Every Team’s New Year’s Resolution

 

2024 is now coming to a close, and we will shortly begin the countdown to 2025 instead. Every team in the AFL, the coaches, players, and fans, will each have their own New Year resolutions and little things that they will want to improve on heading into 2025.

While most New Year resolutions are secret, The Mongrel Punt’s insider has provided an incredible scoop, and we’ve got our hands on each club’s list of resolutions heading into the new year.

 

Adelaide – Improve their close game record

 

The Crows ended the 2024 season with eight wins and a draw, with many of their losses coming in close-fought games. The Crows lost six games by less than two goals. If these results had been flipped in those close games and their draw, the Crows would have finished the season with a far better record of fifteen wins and eight losses, which would have seen them in the top 4.

 

 

Brisbane – Find a new Key Forward

 

The Brisbane Lions will be ringing in 2025 as the reigning premiers, so it’s probably fair to say that the team is fairly happy with how their 2024 went. After the season ended, the Lions lost Joe Daniher, who decided to retire after four seasons in Brisbane and eight seasons at Essendon. While Daniher will be difficult to replace, the Lions will be searching for a big man to fill their Daniher-sized hole in the team line-up.

 

 

Carlton – Have a clean bill of health

 

Under Michael Voss, Carlton has returned to being competitive again. However, for a side that now entering 30 years since its last premiership, being competitive isn’t enough anymore and the team should be pushing for the top 4. A big part of Carlton’s push for the next level is making sure that their best players can take the field week after week. For top teams to provide consistency, you must have a settled team week after week. That can’t happen if players are missing due to injury.

 

 

Collingwood – Young leaders to stand up

 

This off-season much has been made of Collingwood’s ageing list. Scott Pendelbury, Steele Sidebottom, Jeremy Howe, Brody Mihocek, and Tom Mitchell, are all over 30 years old, with Darcy Cameron and Daniel McStay turning 30 during the season. The Pies have uncovered a young gun in Nick Daicos, but they will be hoping to find a few more younger players to help their growing brigade of veterans. The team has thrown a lot to bring in Dan Houston from Port Adelaide, which should help bridge a gap between the older group of players and the young guns coming through.

 

 

Essendon – Win a final

 

Winning a final has been on Essendon’s New Year resolution list for the last 20 years. Even returning to finals would be a big milestone for the club, who haven’t finished higher than 11th in the two seasons under Brad Scott. Fans had their hopes up after the club started last season well, peaking at second place on the ladder, before dramatically tumbling out of the 8, losing 10 of their last 13 games.

 

 

Fremantle – Improve their Home Record

 

Freo narrowly missed the finals in 2024, finishing two points behind Carlton and Collingwood, despite finishing with a better percentage than both sides. One of the biggest issues for Freo would have been their disappointing results at home. In 2024, Fremantle dropped home games to Sydney, Geelong, and Port Adelaide. Fremantle also drew against Collingwood at home, and had they won that game they also would have made finals instead of just missing out.

 

 

Geelong – Rehab Recruits

 

Once again, Geelong scored well during the trade period, picking up the talented but injury-prone Jack Martin and former Bulldog Bailey Smith, who missed the entirety of the 2024 season after rupturing his ACL at training a year ago. Both of these players will be key to Geelong’s plans if they can stay fit, and that is a big if. Especially regarding Martin, who averaged 10.8 games in 5 seasons at Carlton and was fit for only three games last season. Martin hasn’t played a full season since 2017 when he was still a Gold Coast Sun.

 

 

Gold Coast – Make the finals

 

In 2011, the Gold Coast Suns made their AFL debut. However, in the 13 seasons the Suns have played since then, the team has yet to play a final. Could 2025 be the year that the Suns finally shine on September action for the first time in history? A big part of this will be translating their form at home into away games. Out of their 11 games at People First and TIO Stadiums, the Suns had a 9-2 record.

 

 

Greater Western Sydney – Return to the Grand Final

 

It has now been six years since the Giants last made it to the Grand Final. That year, they turned in an embarrassing performance against Richmond in which they only scored 25 points, the lowest score in a Grand Final in almost 60 years. The Giants have got close the last few years, losing to Collingwood in 2023 and Brisbane in 2024, both teams who went on to win the flag. 2025 could be the year they take the next step.

 

 

Hawthorn – Build on Hokball Success

 

In 2024, Sam Mitchell and the Hawks unleashed Hokball a game style defined by the Hawk’s ability to play with confidence and flair despite having a relatively young and inexperienced side. This model led the Hawks to finish seventh, losing only two games after their Round 15 bye. Will the Hawks be able to maintain the rage that led to their impressive winning run, or will they be found out with a tougher draw?

 

 

Melbourne – More Stability

 

To say that Melbourne is coming into 2025 with some mental demons, pun intended, would be an understatement. The Demons were almost forced into trading away their best player, Christian Petracca, due to the club’s mismanagement. Another star, Clayton Oliver, was also reportedly interested in leaving the club and heading down the coast to join Geelong. The club’s president, Kate Roffey, left the entire club after her handling of the Petracca situation garnered significant criticism. Now the club is the subject of an external review, despite stating previously that it wasn’t necessary.

 

 

North Melbourne – Turn up before June

 

In 2024, it took North Melbourne until the 8th of June before they registered their first win, and even then it came against fellow cellar-dwellers the West Coast Eagles. It was one of only three wins for the entire season as they spent another year kicking around on the bottom of the ladder. Not much is expected of North, a side still viewed as being in a rebuild, but it’s starting to get a bit drawn out. Young guns Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Cooper Harvey, and Jackson Archer should help.

 

 

Port Adelaide – Win a Qualifying Final

 

Port has two New Year resolutions, to be honest. One is to provide Hinkley with some breathing room from the pressure by getting early wins. However, Hinkley and Port perform better under pressure. A second resolution is to win a Preliminary Final. For two years in a row, Port has failed to win their Qualifying Final, losing to Brisbane in 2023 and Geelong in 2024. This made their route to the Grand Final a lot harder than it needed to be, and something they would love to correct in 2025.

 

 

Richmond – Be Competitive

 

The Tigers head into season 2025 with few expectations. The team, which bottomed out in 2024 with only two wins, lost several senior players in the off-season with Shai Bolton, Liam Baker, Daniel Rioli, and Jack Graham leaving the club, while Dustin Martin, Dylan Grimes, and Marlion Pickett all retired. While fans aren’t expecting the club to win many games given the list changes, there is a hope that they will at least be competitive during games, which wasn’t always the case in 2024.

 

 

St Kilda – Picking a lane

 

In 2024, St Kilda, and by extension Ross Lyon, have exhibited a nearly bipolar-like dynamic. On one side, there’s the upbeat Ross Lyon and his Saints, who aim to play an aggressive, fast-paced rebound game from the half-back line, in keeping with modern football trends. On the other side, there’s the more frustrated Ross Lyon, whose teams rely on a suffocating defensive style that helped them reach the 2010 Grand Final and propelled them to finals in 2023 after conceding the fewest points in the home-and-away season. Season 2025 is when they will hope to stick to one of these two options going forward, rather than flip-flopping and flailing like they did in 2025.

 

 

Sydney – Not losing a step under Dean Cox

 

Usually, when a club appoints a new coach, it’s because the team has bottomed out and players are no longer performing for the old boss. That didn’t happen in Sydney, with John Longmire leaving the Swans after taking them to the Grand Final in 2024. While the Swans did lose the Grand Final badly, most of the players are still young and the team shouldn’t drop much under new head coach, Dean Cox, who previously worked as an assistant under Longmire.

 

 

West Coast – Establish a New Identity Under Andrew McQualter

 

From 2022 to 2024, the West Coast Eagles languished at the bottom of the ladder before the club mercifully and, according to them, mutually pulled the trigger on Adam Simpson’s contract and began the search for their next head coach. After a several month-long search, the Eagles announced former Richmond and Melbourne assistant coach Andrew McQualter.

 

 

Western Bulldogs – End the Tension between Beveridge and the Board

 

There seems to be a lot of pressure building between the Western Bulldog’s board and Luke Beveridge. Beveridge, who led the Dogs to an unlikely premiership in 2016, has largely been viewed as disappointing since then. Despite making the finals in 2024, a number of senior players have departed the club, which was predicted by Sam Draper. The Dogs, and no doubt Luke Beveridge, would love to bring some more success to the club, which would undoubtedly ease some of the tension.