The Solomon’s Soldiers’ decision to blow up the list has led to one of our most inaccurate surveys on record.
Not that they’ve ever been particularly accurate…
Here is a list of things nobody guessed:
- The Love Sparkles winning the flag
- The Taxmanian Devils being the runner-up
- The Taxmanian Devils winning the minor premiership
Those are big misses. Oh, and nobody got these either:
- The four teams that would miss the finals (nobody predicted the Soldiers missing. Everybody thought the Chiefs would miss. Nearly everyone thought MSHB would miss)
- Lachie Whitfield would be the highest averaging defender
- Dayne Zorko would be the highest averaging forward
Not all bad though. A few people – particularly Rowan – fared better with some of the player based predictions:
- Rowan is the best at predicting All-Australians, having successfully guessed 13 members.
- Jordie, Paul and Rowan all correctly guessed Marshall would win the DangerGawn Medal. They also correctly had him as the highest scoring ruck.
- Rowan and Max both had Gulden as the highest averaging midfielder.
And we all knew Te Puke Pukekos would finish last.
Interestingly, most coaches predicted the Vipers would miss the finals – after having been arguably the form finalist last season. If you drop a few older stars (and miss the start of the draft) it seems people pick you as a slider.
On with the results!
Who will win the 2024 Premiership?
Answer
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the runner-up?
Answer
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the Minor Premier?
Answer
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will win the Wooden Spoon?
Answer
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which four teams will miss the finals?
Answer
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which team has the best group of Defenders?
Answer
This isn’t clear cut. There is a case to be made for a few teams here.
The Sparkles were backed by a clear majority of coaches. They had the 4th ranked defender (N. Daicos), the 13th (Dale) and 17th (Stewart). But that’s where the drop occurs. I’m not sure they’re the answer.
The Roughnecks had the 2nd ranked defender (Whitfield), the 8th (Wanganeen-Milera), the 14th (Yeo) and 20th (Richards), and ended the season with the 18th as well (Sicily). 40th (Bowes) and 41st (Farrell) round out a strong group.
The Devils – also selected by no coaches – also have 7 defenders in the top 50 for the season. They have the 3rd (Martin), 9th (Clark), 16th (Ridley), 19th (Amon), 26th (Crisp), 33rd (Short), 43rd (Impey)
Paul backed the Vipers. They have the 6th defender (Ryan), 15th (Duggan), 23rd (Redman), 27th (Hinge), 44th (Duncan) and 47th (Florent).
Rowan backed the Defenestrators, and they have a compelling case – particularly in regards to depth. They have defender 5 (Newman) and 7 (Sinclair), 21 (Archie Roberts), 28 (Fisher), 32 (Vlastuin), 34 (Himmelberg), 36 (Salem), 50 (M. Roberts) and 52 (May)
P.S These rankings are season long AFL rankings – not our league’s H&A scoring ranks
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which team has the best group of Midfielders?
Answer
Yet another question completely torpedoed by the Soldiers’ unexpected glow-down.
I think it’s hard to go past MaherShalalHashBaz. They have Merrett (3rd), Dunkley (6th) and Green (22nd – but tanked by an injury score of 7 in round 8), J. Daicos (30th), Warner (33rd). Oh and Zorko is technically the top ranked midfielder. The number they have at the tippy-top give them the edge, to me.
The Premiers have a fantastic midfield and, if you wanted to aruge it’s superior to MSHBs, I wouldn’t fight you too hard. Steele (9th), Daicos (14th), Anderson (17th), Crouch (19th), McCluggage (25th), Davies-Uniacke (27th), Wines (39th), Newcombe (48th) – they can almost field an entire midfield of top 50 midfielders.
Threat Level Midnight have some real top-enders in Gulden (4th), Bontempelli (7th) and Serong (16th). Petracca would be here too in all likelihood if not for his injuries. But they don’t have the depth of the others.
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which team has the best group of forwards?
Answer
I think there are two front-runners here: MaherShalalHashBaz, and the Taxmanian Devils.
MSHB are the only club to have two All-Australian forwards this season – Dayne Zorko (#1 forward) and Joe Daniher (9th). Jeremy Cameron (8th) gives them a third top ten forward.
Taxmanian Devils don’t have the same top-end, but they do have depth. Wood (10th), McHay (12th), Rankine (13th), Jackson (17th), Kennedy (20th) and Treacy (26th)
The Soldiers got the most votes, but I suspect they’d have fallen short even without the trades – as these votes were no doubt built on Greene, Martin and Daniel – all of whom dropped significantly this season.
The Roughnecks also scored a couple of votes, but Macrae’s failure has cost them here – despite Flanders finishing the season as the second ranked forward.
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which team will have the highest single round score?
Answer
2152 in Round 17, v Roughnecks
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will win the DangerGawn Medal?
Answer
Rowan Marshall
Puttanesca Chiefs
27 votes
Runner up was Max Gawn (Defenestrators)
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the highest averaging defender?
Answer
Lachie Whitfield
Roughnecks
111.80 avg
Runner-up was Harry Sheezel (Threat Level Midnight)
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the highest averaging midfielder?
Answer
Errol Gulden
Threat Level Midnight
111.90 avg
Runner-up was Adam Treloar (Defenestrators)
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the highest averaging forward?
Answer
Dayne Zorko
MaherShalalHashBaz
112.05 avg
Runner-up was Sam Flanders (Roughnecks)
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the highest averaging ruck?
Answer
Rowan Marshall
Puttanesca Chiefs
115.60 avg
Runner-up is Max Gawn (Defenestrators).
And Tristian Xerri (Love Sparkles) is a pinch unfortunate we don’t factor in finals in these rankings
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the most improved player?
Answer
For the players we selected, I’ve looked at the home & away games they played for our teams this year, compared to the 2023 H&A season.
Horne-Francis played 17 H&A games for the Devils this season, averaging 85.29
The season prior he played 19 games at a 68.37 avg.
Alex Sexton played 11 games at an 81 avg. He hadn’t played in a league game the season prior.
Pat Lipinski played 19 H&A games for the Sparkles, at a 68.53 avg. Last season he played 5 games at an average of 66.
Finn Callaghan played 18 H&A games for MSHB this season, at an average of 76.72. Last season he also played 18 games, at a 75.83 avg.
Izak Rankine played 13 H&A games at an average of 85. Last season he played 18 at an average of 76.17
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the rookie of the year?
Answer
Hard to go past Colby McKercher over at the Chiefs, who averaged 89.46 in his 13 games.
Ryley Sanders was the popular bet, but he rode the bench a bit at both the Dogs and Pukekos. He played 6 games at an average of 62.67
Speaking of people riding the bench at Pukekos, Harley Reid. He also could only manage 6 games for the spooners, averaging 65.5
We should also acknowledge Darcy Wilson over at MSHB. They fielded him 13 times in his debut season, averaging 67.77. Caleb Windsor managed a remarkable 18 games for both Threat Level Midnight and the Soldiers, averaging 59.78
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Who will be the All-Australian defenders?
Answer
Lachie Whitfield (Roughnecks)
Harry Sheezel (Midnight)
Nic Martin (Devils)
Nick Daicos (Sparkles)
Luke Ryan (Vipers)
Jack Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Bench
Wanganeen-Milera (Roughnecks)
Adam
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sicily (Roughnecks)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Duggan (Vipers)
Whitfield (Roughnecks)
Young (Soldiers)
Alex
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Young (Soldiers)
Hinge (Vipers)
Yeo (Roughecks)
Greg
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sicily (Roughnecks)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Stewart (Sparkles)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Short (Devils)
Jordie
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Ryan (Vipers)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Duncan (Vipers)
Clark (Devils)
Mark
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sicily (Roughnecks)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Young (Soldiers)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Houston (MSHB)
Max
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sicily (Roughnecks)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Houston (MSHB)
Ryan (Vipers)
Paul
Daicos (Sparkles)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Sinclair (Defenestrators)
Whitfield (Roughnecks)
Stewart (Sparkles)
Duggan (Vipers)
Rowan
Daicos (Sparkles)
Newman (Defenestrators)
Sheezel (Midnight)
Stewart (Sparkles)
Whitfield (Roughnecks)
Wanganeen-Milera (Roughnecks)
Who will be the All-Australian midfielders?
Answer
Errol Gulden (Midnight)
Adam Treloar (Defenestrators)
Josh Dunkley (MSHB)
Zac Merrett (MSHB)
Sam Walsh (Defenestrators)
Marcus Bontempelli (Midnight)
Jack Steele (Sparkles)
Zak Butters (Devils)
Caleb Serong (Midnight)
Bench
Tom Green (MSHB)
Adam
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Merrett (MSHB)
Gulden (Midnight)
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Laird (Roughnecks)
Green (MSHB)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Taranto (Roughnecks)
Butters (Devils)
Alex
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Oliver (Chiefs)
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Merrett (MSHB)
Green (MSHB)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Petracca (Midnight)
Docherty (Soldiers)
Newcombe (Sparkles)
Greg
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Oliver (Chiefs)
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Merrett (MSHB)
Gulden (Midnight)
Taranto (Roughnecks)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Laird (Roughnecks)
Rozee (Devils)
Jordie
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Merrett (MSHB)
Gulden (Midnight)
Green (MSHB)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Laird (Roughnecks)
Serong (Midnight)
Parish (Pukekos)
Rozee (Devils)
Mark
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Gulden (Midnight)
Taranto (Roughnecks)
Serong (Midnight)
Rozee (Midnight)
Miller (Vipers)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Walsh (Defenestrators)
Max
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Gulden (Midnight)
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Serong (Midnight)
Petracca (Midnight)
Rozee (Devils)
Butters (Devils)
Merrett (MSHB)
Paul
Oliver (Chiefs)
Gulden (Midnight)
Merrett (MSHB)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Rozee (Devils)
Parish (Pukekos)
Serong (Midnight)
Green (MSHB)
Butters (Devils)
Rowan
Bontempelli (Midnight)
Oliver (Chiefs)
Gulden (Midnight)
Dawson (Roughnecks)
Green (MSHB)
Brayshaw (Vipers)
Rozee (Devils)
Merrett (MSHB)
Serong (Midnight)
Who will be the All-Australian ruck?
Answer
Rowan Marshall (Puttanesca Chiefs)
Adam
English (Pukekos)
Alex
English (Pukekos)
Greg
English (Pukekos)
Jordie
Marshall (Chiefs)
Mark
English (Pukekos)
Max
English (Pukekos)
Paul
Marshall (Chiefs)
Rowan
Marshall (Chiefs)
Who will be the All-Australian forwards?
Answer
Dayne Zorko (MSHB)
Sam Flanders (Roughnecks)
Isaac Heeney (Pukekos)
Jye Caldwell (Vipers)
Dylan Moore (Midnight)
Joe Daniher (MSHB)
Bench
Gryan Miers (Puttanesca Chiefs)
Adam
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Martin (Sparkles)
Daniel (Soldiers)
Adams (Chiefs)
Heeney (Pukekos)
Alex
Martin (Sparkles)
Daniel (Soldiers)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Heeney (Pukekos)
Powell (Pukekos)
Fyfe (Vipers)
Greg
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Bolton (Devils)
Daniel (Soldiers)
Lipinski (Sparkles)
Heeney (Pukekos)
Jordie
Jackson (Devils)
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Greene (Sparkles)
Moore (Midnight)
Daniel (Soldiers)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Mark
Reid (Pukekos)
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Greene (Sparkles)
Jackson (Devils)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Bolton (Devils)
Max
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Daniel (Soldiers)
Moore (Midnight)
Bolton (Devils)
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Jackson (Devils)
Paul
Reid (Pukekos)
Adams (Chiefs)
Jackson (Devils)
Martin (Sparkles)
Macrae (Roughnecks)
Moore (Midnight)
Rowan
Flanders (Roughnecks)
Moore (Midnight)
Jackson (Devils)
Heeney (Pukekos)
Greene (Sparkles)
Schultz (Vipers)
Who “won” the draft?
Answer
Obviously subjective, but keep an eye out for the season review articles which will dive into this in a bit more detail.
Think a few teams without a vote are in with a shout… more on that in the season reviews.
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which player selected in round 10 onwards was the biggest steal?
Answer
Subjective again, but of the players we nominated, I think there is a clear front runner – Mark’s selection of Jack Bowes. He played 15 games for the Roughnecks, with an average of 85.73 in those games.
You could mount a case for Paul’s selection of Jeremy McGovern though. He played 17 games for the Sparkles at an 80.41 average. If McGovern had taken the field on Grand Final day for the Sparkles, I reckon that’d be enough to give him the nod.
My selection of May wasn’t too bad – he played 16 games at a 79.19 average.
Alex’s pick of Ryan Burton played 5 games, at 59.8 average.
Greg’s selection of Nick Larkey didn’t pay off – he played 5 games at an average of 49.
Jordie’s pick of Henry Hustwaite was a fizz – he didn’t feature in the Ultimate Keeper League this season.
Max and Rowan both went for Crow Sam Berry, but he didn’t land a punch. He too played 5 games in competition, for a measly 45.4 average.
Other players selected in the backhalf who would’ve made for strong guesses:
- Round 10/pick 95: Sam Durham (Roughnecks) – 17 games, 85.69 avg
- Round 10/pick 98: Callan Ward (Sparkles) – 14 games, 78.29 avg
- Round 10/pick 99: Matt Roberts (Defenestrators) – 12 games, 75.58 avg
- Round 11/pick 109: Steele Sidebottom (Defenestrators) – 12 games, 80.17 avg
- Round 13/pick 121: Lachlan Sholl (Pukekos) – 17 games, 85.94 avg
- Round 13/pick 124: Bailey Williams (MSHB) – 19 games, 79.05 avg
- Round 15/pick 142: Jack Ginnivan (Chiefs) – 17 games, 75.18 avg
- Round 15/pick 144: Massimo D’Ambrosio (MSHB) – 16 games, 80.31 avg
- Round 15/pick 149: Jordon Sweet (Defenestraotrs) – 10 games, 82.3 avg
- Round 17/pick 165: Miles Bergman (Roughnecks) – 20 games, 76.5 avg
- Round 18/pick 175: Kane Farrell (Roughnecks) – 19 games, 80.74 avg
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
If the start-up draft was held today, who would go number one overall?
Answer
We all selected the same guy.
I wonder how this question will be answered in March 2025.
Daicos was the 19th ranked AFL fantasy player during the home & away season, with an average of 104.7
Harry Sheezel was the 3rd ranked player…
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
If you had to switch lists with one club, who would you choose?
Answer
Interesting!
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
If you could add any player from another club to your list, who would you choose?
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan
Which club is best positioned to win a flag in four years time?
Adam
Alex
Greg
Jordie
Mark
Max
Paul
Rowan