EVERY AFL captain thinks Port Adelaide will play finals in 2021 with three predicting the club will play off in the Grand Final.
THE AFL polled all 18 club captains for their views on the impending 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, and they see Richmond and Brisbane at the top end of the ladder as the teams to beat.
In all, those two clubs drew the votes of 12 of the 18 captains as the sides most likely to be a part of the Grand Final this year.
Every captain predicted Brisbane, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Richmond to play finals and such is the closeness of the competition that a total of 15 different clubs were considered possible chances to make the top eight.
A total of eight different players received a tip as a choice for this year's Brownlow Medal favourite, with Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli (six votes) the standout ahead of Patrick Cripps and Nat Fyfe (three votes), while Port Adelaide vice-captain Ollie Wines also received a vote.
The Coleman Medal as leading goalkicker was expected to be the domain of 2020 winner, Geelong’s Tom Hawkins (eight votes) again, with Port’s Charlie Dixon (four votes) his main rival.
Midfielder Matt Rowell was again the standout to claim the Ron Evans Medal as the NAB AFL Rising Star with 13 of the captains nominating the Gold Coast youngster to take out the award.
Before gathering in locations across the country today and tomorrow, the captains were asked five key questions on the season ahead, with the proviso that their individual answers would be treated anonymously to ensure personal views:
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, Geelong, Port Adelaide, Richmond
15 – West Coast, St Kilda
9 – Western Bulldogs
8 – Collingwood
4 – Greater Western Sydney
2 – Gold Coast
1 – Carlton, Essendon, Fremantle, Hawthorn, Melbourne
Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
(Four captains picked eventual premier Richmond in 2020).
7 – Richmond
5 – Brisbane
3 – Port Adelaide
2 – Geelong
1 – West Coast
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2021 Brownlow Medal?
(Four captains correctly nominated Lachie Neale in 2020).
6 – Marcus Bontempelli
3 – Patrick Cripps
3 – Nat Fyfe
2 – Lachie Neale
1 – Dustin Martin
1 – Ollie Wines
1 – Jaeger O'Meara
1 – Jack Macrae
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2021 Coleman Medal?
(No captain nominated eventual Coleman medallist Tom Hawkins in 2020).
8 – Tom Hawkins
4 – Charlie Dixon
2 – Jeremy Cameron
2 – Joe Daniher
1 – Tom Papley
1 – Lance Franklin
Which player from another club do you think will win the 2021 NAB AFL Rising Star?
(One captain nominated eventual Ron Evans medallist Caleb Serong in 2020).
13 – Matt Rowell
3 – Logan McDonald
1 – Tom Powell
1 – Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
