At a glance: Last year’s premiers had the top three defenders, and the second highest scorers in the midfield and ruck. Injury has denied the Chiefs their top defender, while the second is now a midfielder only. The key players are young, and the scoring ceilings are high, meaning the Chiefs are still very much in the premiership mix, though it must be noted – none of their peers think they’ll be facing off in the granny again, and one thinks they’ll finish 8th!
Coaches prediction:
3rd: 2 coaches
4th: 3 coaches
5th: 1 coach
6th: 1 coach
8th: 1 coach
Projected best 22:
| Pos | Player | Proj. |
| B | Rory Laird AD – B | 101.7 |
| B | Alex Witherden BL – B | 82.4 |
| B | Luke Hodge BL – B | 81.3 |
| B | Daniel Rich BL – B | 75.3 |
| B | Robbie Tarrant NM – B | 73.6 |
| B | Tom Langdon CW – B | 73.5 |
| C | Patrick Dangerfield GE | 121.1 |
| C | Taylor Adams CW – C | 115.3 |
| C | Jack Macrae WB – C | 104.3 |
| C | Clayton Oliver ME – C | 103.7 |
| C | Marcus Bontempelli WB – C | 102.4 |
| C | Lachie Whitfield GWS – C | 98.9 |
| C | David Swallow GC – C | 89.4 |
| C | Trent Dumont NM – C | 81.4 |
| R | Brodie Grundy CW – R | 104.6 |
| F | Jack Billings SK – F | 96.6 |
| F | Joe Daniher ES – F | 84.8 |
| F | Jack Gunston HW – B,F | 83.8 |
| F | Tom Papley SY – C,F | 79.8 |
| F | Lewis Taylor BL – C,F | 78.8 |
| F | Tim Membrey SK – F | 75.1 |
| UTL | Hugh Greenwood AD – C | 81.2 |
| 1989 |
The MVP: Patrick Dangerfield. One of the inaugural Dangergawn medallists is the leader in the Puttanesca engine room – though the newly moved-to-midfield Taylor Adams may give him a run for his money. Dangerfield is the number one player for per game average across the competition’s two seasons. So, yeah, MVP.
The Breakout Candidate: Lachie Whitfield. A sublime pre-season and potential defensive eligibility in the offing means the hard running line breaker is likely to become an integral part of the Chiefs’ title defence.
The Bottom Line: The Docherty injury is a brutal one, and instinctively makes one feel the premiership defence is doomed before it starts. But the Chiefs have a shot at possessing the highest scorer in each line of the ground, and it’s foolish to write-off that sort of firepower. I mean, 8th? 8th?