The Australian Football League has polled the 18 AFL club captains for their views on the impending 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. They see the Geelong Cats at the top end of the ladder, along with the Brisbane Lions and Melbourne as the teams to beat, while Richmond and the Sydney Swans also have strong support.
In total, Geelong Cats secured the votes of eight of the 18 club captains as the team most likely to be a part of Grand Final day this year. This was followed by Melbourne and Brisbane Lions (four votes) and Richmond and Sydney Swans (one vote each).
A total of 13 different clubs were considered possible chances to contest the finals while five different clubs were considered to reach the Grand Final.
Unanimously, the view of the game's on-field leaders is that there will be eight players across the competition as this year’s Brownlow Medal favourite with Clayton Oliver (five votes) as the standout ahead of Lachie Neale and Andrew Brayshaw (three votes).
The Coleman Medal as leading goalkicker was predicted to be the domain of Jeremy Cameron or Tom Lynch (six votes each).
Will Ashcroft was the standout to claim the Ron Evans Medal as the AFL Rising Star with eight of the 18 captains nominating the Brisbane Lions youngster to take out the award.
Other than their own club, Brisbane Lions and Melbourne (six votes each) have been predicted to appear again in the 2023 NAB AFLW Grand Final.
Before gathering at Marvel Stadium today, the captains were asked six key questions on the season ahead, with the proviso that their individual answers would be treated anonymously to ensure personal views:
Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?
Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
Who do you think will win the 2023 Brownlow Medal?
Who do you think will win the 2023 Coleman Medal?
Who do you think will win the 2023 AFL Rising Star?
Other than your own club, which AFLW club will reach this year’s Grand Final?
The full voting is below:
Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?
(18 times seven selections).
17 – Brisbane Lions
16 – Geelong Cats, Richmond
15 – Sydney Swans, Melbourne
12 – Fremantle
11 – Collingwood
9 – Carlton
6 – Western Bulldogs
5 – Port Adelaide
2 – Gold Coast SUNS
1 – St Kilda, Adelaide Crows
Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
(No captains picked eventual premier Geelong in 2022).
8 – Geelong Cats
4 – Melbourne, Brisbane Lions
1 – Richmond, Sydney Swans
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2023 Brownlow Medal?
(Two captains correctly nominated Patrick Cripps in 2022).
5 – Clayton Oliver, Melbourne
3 – Andrew Brayshaw, Fremantle; Lachie Neale, Brisbane Lions,
2 – Marcus Bontempelli, Western Bulldogs; Touk Miller, Gold Coast SUNS,
1 – Patrick Cripps, Carlton; Christian Petracca, Melbourne; Callum Mills, Sydney Swans
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2023 Coleman Medal?
(No captain nominated eventual Coleman Medalist Charlie Curnow in 2022).
6 – Jeremy Cameron, Geelong Cats, Tom Lynch, Richmond
1 – Nat Fyfe, Fremantle; Harry McKay, Carlton; Jack Gunston, Brisbane Lions; Tom Hawkins, Geelong Cats; Charlie Curnow, Carlton; Aaron Naughton, Western Bulldogs
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2023 AFL Rising Star?
(Five captains nominated eventual Ron Evans Medalist Nick Daicos in 2022).
8 – Will Ashcroft, Brisbane Lions
2 – Sam Darcy, Western Bulldogs
1 – Aaron Cadman, GWS Giants; Jai Culley, West Coast Eagles; Finn Callaghan, GWS Giants; Cameron Mackenzie, Hawthorn; Reuben Ginbey, West Coast Eagles; Harry Sheezel, North Melbourne; Judd McVee, Melbourne; Mattaes Phillipou, St Kilda
Other than your own club, which AFLW club will reach this year’s Grand Final?
6 – Melbourne, Brisbane Lions
2 – Adelaide Crows
1 – North Melbourne, Sydney Swans, Fremantle, Richmond
