In 2016, the Western Bulldogs made one of the great playoff runs in AFL history, running from the seventh slot to not only be the lowest seeded champion ever, but break a sixty-two year drought (think the Chicago Cubs - including the color scheme, the lovable loser tag, and the "everybody's second favorite team" reputation) in the process.
Last year, six teams won at least fifteen games, the best of which won only seventeen, so it was a wide-open finals series...and then NONE of those six won! The Doggies were up among them for most of the season, but late injuries bode badly for the finals. Despite that, they beat the hottest team (West Coast) by forty in the first round (on the road!), then they ended the four-peat dreams of defending champion Hawthorn (on the road!), THEN, they defeated the up and coming youngsters from Greater Western by one late goal (on the road!), and finally upset the season-long leaders, the high-paid Sydney Swans by a score of 89-67 (that's pretty normal: the high eighties is about the league-wide average per-game-per-team score in footy).
In 2017, those upstarts from Greater Western Sydney, twice "wooden spoon" winners in 2011-12 as the new kids on the block, and in their fifth year of existence leaped from the middle of the pack to one game off the top of the ladder and (like I said) one goal from the Grand Final. So this year, they are both the bettors and our favorite to win it all in 2017.
Here are the projected placements for the 2017 AFL season, starting in March and ending on the last Saturday in September:
Crown Bet oddsmakers Following Football ratings '16 My best guess Last Year W/L
1. GWS Giants 1. Sydney (81.2) 1. GWS Giants 1. Sydney (17-5)
2. Western Bulldogs 2. GWS (75.1) 2. Western BD 2. Geelong (17-5)
3. Sydney Swans 3. Adelaide (73.8) 3. Sydney 3. Hawthorn (16-6)
4. Adelaide Crows 4. Western (69.9) 4. St. Kilda 4. GWS (16-6)
5. Geelong Cats 5. Geelong (68.1) 5. Geelong 5. Adelaide (16-6)
6. West Coast Eagles 6. West Coast (62.5) 6. Melbourne 6. West Coast (15-7)
7. Hawthorn Hawks 7. Hawthorn (59.8) 7. Adelaide 7. Western (14-8/won title)
8. Melbourne Demons 8. Collingwood (55.5) 8. Hawthorn 8. No. Melbourne (12-10)
9. Fremantle Dockers 9. Port Adelaide (54.5) 9. West Coast 9. St. Kilda (12-10)
10. St. Kilda Saints 10. No. Melbourne (50.4) 10. Essendon 10. Port Adelaide (10-12)
11. Port Adelaide Power 11. St. Kilda (48.5) 11. Carlton 11. Melbourne (10-12)
12. Collingwood Magpies 12. Melbourne (42.6) 12. Fremantle 12. Collingwood (9-13)
13. Essendon Bombers 13. Carlton (33.3) 13. Gold Coast 13. Richmond (8-14)
14. Richmond Tigers 14. Richmond (32.8) 14. N. Melbourne 14. Carlton (7-15)
15. No. Melbourne Kangas 15. Gold Coast (31.3) 15. Port Adelaide 15. Gold Coast (6-16)
16. Gold Coast Suns 16. Fremantle (30.3) 16. Collingwood 16. Fremantle (4-18)
17. Carlton Blues 17. Essendon (21.4) 17. Richmond 17. Brisbane (3-19)
18. Brisbane Lions 18. Brisbane (8.9) 18. Brisbane 18. Essendon (3-19)
For all of you 'footy virgins', I'm hoping to expose you to the beauty of my favorite sport over the course of time! A great place to start is www.afl.com.au, the official website of the AFL, which has a remarkably objective view of the league and sport considering its parentage! There are lots of videos to access from there as well to give you a taste of this high-flying combination of Gaelic football, American football, soccer, rugby, and basketball!
Here's a link to the article I wrote about six weeks ago, describing the eighteen teams each in comparison to an American sports franchise to give you a feel for which teams represent what kind of fans - and maybe in doing so, helping you choose a franchise to follow. (Frankly, I try NOT to stay rooted in one team in any league I follow - it opens up so many more possibilities as a viewer!)
As with the NFL, FCS, FBS, and to some extent the CFL, I'll try to keep you abreast of the goings on down under - maybe more so, because the AFL information isn't as readily available in the States if you're not actively seeking it out on the Internet.
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