FOR 10 AFL clubs, the consolation for missing out on the finals is getting a head start on preparations for 2016. Yes, footy never stops.

For the teams looking in from the outside as the finals unfold, AFL.com.au's Ashley Browne nominates their first order of business as they look towards next season.

9. Port Adelaide

Put Charlie in charge
Good on Charlie Dixon, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide from sparing us the nonsense. Dixon wants to play for Port next year and be reunited with Ken Hinkley and it is going to happen. Port will be kicking itself at missing the finals this year, but the mistake would be to believe things will automatically fall into place in 2016 given the super finish to this year. Port went 12-10 for a reason and Jay Schulz's decline was one reason, so plaudits to Port for swiftly identifying what needs to be fixed. If I were a fan of the Power I'd be thrilled. Port might also lobby hard to play two matches against the Hawks once again next year. Guaranteed eight points.

• Nine things we learned from round 23

10. Geelong

Find a decent ruckman
Yes, they have Mark Blicavs and Rhys Stanley, but imagine if the Cats were able to free them up to play elsewhere – a follower in the case of Blicavs and as the second or third forward in the case of Stanley. Dawson Simpson is out of contract and no certainty of being at Geelong next year. They'll make a killing in the trade and free agency period next month with Patrick Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson and Scott Selwood all likely to come aboard, but if they can somehow prise a decent ruckman out of somewhere then the Cats will be a flag chance sooner than we think.

11. Greater Western Sydney

Order cotton wool for the big 'Mummy'
The Giants were sailing to their maiden finals appearance when Mumford went down for the count. There is emerging brilliance across every line at the Giants, but Mumford is the spiritual leader and it is uncanny that one player's absence could cause a season to crumble. Gary Ablett at Gold Coast in 2014; Mumford with the Giants this year. The Giants need to get him right but ensure he is fresh as a daisy come round one. He plays 18 games in 2016 and the G-Men play finals. It's that simple.

12. Collingwood

Find out who ate all the Pies
For the second straight year, the Pies crashed and burned after turning for home at 8-3. They lost to some handy clubs on the run home, but also to Essendon and Melbourne. Nathan Buckley needs to forensically examine what it is the Pies do around the middle of the season that causes the club to fall into a hole in the middle of June. His list is in good shape, doubtless, they'll trade and draft as well as they normally do, but Buckley is entering his own contract year and nothing will save him if the Pies miss out on the finals once again. Failing that, lobby the AFL to slash the season in half. Then the Magpies would be top four every year.

• Nine things we learned: It's time for the Pies to go shopping

13. Melbourne

Decide who's the coach
For the second time in his coaching career, Paul Roos enters a football season knowing it's his last go-around. He did so with the Sydney Swans in 2010 before passing the baton to John Longmire, and will do so again in 2016 with Simon Goodwin waiting in the wings. The Swans were a talented and mature group and better able to handle this period of transition, whereas the Dees remain in the midst of a slow and laborious rebuild. I think Melbourne should make the move now and install Goodwin as coach. He and the playing group could grow and develop together. Failing that, what the Demons do need to communicate is what Goodwin's increased duties will be in 2016. Where will the buck stop, and with who?

14. St Kilda

Get moving to Moorabbin
Look, this is going to happen some time in the next two years, but just get it announced already. The methodical St Kilda list rebuild is proceeding as planned and might even be ahead of schedule. But the plan calls for the Saints to attack the free agent market in about 12 months and one of the big selling points will be that they are no longer based out of Seaford. Moorabbin, just a short drive from beautiful Brighton is a key plan in making the Saints a destination club once more for prospective free agents. This has to happen and needs some signs of progress at the very least.

• How did the Saints' youngsters fare in this weekend's state leagues?

15. Essendon

Get down on bended knees and beg, literally beg, John Worsfold to become the next coach of the Bombers 
Adelaide is probably the more logical choice for the West Coast legend, who is open to a return to coaching given his work at the club this year following the death of Phil Walsh. But Essendon needs an experienced coach, one who has been through the mill and importantly brings processes that are tried and tested. Luke Beveridge has struck a blow for the first-time coaches this year, but Matthew Knights and James Hird didn't work out at Essendon for various reasons, so it has to be Worsfold. 

16. Gold Coast

Make that a light beer, thanks
This is a big off-season for the Suns. The lunatics have run the asylum until now on the coast and this is the off-season for the Suns to take things quietly, tone down the partying and prepare themselves for what should be a brutal off-season. No more excuses up there. This is a team that should return in ripping shape and ready for whatever 'Rocket' Eade throws at them. And with Dixon already on the way out, Eade should demand complete buy-in from those who are at the club. The pain of a difficult season should make culture change relatively straightforward at the Suns.

17. Brisbane Lions

Get Schwabby to Brisbane
Alastair Lynch wrote this on the weekend and I agree. Peter Schwab is a great asset for the Lions as their list manager and I can see why it is important to be based in Victoria, but the Lions coaching staff is crying out for that sage old head, the yin to Justin Leppitsch's yang. 'Schwabby' never appears flustered or rattled, and he spoke cogently about the Lions on a podcast on this website last week. With a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon, his best value to the Lions might be, if they can make it happen, getting him back to Brisbane to work alongside Leppitsch and ensure the calamity that was 2015 is not repeated.

18. Carlton

Head to the trade table and do the deal
New coach Brendan Bolton has spent enough time at Hawthorn to know just how magical the 2004 draft was that brought Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis to the club. The Hawks stank to high heaven that year but the salve was the three picks inside the first seven. Bolton holds no emotional attachment to Carlton (at least not yet) and if he truly is the hardheaded and calculated Alastair Clarkson clone he is said to be then he will need little prodding to trade Chris Yarran out of the club and allow Matthew Kreuzer to walk as a restricted free agent. The Blues could end up with three first-round draft picks, chuck in the first pick in the pre-season draft and you get a great start to the rebuild.

• Full ticketing information for finals week one
• Four burning questions ahead of the opening weekend