There's stability at the Crows who for the first time since 2014 will enter a season with the same coach in charge. The hope and expectation is that the Crows will be tougher around the contest but what hasn't changed much over summer is the forward line, which is laden with talent and capable of scoring heavily.

A rash of injuries to midfielders Rory Sloane, Brad Crouch and Scott Thompson over the summer will leave the Crows a) underdone or b) decimated for the season opener against the team with arguably the best midfield of the lot – GWS. And now the big Texan is under an injury cloud as well. A win over the Giants would get Adelaide's season off to a brilliant start, but the Crows might not have the cattle to get it done.

They're all singing off the same hymn sheet at the Gabba for the first time in a few years, a testament to the work of new coach Chris Fagan. Fingers crossed it continues, but having new skipper Dayne Beams up and about and having Tom Rockliff seemingly content despite no longer being skipper is also promising. The Lions' AFLW team hosting the Grand Final is a huge fillip for the club.

The Lions need early wins to create a buzz in a city obsessed by the Broncos. Having Josh Schache, Allen Christensen and gun draft pick Hugh McCluggage out of the side for the start of the season is not ideal.

The seeming obsession with recruiting off-cuts from GWS might finally pay some dividends with half-back Caleb Marchbank shaping as a 10-year player for the Blues. And they'll be pleased to have Patrick Cripps back on the park. There wasn't much Christmas cheer for Carlton fans when news emerged that he was suffering stress fractures in his back and that he would miss two months of training.

The Blues weren't competitive for large parts of their first two pre-season openers, before a better showing on Friday against Fremantle. Still, they were winless throughout the summer series and looking ahead to the season it is difficult to see where the goals will come from, as Brendon Bolton's forward line is a very much a work in progress.

The Adam Treloar deal looks better with every game. The former Giants player enjoyed a fantastic first season with the Pies and might surpass Scott Pendlebury by season's end as Collingwood's best midfielder. The Pies would have also been thrilled with the return of Ben Reid on Saturday with 26 disposals and 18 marks. They need him to shore up an undersized backline.

Since the end of last season the Pies have three football managers – Neil Balme, 'Gubby' Allan and Geoff Walsh, hardly the stability and support coach Nathan Buckley needs as he enters his 'finals or bust' 2017 season. Allan made some interesting deals, forking out huge contracts to Fremantle forward Chris Mayne, who might not be in the best 22, and perennially injured North midfielder Daniel Wells, who we subsequently learned from ex-teammate Nick Dal Santo is not a great trainer. The Pies hope to get 15 games a year from someone on $500,000 a year. Where do we sign?

The band is back together and really, that's the biggest tick of all for the Bombers. The first half against Geelong in Sunday's JLT game also showed that they are capable of some really good footy when it all clicks. Essendon has been handed a dream opening fixture by the AFL – Hawthorn at the MCG – and if close to 90,000 show up, it will be handy for the coffers, which have taken a beating in recent years.

Nat Fyfe is back and all is well in the purple world. Now if only he would put pen to paper. Freo's push to bring former West Australians home last summer seems to have reaped rewards so far with Cam McCarthy, Bradley Hill and Joel Hamling all showing a bit through the pre-season. The highlight of Freo's summer, of course, might be moving into their new facility at Cockburn, the best in the AFL. At least until the next one is built.

Fremantle really needs an opening-round win to finally move on from the morass of last season but the cause won't be helped by Hayden Ballantyne's hamstring injury. And besides, the serial irritant has a long and distinguished history of getting under Geelong's nose.

Zac Tuohy is no Corey Enright, but the former Carlton defender has fitted in to the Geelong backline seamlessly. Jackson Thurlow has made a great recovery from his ACL and will play round one. The Cats also appear to have landed a good one with their first selection at last year's draft, Brandan Parfitt.

There's no getting away from the biggest downer of Geelong's summer and it came less than a fortnight ago when the Cats lost their six-figure TAC sponsorship after skipper Joel Selwood was booked for speeding. The deal was on a knife's edge even before this episode, but that it was Selwood who tipped it over the edge was the shocker. Another Selwood issue at Geelong is midfielder Scott Selwood, so vital to the midfield setup because he can play both ways. He missed the entire JLT series, reportedly because of a toe injury and won't play in round one.

No Jaeger O'Meara, no Dion Prestia, no problems in the midfield. David Swallow and Gary Ablett are back; Pearce Hanley, Jarryd Lyons and Michael Barlow are excellent recruits, while Touk Miller and Aaron Hall continue to improve. Former Pie Jarrod Witts shapes as the No.1 ruckman to service them all. And the new training facility finally brings the Suns into the 21st century.

Gold Coast's collection of talls at both ends of the ground is the envy of the AFL but the bonus Sam Day provided was his ability to play either in attack or defence. That flexibility is gone for 2017 after he dislocated his hip in a freak injury in the opening JLT clash. The Suns will play the season with uncertainty over Gary Ablett's future. He is contracted past this season, but talk will surely persist of a return to Geelong.

They've found another one. Tim Taranto, the No.2 pick in last year's national draft averaged 17 possessions in the three JLT games and appears to have played his way into a round one debut against Adelaide. His ability to run out games shows he is ready to play at the level.

Brett Deledio was meant to be the missing ingredient, the veteran swingman's arrival designed to add some polish and experience to an outstanding list. But a calf injury kept him from playing at all through the pre-season and he'll miss the start of the season proper. Stephen Coniglio's ankle injury that will keep him out of the opening six weeks of the season is a massive blow as well. The Giants are also showing a propensity for needless reports. Steve Johnson arguably cost them the preliminary final when he was on the sidelines, while Jeremy Cameron appears not to have learned the lesson from last year's pre-season report that cost him the first four games of the season. While a less severe offence, Cameron's strike to Scott Thompson's stomach was a needless risk.

Lost in all the drama about the departures of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis is that the Hawks replaced them with two pretty good players – Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara. It was a painful decision to trade out two club icons, but their replacements have already made the Hawks better around the contest and at clearances. The feelgood story in all of footy is the return of Jarryd Roughead after last year's cancer issues. The new skipper has resumed playing and has barely skipped a beat.

The Luke Hodge suspension for the opening round clash after missing training is very un-Hawthorn like. The former skipper is in ripping condition and would have been in his element in the seething cauldron of a season opener against the old enemy and his absence helps tip the scales in Essendon's favour. Off the field, the Hawks enter the new season without a chief executive.

The summer steamroller was stopped in its tracks by West Coast on Thursday night but even then, the Dees showed some pluck and tenacity to work their way back into what was a willing encounter. The midfield looks set to explode, Jordan Lewis was a tremendous pick-up and Jesse Hogan is over his second-year blues.

For all the pre-season buzz about the Demons, why does Jack Watts still create screaming back-page headlines?

The early favourite in the 'recruit of the year' stakes might be Nathan Hrovat, the lively small forward who couldn't crack it in the Bulldogs premiership side but looks a sure bet to feature prominently for the Kangaroos. Another summer bonus for the Kangaroos was the cracking pre-season game against Hawthorn back at Arden Street, replete with a win over the Hawks and the return of the elephant.

The Kangas might get to the line for round one with a full complement of big men, but they have cut it fine. Todd Goldstein and Majak Daw were injured for much of the summer, while Ben Brown's only lead-up game to round one will be a VFL practice game next weekend. Hardly ideal.

Port has found a player – 27-year-old former stockbroker Brett Eddy. Five goals in the second half against the Hawks on Sunday pencilled him for a round one debut against the Sydney Swans. Paddy Ryder also put in a dominant display on Sunday, and looks set for a good year after missing all of 2016. Draftee Sam Powell-Pepper is an old-school, take-no-prisoners type of midfielder. This column is an unabashed fan.

Port did the hard yards in getting the China game up and running this season, but the bleating over Gold Coast's jumper – primarily from the club chairman, it must be said – was unseemly and took oxygen away from what was a very important pre-season for a club that needs to turn things around in 2017. Jarman Impey's bizarre car crash last December cast another shadow over Port's summer and he will miss round one as a result through a club-imposed sanction.

The Tigers did well to bring Dion Prestia home from the Gold Coast and his hardness and creativity will add much to Richmond's midfield in 2017. Josh Caddy will be a good addition while former Sydney big man Toby Nankervis is now the No.1 ruckman at Tigerland. It was a good summer for the list management team at Tigerland. Having Neil Balme back as head of football was another win.

Dustin Martin's playing future will be hanging over the Tigers all summer but it would appear the Tigers have yet to adopt a clear strategy in how to manage this from a media strategy. The Tigers need to borrow from the Hawthorn 2013 and Adelaide 2015 handbooks to make sure it doesn't become too big a distraction.

Where to start? Paddy McCartin, Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey have shown the makings of a powerful forward combination while at the other end, Jake Carlisle has made a successful return after his 12-moth enforced lay-off and with Nathan Brown have fortified the back six with a bit of height. The Saints play a tough, hard and attacking brand of footy.

Not so much a problem but an issue to grapple with. Tom Hickey versus Billy Longer for the No.1 ruckman. Both could not have done any more to impress this summer but it is doubtful the Saints can carry both in their best 22. Whoever misses out might be looking to move on come the end of the season.

The Swans wouldn't have been thrilled to lose midfielder Tom Mitchell to a fellow top-eight club, but Zak Jones appears ready to fill the void after a slashing summer. Lance Franklin has recovered beautifully from a shoulder injury and is playing with extra flair and verve. And the Swans have clearly made the right call in naming Josh Kennedy their new skipper. Leadership is in his genes.

Jarrad McVeigh faces another delayed start to the season, this time because of a calf injury, the same injury that plagued him through last year's finals. Isaac Heeney was just about ready to take his place in the great Swans midfield when he was struck down with glandular fever. He's out indefinitely and whether he can assume a full load in the midfield thereafter remains unclear.

The cross-country move has done nothing to slow down Sam Mitchell and the recently crowned 2012 Brownlow medallist will be a massive boost for the Eagles after their underachieving 2016 campaign. Nathan Vardy and Drew Petrie were also brought in for need and look ready to go next week. Eric Mackenzie has finally started to regain some form and confidence after a horrid 24 months and the same goes for Lewis Jetta.

Good thing for the Eagles that their midfield is strong because they're a bit thin for ruck options. Nic Naitanui might not see any action at all this year while Scott Lycett has suffered another setback and is now mending a dislocated shoulder after just overcoming a PCL injury.

It was a great off-season for the Bulldogs, during which they celebrated their flag, made a huge $3.64 million profit and wiped more than $5 million from their debt. On the field, skipper and spiritual leader Robert Murphy made it back from an ACL injury and if the reigning premiers needed fresh motivation for the new season, winning the flag for him is it. The Dogs rolled the dice with Travis Cloke and while it is partly due to a lack of other options, he will be unveiled in the season opener against his former club at the MCG.

Team balance was a hallmark of the Bulldogs team that stormed its way from seventh to win last year's flag, but it can't help the start of the premiership defence that No.1 big man Jordan Roughead will be missing for the first six to eight weeks of the season after a major hamstring injury. The Dogs looked great in storming home to beat Gold Coast last Thursday, but they had underwhelmed before then, causing coach Luke Beveridge to contemplate where the Dogs were in their preparation.