We're more than a third of the way through the AFL season, and it's time for a quick assessment of where things stand.
Nine rounds in is long enough for a decent sample size, although clearly plenty will change between now and the end of the home and away season, never mind finals.
At one end of the ladder, a team that fell a kick short of last year's grand final now sits a game clear and looks a serious chance to go all the way in 2023. Behind them are two chasing teams who have plenty of strengths and could easily end up with the flag.
At the other end, there are three clubs for whom this season is rapidly narrowing into a question of who gets the number-one pick in the AFL draft.
So how is your team going after nine rounds? Let's take a look at all 18 sides.
Collingwood
The return of Mason Cox just reminded us that he is a huge point of difference for Collingwood, Nick Daicos is having a career year — and figures to get better — Tom Mitchell has lifted the team's ability to contest in the middle, and the defence is clicking.
They are 8-1, and unless something changes they are going to be 11-1 by the time they face the Demons in an MCG showdown. That will be the acid test for what Craig McRae's side can do this season.
Melbourne
When they're good, they're very, very good — the Demons' average winning margin is 47 points — but they are gettable, as Essendon and Brisbane showed and the Suns came up just short.
The next five matches up to and after the bye will help shape their season, with the Power in Adelaide, Collingwood at the 'G and the Cats at Kardinia. If their attack keeps averaging 107 points a game, they will be hard to stop.
Brisbane
They're fit and flying, and once again the Lions look headed for the double chance, off the back of the number-three attack and number-five defence in the AFL.
The class of young Will Ashcroft, the tackling and centre clearance work of star recruit Josh Dunkley and the game-changing goals of Charlie Cameron and Joe Daniher are all playing a part — but having beaten the Demons and the Pies, they need to ensure they get past the Suns and the Crows before a tough post-bye schedule.
Port Adelaide
The Power are not quite Collingwood 2022, but they have won four games by 14 points or fewer so far — whereas their two losses have been by five and 12 goals respectively.
The Power need to fix a defence that is ranked 10th in the AFL for scores against — but if they can shut down the Demons on Friday night to make it seven wins in a row, then we will have to start taking them very seriously indeed.
St Kilda
Three losses in five games have made a strong St Kilda defence look vulnerable, but really it was never likely they could keep at that level for a season, which makes the imminent return of spearhead Max King perhaps the key element for the team moving ahead.
While a first top-four finish since 2010 is less likely now, there are plenty of winnable games left. Although home and away contests against the Lions and Docklands outings against Geelong and Melbourne will, of course, be key.
Western Bulldogs
Two bad defeats to start the year have been followed by six wins out of seven as the Bulldogs have found their feet in season 2023.
It's no real surprise the resurgence has been driven by the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore. The latter's 13-clearance effort against Carlton shows what the Dogs are capable of, but if they are to stay in the eight and push for the four, they must improve their 15th-ranked attack.
Geelong
As always, there are a number of ways to view the early part of the season at Geelong: First, the injury list is long but likely to improve. Second, without some of their stars, the Cats can struggle to get decent ball into the forward line. Third, they still have a brilliant one-two punch up forward in Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins.
Finally, there is the fact that after starting 0-3, they are now 5-4, are in the eight and, almost as a tradition, Geelong tends to start slowly but eventually works it out. So come back after round 15 against the Demons at Kardinia Park and see how they're tracking then.
Adelaide
No-one really saw this coming, but the indications are that the Crows are the real deal. They've got better on both sides of the ball and, combined, are a four-goal-a-game better side in 2023 than last season.
There are many reasons for this, including them taking more of their opportunities (they are scoring a goal every 3.82 inside 50s), the new combination of Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele, and the big inspirational moments delivered by a range of players including father-son recruit Max Michalanney. But what is clear is that there are few, if any, teams who will want to be facing the Crows in 2023.
Carlton
If you're looking for teams that have failed to win the expectations game, there's nowhere better to start with than Carlton. Blues fans are desperate to see an end to the finals drought, but despite the fact they are right on the edge of the eight, it still somehow seems far away right now.
Four losses to finals rivals in nine games is not the fault of any single player — it's a team issue — but the inevitable scrutiny of star forward Harry McKay's kicking woes is not helping the Blues, whose season could well pivot on the next three games against Collingwood, Sydney and Melbourne.
Essendon
Essendon made life difficult for teams and excited fans and pundits alike in a fast start to the Brad Scott era, capped by a win over Melbourne. But a run of losses to the Magpies, Cats, Power and Lions has provided a reality check at Bomberland.
Their easier schedule will give them opportunities to get close to the finals, but they need to improve in contested balls and clearances (among other things), which means the loss of Darcy Parish and Will Setterfield to injury will make it hard to regain momentum.
Gold Coast
It often feels like two steps forward, three steps back with the Suns, but the knee injury to Touk Miller may be the makings of this team. In his absence, Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell have reached another level, and with Ben King's return and the brilliance of Charlie Ballard down back, they have begun to turn a corner.
Their tough schedule makes a first finals spot extremely unlikely, which would raise big questions over Stuart Dew's future once again, but the possibility of getting Miller back for even the last six games to join Anderson, Rowell and Jarrod Witts in the middle could see them make a late run.
Fremantle
The Dockers are a mid-table proposition, and it's not hard to see why. Their struggles in attack are well known, and now Freo's traditional strength has slipped, with the team's defence conceding 85 points a game (12th in the AFL).
Fremantle have shown signs of recovery the past fortnight, and they have close to a full list to pick from, but with games against Geelong and Melbourne next up, they could well be three games out of the eight when we reach the bye.
Richmond
Will the real Richmond please stand up? Is it the team that looked slow and out of sync in losses to the Suns and Swans, or the outfit that took care of a rising Crows team and knocked off the premiers Geelong last weekend?
Getting Toby Nankervis back will be a bonus, but the absence of Tom Lynch up front and Jacob Hopper in the midfield will be felt for a while. They have to face Port Adelaide and St Kilda twice, plus Melbourne, the Bulldogs and Brisbane, so making one more run will be tough.
Sydney
The Swans famously made the finals after an 0-6 start in 2017, so you write the club off at your own peril. But right now, at 3-6 after nine rounds, it's been a steep drop-off for Sydney since getting to the grand final.
The under-strength defence is in strife, the front six are struggling, and the midfield is down, particularly at stoppages. And now with fresh injuries to Callum Mills and Logan McDonald, the task appears monumental.
GWS
It's been an interesting season so far for the Giants under new coach Adam Kingsley. The team has already won half as many games as they did in 2022, although after winning five quarters out of the first two games, GWS won just 10 quarters in the next seven matches.
Aside from the usual suspects like Toby Greene, Stephen Coniglio, Nick Haynes and Jesse Hogan, Tom Green is having a monster season and Finn Callaghan and recruit Xavier O'Halloran are becoming increasingly important — but making progress up the ladder will be hard.
North Melbourne
The news that Alastair Clarkson has taken indefinite leave as coach of North Melbourne to look after his physical and emotional wellbeing is just the latest in a series of challenges for the Kangaroos this year.
On the field, a bright opening fortnight has trailed off, with an average of eight goals scored and 16 goals conceded each game since round three. Losing players like Charlie Comben and midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke for extended periods does not help.
West Coast
The Eagles' struggles this season, starting with their lengthy injury list, are well documented — but the bottom line is they are a team who have conceded an average of 121 points a game since round three, and that, as Tim Kelly said at half-time last Friday, "isn't good enough".
Realistically, barring a crazy turnaround, already the two most important remaining games for the Eagles are this weekend against Hawthorn and later on at home to North Melbourne to see who ends up with the wooden spoon, AKA pole position for top youngster Harley Reid.
Hawthorn
You can argue whether Hawthorn's list choices have brought us to where we are or if there are other factors, but what is clear after nine rounds of Sam Mitchell's second year as coach is the size of the challenge still ahead.
Since half-time in the round four game against Geelong, the Hawks have won just six out of 22 quarters, and in that same time frame they have been outscored by 83 goals to 46. While there are signs of emerging talent like Will Day, Seamus Mitchell and Jai Newcombe, a much wider improvement is needed to take Hawthorn up the ladder.
