After a long AFL offseason, another premiership campaign is upon us. Our ESPN football writers have surveyed the field and given their pass marks for each club ahead of season 2024.
Adelaide
2024 pass mark: Play finals
Any Crows supporter will tell you they should have played finals football last year, so by that logic, there's no excuse for them not to be there in 2024.
The club's trajectory would back that up, too. In 2020, Adelaide won just three games. The following year there were seven wins. Then eight wins in 2022, and, last year, 11 wins.
This is a relatively young side that continues to develop and grow together. The appointment of Jordan Dawson as skipper was a masterstroke, as was playing him in the midfield alongside Rory Laird. There's excitement around what the forward six, led by Taylor Walker, can achieve, and while the loss of Tom Doedee hurts, he missed so much football last year that they already got to see what life was like without him.
If the Crows are to play finals footy this year, the one area that requires drastic improvement is how they perform on the road. Last year, they were 9-4 at Adelaide Oval and 2-8 everywhere else. You have to be better than that!
Brisbane
2024 pass mark: Win the Grand Final
This is a lofty goal, no doubt, but think about it for just a moment. Would anything short of winning the premiership feel like a tick for the Lions this year? Probably not.
Under Chris Fagan, Brisbane has been arguably the most consistent top side over the last five seasons, but that flag continues to elude them. Having said that, they could not have come any closer last year!
In 2024, they add underrated and forgotten key back Tom Doedee into the fold, welcome back young stud Will Ashcroft from what was a devastating ACL injury, and move into year two of Josh Dunkley production, alongside now two-time Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale.
The premiership window inevitably closes for every team, and usually far quicker than we ever expect. It's time the Lions cash in before it's too late. To that end, anything short of lifting the premiership cup would feel like a disappointment.
Carlton
2024 pass mark: Prove 2023 wasn't an aberration and return to the prelims
The Blues were the trendy pick of 2023 that paid enormous dividends. They started the season in ominous form, endured a lengthy mid-season lull and then came storming home, winning 11 of 12 games en route to a preliminary final date with Brisbane.
We're all wondering what version of Carlton we'll get in 2024. Some expect a slide and others believe they can go all the way. That means the pass mark has to be somewhere in the middle. With that said, at minimum, a return to the last four is a non-negotiable.
There are few sides with as much top-end talent as the Blues, but this year's success will hinge on the contributions it can get from the next wave of players. Can Tom De Koning take a leap? Is there a small forward that can find consistency? What does year two Ollie Hollands look like?
After back-to-back finals wins, Michael Voss is off the coaching hot seat. But if this club starts to splutter again, you can bet there will be rumblings. On the flip side, another deep run will have him soaring up the coaching power rankings.
Collingwood
2024 pass mark: Avoid a premiership hangover
Are the Magpies more likely to begin building a dynasty or fall flat in 2024 and fail to win a final? The latter just seems totally farfetched and the former, well, who knows? Maybe.
Collingwood has looked far and away the best team in the competition for quite some time now. In fact, they are a league-best 34-8, dating to Round 10, 2022, something which culminated in last year's premiership triumph. But how do they back up after tasting the ultimate success?
Under the tutelage of Craig McRae, and being expertly led by Darcy Moore, you just know the Magpies will be ready to roll when opening round arrives. They're going to be the hunted all year, but they should be good enough to rise to the challenge week after week - don't underestimate the impact off-season recruit Lachie Schultz can have on this club.
Collingwood's pass mark cannot simply be going back-to-back, as there's so little margin for error. Instead, returning to the top four and making another premiership assault would surely have to appease fans.
Essendon
2024 pass mark: Discover an identity under Brad Scott
The way Essendon finished last season was nothing short of catastrophic. They closed the final six weeks with a 2-5 record, but even that is a tad misleading.
The two wins came against the league's two worst sides in West Coast and North Melbourne, and both were totally unconvincing single-digit margin victories. The losses were humiliating, particularly in Round 23 when GWS crushed them by 126 points.
But this season offers a fresh start. The club has welcomed in free agents Ben McKay, Todd Goldstein and Jade Gresham, as well as Xavier Duursma and the promising Nate Caddy. It's a depth play for the Bombers and it should hold them in good stead, at least in the short-term.
This season will be about discovering an identity. What does this club stand for? What does it do well? And how can it worry the good teams? If Brad Scott and his assistants can answers these questions, then the club will be in a good place moving forward.
Fremantle
2024 pass mark: Make a decision on Justin Longmuir's future and stick to a plan
The Dockers must decide on who will be leading the club into the future. And they must do it sooner rather than later.
After the disappointment of 2023, Longmuir enters this season as the most under pressure coach in the league. He has no contract beyond 2024 and there's a real chance he could be moved on at some point during the season if things don't go to plan.
Whether Fremantle decides to stick it out or part ways, it needs to be done sooner rather than later. Aside from 2022, it's been a very lean run for the Dockers and another year of mediocrity simply won't cut it.
Nobody is expecting finals, or anything better, from this side. But it simply must get its house in order.
Geelong
2024 pass mark: Have the kids win their best 22 spots from the veterans
Geelong finished 12th last year after finding premiership success in 2022 - for most clubs who had just realised premiership glory, that would be a big disappointment, but for Geelong, a club which has been toiling away for years only to fall short at the final two hurdles, it can be excused as it's not unexpected.
Coming into 2024, the Cats are in a precarious position. They finished outside the eight last season, but with a list which features all but two players who laced up the boots on the final Saturday in 2022, they must think they can still compete. The elephant in the room? Every player over 30 (there's 11 of them) is probably still best 22 if fit and firing.
That's fine, but Cats fans would agree there'd be nothing more encouraging than watching the likes of Shannon Neale play 15 games and really challenge Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron for forward line minutes. We'd love to see more from Tanner Bruhn, maybe Mitch Edwards gets a look in the ruck, and Connor O'Sullivan and Ollie Dempsey get opportunities. It's time to shift the Geelong perception from the old, to the new.
Gold Coast
2024 pass mark: Make finals
Well, chairman Bob East said it himself - finals is the pass mark. The Suns have paid big bucks for a big-name as coach in Damien Hardwick, and he's now expected to help this club climb the ladder and ensure it finally plays meaningful September football, for the first time.
The list is talented, and throw in last year's draftees -- some of whom look like ready-made Opening Round starters (it's a shame we won't see Jed Walter in the early rounds after he injured his shoulder) -- and there's some expectation on the Gold Coast, mind the fact we've said this before.
Hardwick famously said in his first press conference last season that "80%" of his premiership list was already at the club. East has declared 2024's pass mark is finals and that he wants to see a flag by 2026. Our job's already done...
GWS
2024 pass mark: Not to get complacent after last year's preliminary final run
The Giants were the darlings of the competition last year. First-year coach Adam Kingsley's men won nine of their last 11 to storm from the bottom four in Round 12 into seventh, before peeling off two huge finals wins and falling short against the Pies in the prelim by a solitary point.
Under a first-time, first-year head coach, that's incredibly impressive, and while fellow 'surprise' prelim team Carlton had a similar trajectory (going from bottom four in Round 15 to fifth some season's end), the Blues had significantly higher preseason expectations.
The Giants are continuing to build, and they should make finals again, but holding them to the loftiest standards just feels a little too much at the moment.
Hawthorn
2024 pass mark: Be in the hunt in the home stretch of the season
A lot of people are bullish about the Hawks, and rightly so. They seem, from the outside, to be building a list comprehensively and sustainably, and Sam Mitchell has impressed both Hawks fans, and haters, in his short stint as head coach. With some sage additions in the trade period (Jack Gunston returns and Mabior Chol adds some support up forward) and a smart draft hand, the Hawks should again be looking to rise up the ladder.
Yes, they finished bottom four last year, but they managed seven wins - including a couple of major upsets over Brisbane and Collingwood. Where they fell down? Getting blown out in losses, with eight of them by 50 or more points.
With another year of development, and a league which is so tight in the middle part of the ladder year after year, if the Hawks can win eight or nine games and be in the hunt with a month or so to go, that's a pass in our books. Those preseason injuries aren't going to help though...
Melbourne
2024 pass mark: Prove to the competition they still have what it takes
Not many will argue that 2023 wasn't a challenging year for the Demons, off the field but, also, eventually, on it. Throughout the season, they were (for the most part) extremely solid, finishing fourth with 16 wins and seven losses -- five of which were by fewer than two goals -- and finishing in the top four. But that's where things got hairy.
A second consecutive 'straight sets' exit in finals was heartbreaking, and really soured a season plagued by controversies involving star midfielder Clayton Oliver's struggles with a hamstring injury and also behavioural and medical episodes. Forward Joel Smith tested positive for cocaine, while coach Simon Goodwin was accused of behavioural issues and substance abuse, which he has vehemently denied.
All in all, 2023 was one to forget, and the Dees -- still stacked with talent -- need to show the competition they mean business, and can still challenge for a flag before it's too late.
North Melbourne
2024 pass mark: Not have winless streaks that make supporters question their fandom
What comes first, the chicken (having stability in the coaches box) or the egg (not having 20-game losing streaks)? Well, you'd think this season will be a little more settled for coach Alastair Clarkson and the Roos, who'll be hunting more than three wins in 2024 after a horror season in 2023. So surely, in that case, the winless streaks won't be as brutal this year.
With further development into the likes of Nick Larkey, George Wardlaw, and star in the making Harry Sheezel, throw in some draftees that are sure to feature heavily in their first season, and there's a case to be cautiously both optimistic and realistic for the Kangas as they continue their build after years in the doldrums.
What's the aim? They'll once again be 'in the hunt' for the wooden spoon, so is it five wins? Six? To be honest, maybe just that greater consistency will do for now.
Port Adelaide
2024 pass mark: Finish in the top four and win a final
After losing two of the first three games last season, the pressure that was put on Port Adelaide and long-serving coach Ken Hinkley was intense. From there, the Power rode a dazzling 13-game win streak, finished third on the ladder, and re-signed Hinkley for a further two years. Then? Straight sets.
It wasn't good enough for a club with hefty expectations, but those expectations don't change in 2024. Hinkley has at his disposal one of the game's most exciting midfield units consisting of Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Jason Horne-Francis, and 2022 Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines, and they've brought in Esava Ratugolea and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher to add defensive stability that they clearly lacked last season.
They have no choice but to improve, but can they handle the pressure for yet another season?
Richmond
2024 pass mark: Allow the next gen to shine
Missing the finals for just the second time since 2016, Hardwick leaving his post, and the retirements of club legends Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt mean finals shouldn't be the benchmark for a side that's already achieved so much in the modern era.
Are they still talented enough to shock many pundits and do what not many expect of them this year? Of course, with many experienced players still on their list, but it's a long shot, and with new coach Adem Yze at the helm, there's one other objective he should be focused on - showing Tigers fans the future.
Allow players like Shai Bolton -- who is already a star -- to become the new cornerstone after 'Dusty', get games into young emerging midfielder Thomson Dow, play Samson Ryan regularly, and throw promising defender Josh Gibcus into the deep end. Do that, and who knows how soon success could return to Punt Road.
St Kilda
2024 pass mark: Modernise Ross' stingy defensive game plan
We know, having a strong defence can often be the most important element of the game, especially when you're trying to set a list up for long-term success. But eventually, you've got to admit that without a fast offensive brand, and, in turn, an efficient forward line, the premiership quest becomes awfully difficult.
At least it seems that's the case in 2024, given in the past two seasons the teams that played off in a Grand Final all ranked in the top four for average points per game.
In 2023, the Saints averaged more disposals (and marks) than any other team, but that resulted in only the 12th most inside 50s and 15th most shots on goal. In fact, despite finishing seventh, the Saints only outscored the bottom three teams on the ladder.
We know their defensive stuff works, but can they become a damaging side going the other way? That's the challenge.
Sydney
2024 pass mark: Take advantage of a bolstered list and make a prelim
Disappointing is the only word to use to describe Sydney's 2023 season. They still managed to scrape into the eight (after sitting as low as 15th on the ladder after 17 rounds), but the expectations were vastly higher after making the Grand Final one year earlier.
The Swans already have a great mix of youth and experience, and now they've added guns including All-Australian ruck Brodie Grundy and tough inside midfielder Taylor Adams to an already elite engine room, whilst the shrewd acquisitions of premiership players James Jordon and Joel Hamling add even more depth to the side.
There are matchwinners everywhere you look in this Swans outfit, and even though this is life after Buddy, putting themselves in a position for a genuine flag tilt has to be the bare minimum.
West Coast
2024 pass mark: Find a reason to prove Adam Simpson is the right man for the rebuild
Nobody could have predicted the tumultuous two seasons West Coast have just endured, and while some of the poor results can be blamed on mediocre on-field performances, injuries to key personnel and lack of best-22 consistency also played its part.
And if that's why the Eagles have put their faith in Simpson (who is contracted until the end of 2025), well then there are no excuses for the club not to end this season with not only more wins than last season, but a clear buy-in from the players and a rediscovery of their competitive edge.
Still, there's not a whole lot you can expect from a side that's won just five games in 24 months. But with the arrival of generational talent Harley Reid and a (hopefully) healthy season for premiership quartet Elliot Yeo (10 games in 2023), Jeremy McGovern (9), Jamie Cripps (12), and Liam Ryan (3), perhaps we will see that there is in fact light at the end of the tunnel.
Western Bulldogs
2024 pass mark: Hold on to out of contract stars
After missing the finals in 2023, the Dogs have a strong list capable of contending in 2024 if things go right, but with superstar trio Tim English, Bailey Smith, and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan all out of contract at the end of the year, no matter what success comes on the field this season, it would be an absolute disaster if Luke Beveridge saw any of these players walk out the door.
English holds the mantle as the game's best ruck after his All-Australian campaign last year, Ugle-Hagan is only improving and could quickly emerge as one of the premier forwards in the competition, and Smith, despite rupturing his ACL in the offseason, is already one of the game's most elite ball users.
All three players are integral to what Beveridge and the Dogs are building and, while there's no reason to suggest any of the three are actually leaving, the lingering concern and possible mass exodus could absolutely rock the club.