The close

Last footy blog I promise...until next year. Just a recap of my preseason predictions to see how I went.

Adelaide, Hawks or Sydney would be premiership contenders. Sydney finished 4th on the ladder. Hawks finished 1st and won the grand final to boot. Adelaide sucked balls :P  I suspect it may take them some time to get their shit together but they won't really show much in 2014.

GWS and Gold Coast...Well the Suns won 8 matches. Very damn good I think. So much talent there. GWS didnt fare so well and I was hoping for a better 2014 from them but I think they may have just traded out too much talent in the post season trade period. They have some good draft picks and picked up some more experienced players but I'm a little concern they sacrificed talent for experience and while it will have short term gains it might not get them where they want to be in the next few years. Gold Coast Suns on the other hand are shaping up excellently and I reckon will nip at finals play next year.

Carlton made the finals on a technicality and then failed to do anything with the opportunity. Mr Malthouse has made some serious decisions about the player list and culled some of the underperformers. Should be good for the club.

Of Essendon, Brisbane and North Melbourne only Essendon did any good but as the wheels fell off the cart at the end of the season the AFL stepped in and banned them for finals....not for drugs, but for governance. A rant for another time perhaps. North Melbourne still play great footy but can't get the job done. Brissy finished strong, but all 3 teams finished just outside the 8.

Fremantle finished 3rd on the ladder and knocked out Sydney to play in the grand final. Good showing but I really can't stand their style of play so I'm glad they didn't win. Richmond came home strong and played finals, only to choke early. They had a lot of positives from this season and hopefully they can use them to build into the next. Bulldogs played with heart and lost. Bit of a shame but I think there's enough going on their to keep fans interested.

Port Adelaide is a real underdog story. From their shit performances last year they rose from the ashes and won 12 matches this season and then managed to charge their way through some serious finals games. They got knocked out towards the end but the club should really be celebrating the massive turn around in effort and performance. Melbourne...still suck!  They picked up a master in Paul Roos as the new coach. Very few people could turn around this club but he may be one of them. For the good of the game I hope he can.

Collingwood and Geelong played finals, West Coast and St Kilda didnt. WC and St K should continue to build but I don't expect much from them for a while. Geelong continue to surprise. Their faith in the young players really pays off and after the season ended they let go a lot of senior talent. It would seem like a risk for anyone but Geelong who just seem to go from strength to strength. Collingwood had disciplinary issues with a few of its players really not being team focused. They were hot and cold but mostly got the job done. The culled hard after the season and are trying build a real club oriented team. I think they'll continue to play hot and cold while they do.

So all round I think my predictions were ok. Most of it was pretty much on the money. Shame my dream team couldn't be as successful ;)