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Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Can Melbourne go back-to-back? Will the Blues improve under Michael Voss? Can Dusty revive the Tigers? Jon Ralph predicts the fortunes of all 18 clubs.
These are the rankings
1 - Melbourne
2 - Port
3. Western Bulldogs
David King says the Dogs have the biggest premiership window in the competition.
If they had a top-six ruckman playing for them this year they would enter this summer as reigning premiers.
So all the lofty predictions apply – the Bont had one hand on the Norm Smith early in the third term of the grand final, Sam Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan could be anything, the depth is off-the-charts good.
But it is understood the Dogs had a significant crack at Richmond’s premiership ruckman Ivan Soldo before he re-signed for three years in September, then didn’t chase a Peter Ladhams or Jon Ceglar as a fall-back option.
So until Tim English can consistently show us he is the player that mauled Brodie Grundy in Round 1 (with help from Stef Martin), we will continue to wonder if the rucks will cost them another flag.
Early prediction: You know how the Dogs really hate GWS? Prepare for the Dogs and Melbourne to go at it in Round 1 after the grand final loss and its aftermath, just as the fuse was lit the summer after the Giants roughed up Marcus Bontempelli in that infamous elimination final.
4 - Brisbane Lions
5 - Geelong
6 - Essendon
7 - Sydney
8 - Richmond
9 - StKilda
10 - GSW
11 - Carlton
12 - West Coast
13 - Hawthorn
14 - Fremantle
15 - Collingwood
16 - Gold Coast
17 - North Melbourne
18 - Adelaide
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
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Post Thanks / Like - 3 Thanks, 1 Likes
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Port 2nd. Lol lost all credibility right there.
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Originally Posted by
ReLoad
Port 2nd. Lol lost all credibility right there.
Really? I would have thought the consensus top 4 would generally be a mix of Us, Melbourne, Port and Brisbane. I can’t see too much drop off from Port that would see them fall too far.
I’d probably see Brisbane with the best chance of taking a top 2 spot if they can keep their best 22 on the field, but Port will be thereabouts.
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Originally Posted by
GVGjr
But it is understood the Dogs had a significant crack at Richmond’s premiership ruckman Ivan Soldo before he re-signed for three years in September,
Interesting
FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Hard to argue re the Ruck situation.
Melbourne might get lost in their own hubris and Port seem to fold on the big stage so that leaves us #1
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Originally Posted by
ReLoad
Port 2nd. Lol lost all credibility right there.
Yeah I can't see them finishing above us - although they do tend to have reasonably high finishes historically in the H&A.
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
Port. The way they folded in their own fortress is the thing. Not that they lost, but how they lost.
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus
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Re: Jon Ralph’s big early calls for the 2022 season
I can see Port finishing higher than us. A bit like Geelong, they play on a narrow and long ground that most other teams only play on once a year.
Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate.
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