AFL 2023 predicted ladder: Collingwood hit summit – but flag is anyone’s to claim

I f there are three things that football needs, it’s more Kane Cornes content, more umpires and more pre-season ladder predictions. At the risk of ‘doing a Robert Walls’ and tipping the eventual premiers to come last, here is Guardian Australia’s predicted ladder, and some of the more interesting storylines to follow. All have their flaws, but any one of the top 10 listed sides could win the premiership this year.

For years, the Cats have been the masters of the boring Saturday afternoon win at Kardinia Park. They bank about a half-dozen of them a year – usually against interstate clubs, all of them instantly forgettable, and all of them an exercise in conserving energy, avoiding injury and doing what needs to be done. Can Collingwood follow suit? Or does every last quarter have to be some sort of biblical event?

They’rea wonderful team to watch and to support. They’re a mix of bulls and beanpoles, thoroughbreds and pit ponies, journeymen and work experience kids. Last year, they were like Greg Norman on a charge – all-out attack, straight down the guts and brooking no doubt. “You trust yourself, your swing is free, you see these shots, and you execute them,” Norman said in a recent documentary. “You could even hit the leaf off the end of a tree if you wanted to.” That was the Pies last year. This year, with a bit less Shark, and a lot more Faldo, they can take the next step.

If you’re a Dogs player or fan, you have to forgive Luke Beveridge a lot. You have to resign yourself to long stretches of frustration, bewilderment, blow ups, experimentation and utter impossibility. They leak goals. They leak games. They leak seasons. From the moment he walked in and tore Tom Morris a new one, Beveridge and the Dogs were never