Finally, it's here — after the off-season and then a small entree of preseason games and match simulations, the main course of the 2023 AFL season is set to start.
Seven months, 18 teams and 207 games (including finals) lie ahead of us, from the start with Richmond-Carlton on Thursday to the meeting of a mystery pair of teams at the same MCG on September 30 to decide who will follow Geelong as the champions of the AFL.
As ever, on the cusp of the season there are a million different storylines and questions that teams, fans and media alike want answered.
Some things will become clear early on, while other stories will go deeper into the year before the truth is revealed — and for some, the football world may receive only partial information by the end of 2023.
Let's take a look at some of the storylines that will run through season 2023.
Can Geelong go back to back?
Geelong had one of the dominant seasons in 2022, culminating in a cakewalk over the Swans on grand final day — but can they do it again?
Last year's squad's average age of 27.8 showed a team late in their window. The victory proved to be the end of an era with Joel Selwood's retirement. The Cats also saw Luke Dahlhaus and Shaun Higgins finishing their careers. That's a fair bit of experience going out the door.
But then ... trading in Ollie Henry from the Magpies, taking on the contract of Jack Bowes from the Suns and using the pick for Jhye Clark, and trading in a strong clearance man in Tanner Bruhn from GWS.
We know the Cats' system works, and the bottom line is the team has now gotten younger and given themselves depth across the ground. But are they all-in on another flag?
Going back-to-back is a difficult ask — only three teams have done it in the last 20 years.
The Demons showed last year (after going 10-0 to start the season) that things can go pear-shaped very quickly.
But aside from the off-season add-ons, if Jeremy Cameron stays healthy and Tom Hawkins's dodgy toe doesn't disrupt his season; if Tom Stewart can have another big year down back and Cam Guthrie and Patrick Dangerfield maintain their high standards; and if Tyson Stengle continues to provide the X-Factor, there's no reason why Geelong can't get back to the grand final, at least.
What does the return of Ross Lyon mean at St Kilda?
Last year, the Saints pulled the pin on Brett Ratten's coaching time at the club, and less than a fortnight later, went back to the future, hiring Ross Lyon for a second stint in charge.
Playing word association with Ross Lyon and football teams, you get terms like "defence", "tough", "experience", and "intensity". Some of these elements would be welcome add-ons after the last few years at the Saints.
The talk is Lyon Mark II has mellowed slightly, but doubtless, the coach will not be backing away from making tough calls if necessary.
The question remains, is he the difference-maker to get St Kilda back to finals?
Lyon hasn't been a senior coach in four years, but he has a solid coaching group around him, including Corey Enright and Saints' figures Robert Harvey and Lenny Hayes.
For all that he and the club can control, there is plenty he can't — an embarrassing audio leak from training providing an early distraction.
The other big obstacle is injured players. Spearhead Max King's shoulder reconstruction, Jack Billings' fractured fibula and Jack Hayes' foot problem are only the headlines as the Saints' injury list sits at more than a dozen ahead of round one. Not what you want as a St Kilda fan — or coach — going into 2023.
Will Ashcroft — will he live up to the hype?
Since the middle of last year, the murmurs have grown from north of the Queensland border about the 2022 AFL Draft and a certain father-son selection on the way for the Lions.
If you believe some of the talk on Will Ashcroft, anything short of the second coming will be a disappointment for the son of former Brisbane player Marcus Ashcroft.
His performances in practice matches and match simulations for Brisbane have done nothing to dispel this idea. The 18-year-old has looked completely AFL-ready so far — he displays game sense beyond his years, clean hands, wins his own ball, hits targets and has tackling ability.
So what's ahead? Let's take a deep breath here. He's not going to win the Brownlow, although absolutely no one will be surprised if he takes out the Rising Star.
The great thing for him and Brisbane is that he doesn't have to be the second coming. As part of THAT midfield with Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and another new recruit, Josh Dunkley, he just has to play his role and help the Lions move the ball quicker and give forwards like recruit Jack Gunston proper service.
On early evidence, he can do that and a lot more.
Can Freo score enough, and is Nat Fyfe the answer?
It's sometimes hard to remember, but the Fremantle Dockers have not always struggled to kick a regular winning score. In 2007, for example, they averaged 102.4 points a game — although that year they also conceded 99.9 points per game and missed the finals.
The issue, however, came into sharp focus in the later years under Ross Lyon, and in particular, post-2015, when the Dockers fell off a cliff after their prelim loss to Hawthorn.
From 2003 to 2015, Freo averaged 91.1 points a game (home and away only) — since then, excluding the shorter season of 2020, they have averaged just 72.95 points a game.
This year we have a Fremantle side on the up after a 15-win season and a first finals appearance in seven years — but the Dockers had by far the worst scoring record of any of the top eight, so once again, the question is where are the goals going to come from?
Last year, Rory Lobb led the way with 36 goals — and the ruck-forward is now a Bulldog. Lachie Schultz (30) and Michael Walters (25) followed, with Matt Taberner further back.
This year, a changing cast may provide more. New arrival Luke Jackson will give a physical presence up forward, while ex-Suns player Josh Corbett adds an attacking option and Jaeger O'Meara may be able to swing through the forward line as well.
The other likely contributor is former skipper Nat Fyfe, who has properly shifted into the forward line this season after giving up the captaincy. We know what Fyfe could do in midfield, but a return of six goals and a stack of score involvements in two preseason games is exactly what the Dockers were looking for.
Is he a game-changer? Who knows — but if he can deliver something like that on a regular basis for Freo, the ability to put points on the board will be far less of a problem.
Can Clarko save North Melbourne?
When North Melbourne won the race to sign Alastair Clarkson, the club was clearly excited to get one of the all-time great coaches in to lead the rebuild.
In 2019, the last season of Brad Scott as coach, the Kangaroos won 10 games. In the three years since, they have won a total of nine.
The task ahead is sizeable.
It has been an interrupted start, with the shadow of ongoing investigations into allegations of racism in Clarkson's time at Hawthorn. But the spotlight is firmly on what the four-time premiership coach can do to turn things around at Arden Street.
There are pieces to build around, like Luke Davies-Uniacke and Jy Simpkin in midfield, Cameron Zurhaar up forward and newly arrived ex-Docker Griffin Logue down back.
Early evidence also suggests draftee Harry Sheezel has the potential to be very good for the Roos at both ends of the ground. Injuries to ruck forward Callum Coleman-Jones and key defender Ben McKay don't help, however.
This isn't a one or two-year project at North, even for a coach as skilled as Clarkson — and the footy world will be watching to see how things go.
Will Gawn/Grundy work at the Demons?
Melbourne's decision to trade for Collingwood's Brodie Grundy was one of the talking points of the off-season.
The Demons want to get back to the top, and the new "Twin Towers" of Grundy and skipper Max Gawn are their main point of difference.
On a very small sample so far, it seems like the risky move could well work rather than detract from both men's numbers.
Against Richmond in preseason, Grundy's presence in and around the goal square and his marking ability was a definite plus, while Gawn's potential to score, as well as drift behind the ball and take marks, plus his on-field leadership, all added up to an impressive combination.
This is, of course, totally aside from both men's elite ruck skills.
How opposing teams will handle the duo is a huge question for 2023 — if the pair stays healthy, they could provide a combination not seen since the days of Dean Cox and a younger Nic Naitanui at West Coast.
Can young Hawks list stay competitive amid Mitchell rebuild?
If there were any doubts about the direction the Hawks were going in under Sam Mitchell, the club's actions during the trade period made things crystal clear.
The decision to trade Tom Mitchell to Collingwood, Jaeger O'Meara west to Fremantle and Jack Gunston north to the Lions removed three players who had played a combined 416 games in black and gold and a total of 533 in the AFL.
Add in the retirement of Ben McEvoy and the departure of Liam Shiels, and this suggested going back right to the AFL basement before going forward as a club.
So what does 2023 look like?
The preseason began with a match simulation thumping at the hands of Geelong, but the final practice match against Collingwood saw the Hawks push the Pies all the way for a six-point loss.
It's a very different Hawks line-up, but they already have plenty of young talent, and they have added the likes of exciting mid-forward Cam McKenzie, ex-Cat Cooper Stephens and VFL forward Fergus Greene.
It's not going to be a year for measuring wins at Hawthorn — the question is, can they show enough to avoid criticism of the speed of change?
Which way for the Magpies after a stunning 2022?
One of the biggest questions to be answered in 2023 is can Collingwood keep up the momentum that carried them within a kick of the grand final?
Under Craig McRae, the Pies played a fearless, high-intensity brand of football that made use of some brilliant young talent — including forward Jack Ginnivan and unanimous Rising Star winner Nick Daicos — not to mention the marking presence and leadership of Darcy Moore and others.
The most incredible part of last year's run to the prelim was the string of close wins Collingwood put together — at one point, they won 11 out of 12 games, with 10 of the 11 wins being by under 12 points. The run ran out in finals, with losses to Geelong by six points and Sydney by a solitary point.
The law of averages suggests the Pies can't keep this up — and a bad shoulder injury to Patrick Lipinski will rob the Pies of some of their drive — but what if Ginnivan, Daicos and others continue to trend upward?
What if Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox can keep holding their own to cover the loss of Brodie Grundy, Dan McStay can be a solid if not superstar contributor up forward, and ex-Hawk Tom Mitchell can add to Collingwood's elite midfield? Not to mention the boost for the Pies if Jordan de Goey puts together the complete, elite season he is capable of.
The pressure will be on at Collingwood, but write them off at your peril.
Who can stop the Bulldogs' tall brigade?
There are some accepted truths in football — among them are that the Brownlow is a midfielders' award; 50 games is the key marker for players' going to the next level, and playing too many talls up forward is a recipe for disaster.
In 2023, the Western Bulldogs appear set not just to challenge the last of these statements, but shatter the concept entirely.
A look around the league shows most teams like to build forward lines around one or two focal points, such as Cameron and Hawkins at Geelong and Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay at Carlton.
The Bulldogs already had spearhead Aaron Naughton (195cm), young forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (197cm) and key position player Sam Darcy (204cm) to provide plenty of height in the front six.
Not only did they then trade for wantaway Docker Rory Lobb (207cm), the Dogs have opted to play all four together in attack. Against the Kangaroos in preseason, all four kicked goals and the team booted 22 in total.
This is an unorthodox set-up which could backfire if oppositions out-crumb them, but the potential to overload defences is there — if their midfield can win enough ball and get decent service inside 50, Luke Beveridge's men could provide the Bulldogs' version of shock and awe in 2023. It will be fascinating to see if the plan works.
