Two of the most common predictions before the 2019 season kicked off in earnest were, in no particular order: Melbourne are locks to finish top 4; and Gold Coast are locks to finish with the spoon (or at best bottom 2). There were immediate issues with both predictions, although this
Continue reading »Author: Sean
How much money did the AFL give your club in 2018?
A constant topic of discussion among football watchers is how much money each club gets, and why. For the last three years HPN has tried to break through the web of footy related financial reports, and break down each club’s financial allotments. The AFL recently released its Annual Report for
Continue reading »1806 days and counting between drinks – can the Tigers learn to win without Rance?
With about five minutes to go in the third quarter of AFL football in 2019, one of the worst nightmares of Richmond fans came to pass. Coming down after a contested marking contest, Alex Rance landed badly and tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament, requiring season-ending surgery. Rance may or may
Continue reading »Projecting the 2019 AFL Season
With the AFL season now hours away, the attention of fans and pundits everywhere turns to not only the action in week one, but who will sit on top of the ladder after the next 23. For the fifth year, HPN is attempting to answer the latter question, trying to
Continue reading »Fremantle and North Melbourne may have the chance to both win by not winning
Despite starting the season almost exactly to script, the last month of football has thrown up a number of unexpected results that has left finals spots in season 3 of the AFLW up for grabs into the last week. No side has locked away their top two slot yet, with
Continue reading »The season is never over after three weeks, but…
It’s always more impressive to go early in predicting an outcome than late – something that the media often struggles with when assessing the performance of public figures (including sporting teams). Commentary is often driven by change and controversy – by apparent rising fortunes or flagging days – whether the
Continue reading »Don’t worry about AFLW scoring – history tells us that it will rise
For the entire (short) history of the AFLW competition, one of the prevailing narratives from the first round of play has been around scoring. Or more accurately, the feeling by internet manbabies has been that there is a lack of it: Staying at a total of 3 goals ,total goals
Continue reading »The 2019 AFLW premiership is North’s to lose, but it’s an even chasing pack
After a long, two and a half month slog of preseason, football finally returns for 2019 with the start of the third AFLW season. This season (dubbed AFLW 3.0 by AFL headquarters, something HPN will save you from here) sees two new sides join the competition – North Melbourne and
Continue reading »2018 AFL Draft – did your club grab sliders or bolters?
Every year at the AFL Draft throws up some surprises to draft obsessives and casual fans alike. Each year, some fancied young players slip through the cracks to later picks, while others get reached for by clubs earlier than popularly anticipated. Now that the dust is settled, the first glances
Continue reading »Draft Day 2018 HPN Consensus Phantom Draft
The future for several clubs will be written today, as the first day of the first two day AFL draft kicks off today. With a bumper crop projected this year, the 2018 draft could make a club with the right decisions, or break them with the wrong ones (let’s ignore
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