enough to more than compensate for the players who departed at season’s end. I assume No 1 on the Top 100 goalkicker list at GWS is Jeremy Cameron. It makes you wonder if GWS may have won those close finals matches for the last two seasons had he remained a Giant. Jake Stringer will either make no difference or a giant difference to GWS’ season outcome in 2025.

Jeremy Howe left Melbourne at the end of 2015 season. Melbourne subsequently won the premiership in 2021, and it is likely that if Howe had remained at Melbourne, he would have been a premiership player had he remained free from injury. It is rather his good fortune that he became a premiership player when Collingwood won the grand final in 2023. Statistic, statistics, annoying statistics: I wonder how many first-choice players have moved clubs to then miss out on a premiership with their original club but later win one with their new club. We had an example of a regularly selected First XXII player, Dan McStay, moving from Brisbane to Collingwood after the 2022 season and missing out on being a premiership player with Collingwood in 2023 due to injury. If he had remained at his previous club, it is likely he would have been a premiership player with Brisbane in 2024.

I think you’ve accidentally missed getting off the train at the Carlton stop and ended up at Port Adelaide. Maybe there will be a Top 100 Carlton article in due course where the Carlton tragics will come out of the woodwork and answer that question for you.

The runners up in the AFL premiership don’t win the premiership the following year very often or frequently make the grand final the following year. Brisbane were runners up in 2023 and premiers in 2024. Before that, Hawthorn were runners up in 2012 and premiers in 2013. Before that, after being premiers in 2007, Geelong were runners up in 2008, but premiers again in 2009. Before that, West Coast were runners up in 2005 and premiers in 2006. In the AFL era, I don’t think that in consecutive years the club that was runner up has gone on to win the premiership the following year. In fact, it’s not often that a team makes the grand final in consecutive years to lose both occasions. The last time was St Kilda in 2009-2010, and they still haven’t won a premiership or made a grand final since then. Because Brisbane were runners up in 2023 and won the premiership in 2024, the pattern of past results since the beginning of the AFL era suggests that it’s improbable that the 2024 runners up, Sydney, will win the premiership in 2025. It’s possible, as most outcomes are, but the odds are against it.

How many footballers have played at least one AFL game for Port Adelaide? Jason Horne-Francis (48 games), Jed McEntee (46 games), Jackson Mead (44 games), Willie Rioli (36 games) and Jase Burgoyne (36 games) seem to have only been at Port Adelaide for 5 minutes but may become Top 100 Game Players in 2025 if they stay injury free, and/or if Port makes the finals. Even if they become Top 100 Game Players, it seems highly likely that, if good enough for selection, most or all of them won’t play 100 games for Port Adelaide until at least the 2027 season.

My understanding from my reading of the current articles is:
TOP 100 GAME PLAYERS are the 100 players in order who have played the most games for a club.
TOP 100 GOALKICKERS are the 100 players in order who have kicked the most goals for a club.
The articles address:
How many players currently at the club are on that list?
Have any footballers who were Top 100 game players or goalkickers at another club in 2024 arrived during the off-season?

While I don’t think the Top 100 gives a true indication of the strength of a club’s squad in isolation, it may be useful when you look at it in combination with other data. It’s not worthless to know who is in the Top 100. Every club must compile a list who is in the Top 100 for both statistical and historical reasons, so it’s not a worthless exercise for all supporters.

Even if some articles may contain flaws, I am grateful that there are contributors writing articles during the off-season to give members a platform to exchange their own imperfect thoughts on the matters that are expressed.

For the record, without putting a definition on what that could mean, in my own imperfect opinion, I think North Melbourne will improve this year.

My understanding from my reading of the current articles is that they address the following questions:
TOP 100 GAME PLAYERS: On a list of 100 players who have played the most games for a club, how many players at the club for the 2025 season are on that list and how high on that list are they?
TOP 100 GOALKICKERS: On a list of 100 players who have kicked the most goals for a club, how many players currently at the club for the 2025 season are on that list and how high on that list are they?
It seems to apply to games and goals of a player while playing at the club being discussed. Unless there are instances where it suggests otherwise, it excludes the games played and goals kicked at another club by multi-club players. The article may for instance say that someone who was a Top 100 player or goalkicker at another club has been traded in.

Without looking deeper beyond the list of Top 100 goalkickers and Top 100 game players, I would be inclined to say that there is either not much talent on the list, or the list is very inexperienced, or both. All the remaining top 100 game players for Richmond that you’ve mentioned are 30 years of age or over, except Jayden Short. The over-30’s may provide experience, but if you are going to play over-30’s, I think you’ll get a better team result if they have been the best players during their prime years. After all, a star past his peak will usually still be better than an average player past his peak, maybe even better than an average player at his peak. You also need quality players who are in their prime. Top 100 game players, Jack Graham and Liam Baker, are players in their prime years, but in transferring to West Coast, may have returned to their home state but seem unlikely to win another premiership there before their careers end. They are worthwhile additions but aren’t going to move the dial far enough on the premiership clock. Experienced players still in their mid-to-late 20’s who played most of their games at GWS are Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper. However, they don’t show in the Top 100. Only one Top 100 goalkicker remains at Richmond in Tom Lynch. Although he is only No 20 at Richmond, he has kicked more goals from his time at Gold Coast than he has at Richmond. If he stays fit, he is a quality player over 30 years of age worth having in the forward line. Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli are two Top 100 goalkickers in their mid-20’s. However, Rioli, though arguably Richmond’s best player last season, would have kicked most of those goals as a forward before he relocated towards the other end of the ground. Bolton’s form in a poorly performed team was reported to be a lot less than that of which he is capable at his best. Having been traded to a club that seems likely to contend in the next few years, he will likely be in a personal space to produce better football for Fremantle than he would have for Richmond. Apart from having the incentive to play his 300th game, Top 100 goalkicker, Dustin Martin, would not have retired before the season had ended if he thought he had more value to give to Richmond or to his own legacy by playing the rest of the season or into a future season.

It sounds weird to me that Sam Darcy could be a Top 100 goalkicker by season’s end when his career hardly seems to have started, and Adam Treloar seems to have spent most of his career at other clubs. Do the Western Bulldogs have a low bar to entry in their Top 100 goalkickers? It’s nonetheless impressive that before Darcy or Treloar even get on the list, the Bulldogs have 9 of their Top 100 goalkickers in their current squad. You don’t name them all, but I assume Cody Weightman and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan are amongst them. That’s quite a lot of firepower heading into season 2025, if Luke Beveridge can get the best out of his team.

The loss of a Top 100 game player or goalkicker like Jack Darling and Andrew Gaff doesn’t really matter when that player’s form is on the decline, and he is struggling to be even selected in the AFL team.

Max King kicked 52 goals from 93 scoring shots during 22 games in 2024 but 47 goals from only 71 scoring shots during 23 games over the 2023-2024 seasons. There was an improvement in goalkicking accuracy but a reduction in scoring shots. It looks like he got rid of the yips in front of goal, but injury otherwise affected organic improvement. If he can stay fit and on the park, he should be around the 50-goal season mark and if he demonstrates improvement, as he should be at his age, he may be contending for the Coleman Medal.

There were 18 coaches to have started the season. At season’s beginning there were eight coaches who had coached a club to at least one premiership: A. Clarkson (4); D. Hardwick (3); C. Scott (2); J. Longmire (1); A. Simpson (1); S. Goodwin (1); L.Beveridge (1); C.McRae (1). By season’s end another name, C.Fagan, had been added to this list. With two resigning, there are now seven premiership winning incumbent coaches, but only five still at the club where they were a premiership winning coach. That’s not a bad strike rate since all but one of those coaches has coached a winning premiership team within the last 10 years (2015-2024). Longmire’s premiership was twelve years ago in 2012, but his team has played in 3 grand finals in the last 10 years and in 5 grand finals including the premiership winning one in 2012. That’s a fantastic effort, although somewhat disappointing that his players couldn’t convert at least one of those last four grand final appearances into a premiership. There’s obviously a lot of coaches that don’t make the distance after being appointed. However, if you are fortunate enough to be appointed at the right time or can make the distance through a rebuild, your odds of being a premiership coach seem to be better than that of being a premiership player.

Your article is an interesting overview of the Top 100. However, the Swans have been to the grand final four times, not three, since 2012 and come up empty-handed on all those occasions (2014; 2016; 2022; 2024). I can appreciate you overlooking counting some of these grand finals because at least three of the Swans’ grand final performances were absolutely forgettable. The Swans’ best was not good enough in 2024, and to go one further, improvement will have to come from somewhere. Fundamentally, the question is how many of these players in the top 100 have room for further upside? Players only maintaining the status quo will likely see other clubs pass them by. Is a tweak to the game plan enough? Will some of these top 100 players still be performing well enough to be selected in the best 23 by the end of 2025? If any of these Top 100 players have careers on the decline, improvement may be subject to the capacity for the bottom six to increase their contribution.

Cincotta’s a role player rather than a star like Curnow. As a role player Cincotta should be easier to replace even if that someone is not quite as good in providing what Cincotta can. That other player may not be able to provide a like-for-like role but may have other strengths that are a plus despite weaknesses in other areas. More importantly, Parklane, which of these players, if any, do you think Carlton should add to their list or has Carlton missed the opportunity to trial someone else who has either been delisted or missed out on being selected in the draft?

With this being the first open National Draft for AFLW, it will be interesting to see if a pattern emerges in the go-home factor over coming seasons. Players are being asked to move across the country for a women’s season that is about half the length of the men’s. Previously those that have moved interstate have been happy to do so.

I guess the outcome for every player from each injury is different, but not many players perform optimally or as consistently as they usually can throughout the year after an interrupted preseason.

Skilton and Kelly were both captains of the Swans but were never Premiership captains. The current owner of No 14 is the current Swans’ captain, Callum Mills. Can the fortunes of Swans’ captains who wear No 14 change anytime soon?