MY LADDER

1. Melbourne

2. Brisbane

3. Richmond

4. Western Bulldogs

5. Geelong

6. Port Adelaide

7. Carlton

8. Essendon

9. Sydney

10. Fremantle

11. GWS

12. St Kilda

13. West Coast

14. Adelaide

15. Gold Coast

16. Collingwood

17. North Melbourne

18. Hawthorn

ADELAIDE

Former captain Taylor Walker (suspension) and dual All-Australian Rory Laird (broken hand) will be key losses in the first month, but Matt Crouch's return will strengthen the midfield. Bottom-six finish likely.

BRISBANE

The Lions have made big strides under coach Chris Fagan, and endured plenty of finals heartache in the past three seasons, so they are hungry for success. Have an excellent midfield, with Lachie Neale tipped to be back to his Brownlow-winning best.

CARLTON

The Blues start a new era under coach Michael Voss and they have recruited well, adding depth to the midfield with Adam Cerra and George Hewett. Have genuine firepower in attack and defence led by Jacob Weitering. Rebuild is over and time to deliver.

COLLINGWOOD

There is a buzz among the Magpie faithful, with high draft pick Nick Daicos joining his brother Josh to continue the family tradition. Skipper Scott Pendlebury becomes a permanent half-back, but scoring enough goals looms as a challenge for new coach Craig McRae.

ESSENDON

The Bombers made huge progress to make the finals last season and they should improve. Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish lead a powerful midfield and ruckman Sam Draper is developing nicely. Michael Hurley will add experience to defence when he returns.

FREMANTLE

Will Brodie and Jordan Clark will be acquisitions to a formidable midfield, although captain Nat Fyfe's pre-season has been interrupted by shoulder surgery. Strong defence and excellent ruckman in Sean Darcy, but are the Dockers potent enough up forward?

GEELONG

The Cats are consistently in finals contention, but adding another premiership under coach Chris Scott remains elusive. Banking on an ageing list, but have enough class and distinct home-ground advantage to ensure they can't be written off.

GOLD COAST

The loss of key forward Ben King before the season starts is a crushing blow, but co-captain Jarrod Witts and key defender Rory Thompson make welcome returns. All-Australian Touk Miller and Matt Rowell are standouts in the midfield, but bottom-four finish likely.

GWS GIANTS

Toby Greene and Josh Kelly have been elevated to join Stephen Coniglio as co-captains, but the Giants will miss brilliant playmaker Greene (suspended) for the first five rounds. Strong finish to last season and hoping for continued development from their youngsters.

HAWTHORN

The return of seasoned duo James Sicily and Jack Gunston from injury will help an inexperienced team in a rebuild under new coach Sam Mitchell. Strong midfield led by Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara, but expected to be a year of development.

MELBOURNE

Coming off a memorable 2021, culminating in a drought-breaking premiership, the Demons are essentially a young group who will be hungry for more success. Superb midfield led by captain Max Gawn, vice-captain Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Expect No. 1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis to make his debut in round one after impressive pre-season form and the acquisition of Hugh Greenwood will strengthen the Kangaroos' midfield, although they will miss Ben Cunnington's impact as he recovers from testicular cancer.

PORT ADELAIDE

Will be fascinating to watch the Power after their insipid capitulation in a home preliminary final last season. Produced the Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines in an impressive 2021 and have talented youngsters to complement veterans Travis Boak and Robbie Gray.

RICHMOND

How well and quickly Dustin Martin recaptures his former glory after a serious kidney injury will be crucial to the Tigers' hopes. The addition of the experienced Robbie Tarrant will shore up the defence after the retirement of Bachar Houli and David Astbury.

ST KILDA

Ruck duo Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall remain crucial and both need to be fit and firing. The Saints enter the season without the injured Hunter Clark and Jack Billings, but Bradley Hill has been impressive in the pre-season off half-back.

SYDNEY

The early focus will be on champion forward Lance "Buddy" Franklin as he chases the magical 1000-goal milestone. Sidekick Tom Papley (hamstring) won't be there, but the Swans surprised with their rapid climb in 2021 and should be in the mix again.

WEST COAST

The Eagles enter the season with a worrying slew of injuries, with premiership players Dom Sheed, Elliot Yeo, Jamie Cripps and Tom Cole on the sidelines. Although key forward Jack Darling will play on, they are a club on the slide.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

The summer of reflection is over for the Bulldogs after holding the lead then falling apart in last year's Grand Final. Their imposing, deep midfield led by skipper Marcus Bontempelli and vice-captain Jack Macrae will be hard to defeat again.

Has Howard got it right? Email: howardkotton11@gmail.com; Twitter: @hpkotton59