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At last, the interminable summer is over and it's time for another season in the AFL.
The draft has come and gone, the preseason has lasted for ages — don't mention the AFLX — and finally we will get a chance to see 18 teams play for real stakes, starting with the familiar pairing of Richmond and Carlton at the MCG.
As ever with a new season, there are equal parts anxiety and anticipation both for fans, teams and the league itself.
Gillon McLachlan and the AFL have taken a bold stance with a string of rule changes.
But will they improve the game and win over the fans, or will the endless tinkering end in a bigger backlash?
Let's have a look at what's up for grabs, and the questions we'll find answers to in 2019.
Cha-cha-cha-cha-changes: What will the game look like?
There are too many changes to mention all of them, or we'd be here until September.
The ones that are causing particular debate include the change to the 50m rule, allowing players to draw a second big penalty if defenders are too slow off the mark or get in the way.
Then there is the 6-6-6 rule, which keeps players in their zones at centre bounces and is a little reminiscent of Auskick — but the aim of the AFL is crystal clear.
It wants a faster, clearer game so that the chorus of fans cursing congestion around the ball will be lessened, if not a thing of the past.
Add in the ban on runners on the ground — aside from immediately after goals are kicked — and it forms a package of measures that will make slowing the play harder.
It has the obvious potential to make the ball come out quicker without defences clogging up the centre square, and that could mean more attacking chances, more goals — and more chance of last-minute winners if the leading team can't put 15 men behind the ball at the crucial bounce.
On the other hand, never back against the ingenuity of coaches to find a way to overcome the new rules. Watch this space.
Will the grand finalists stay ahead of the pack?
The two grand finalists were something of a surprise last year — many were not tipping West Coast to make the eight, while Collingwood's upward trend came a lot quicker than pundits expected.
Once the Magpies had seen off Richmond in the finals, however, the expectations were sky high — and so the impact of the grand final loss was doubly hard.
Two of the most intriguing storylines of the year will be where both teams go from here.
The spotlight on Andrew Gaff after his shocking punch on Freo's Andrew Brayshaw, the return of Nic Naitanui and the likes of flag-sealer Dom Sheed will all draw huge attention.
The question is whether the rest of the league can work out the Eagles and find some way of stopping the delivery inside 50, which gave Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and others so many set shots.
As for the Pies, can they bounce back? Will Jordan De Goey and Adam Treloar remain at their stellar best, can Brodie Grundy keep dominating in the ruck and around the ground?
If Mason Cox uses his finals series as a stepping stone, if Jamie Elliott can stay on the park and provide a spark and if Steele Sidebottom can produce another year like 2018, then the Pies are a big show.
The chasing pack, however, will be coming at both of these teams hard.
Can Jaeger pick up the slack for Mitchell-less Hawks?
The news that Tom Mitchell broke his leg in preseason training was a serious blow for Hawthorn's 2019 chances.
The Hawks finished fourth last year, before going out in straight sets to Richmond and Melbourne.
It was an impressive performance with 15 wins, despite Cyril Rioli's mid-season retirement — but losing the Brownlow Medallist for the new season would be no joke for any team.
This means that despite the arrival of Chad Wingard from the Power (with Ryan Burton going the other way), the spotlight will fall on former Suns young gun Jaeger O'Meara.
His body has often let him down, but O'Meara — once burdened by the hype saying he had the potential to be the greatest midfielder ever — began to show signs in 2018 that the Hawks' gamble would pay off.
There is plenty of hope for Hawthorn with young talents like James Sicily, James Worpel, Blake Hardwick and Harry Morrison — but it is O'Meara's performance in 2019 that will attract the most scrutiny.
Can Tom take the Tigers back to the top?
Speaking of ex-Suns, there's another former key player at Carrara who has a new home this year.
Tom Lynch is a million-dollar recruit for Richmond, and with the rest of the riches at Damian Hardwick's disposal, there seems to be plenty of upside for a multi 40-goal-a-season forward who can take the strain from Jack Riewoldt.
Lynch is in doubt to start round one, but he looks like a brilliant pick-up for the Yellow and Black, given his athleticism and scoring ability, particularly with his move to a team where he doesn't have to carry all the load.
Spreading that load at Punt Road should be a good thing — the year the Tigers won the flag, Riewoldt led the team with 54 goals. Last year Jack kicked 70 goals and won the Coleman Medal, but the Tigers crashed out to Collingwood in the finals.
The only query is how long it will take Lynch to fit in with the rhythm of his new side.
The other element for Richmond is Dustin Martin revealing the anxiety and depression that was a factor in his slightly disappointing (for him) 2018.
If he is on for a big season as well, then Tigerland will be expecting a return to the top.
Will the Swans finally prove the critics right?
This time it's real. Has to be. The Swans have avoided the dreaded reset for nearly a decade — and if you count it up they have now made the finals an astonishing 15 out of the past 16 seasons.
But surely now, finally, it's time for the Bloods to drop out of September.
The departures of Dan Hannebery, Gary Rohan and Nic Newman are a collective blow, and there is uncertainty about the Swans' group of plus-30s including Jarrad McVeigh, Heath Grundy, Nick Smith, Kieren Jack and Josh Kennedy. Even Buddy, as great as he is, has turned 32.
Another point exercising minds is whether the new generation of Callum Mills, Tom Papley, Tom McCartin, Ben Ronke and new father-son recruit Nick Blakey, et al, are good enough to step up again for the Swans.
The consensus seems to be building that this is the year that Sydney hits the wall — but that's been said before, and the predictions rarely come true.
One thing's for sure, the Swans will be very much under the microscope in 2019.
Are the Brisbane Lions for real?
Last year the Lions finished 15th with just five wins for the season — but the young Pride of Brisbane town lost a further five matches by seven points or less.
Now, despite the return of Dayne Beams to Collingwood, everything seems rosier in Brisbane, with the sense there is a resurgence on the way.
The arrival of Lachie Neale from the west and the pick-up of Jarryd Lyons from their neighbours down the M3, the Suns — together with Dayne Zorko, Mitch Robinson, Hugh McCluggage and others — means the Lions have a really solid group in the middle, combining with ruckman Stefan Martin to provide a platform for success in 2019.
Throw in Marcus Adams down back and ex-Cat Lincoln McCarthy in the forward line, not to mention the potential for Daniel Rich and Alex Witherden to take full toll of the new kick-in rules, and Brisbane could become a much more dangerous proposition.
It may be not enough to make finals this year, but few teams will relish coming to the Gabba in 2019.
Was 2018 a blip for the Crows?
Adelaide went from a disappointing grand final loss in 2017 to a disastrous 12th last year, forcing them to sit on the sidelines and watch as West Coast and Collingwood battled it out for the flag.
So was 2018 an aberration, or are the Crows on the slide? It's early days, but signs suggest the former.
Don Pyke's men had a nightmare on and off the field last year, haunted by ongoing stories about the infamous Collective Mind preseason camp.
The vibe is much better already in 2019, and players like Eddie Betts look primed to bounce back, making them immediately a more dangerous side.
If Brodie Smith and Brad Crouch can get back to their best after injury-plagued 2018s, and the Crows can turn last year's failure into a prime motivator instead of a source of doubt, they appear primed for a double chance at the very least.
Is Hinkley in trouble at the Power?
At the Crows' cross-town rivals, however, the picture is a little more murky.
Coach Ken Hinkley is entering his seventh season at the club — he was given a contract extension at Alberton at the end of 2017 after the Suns came looking for a coach.
Unfortunately for him and the Power, the team had a typically inconsistent year, sitting in fourth at 11-4 after round 16 before losing six of their last seven games to finish a poor 10th.
Losing Chad Wingard and Jared Polec in the offseason is a blow — but Scott Lycett providing help for Paddy Ryder, more room for Charlie Dixon up forward and the blooding of exciting young talent including Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma provides hope.
The bottom line though is that Hinkley has two years left on his contract, but if the Power remain outside the eight in 2019 that will be a fourth finals miss in five seasons.
Clearly coaches like St Kilda's Alan Richardson and Carlton's Brendan Bolton are more obviously in the hot seat, but another year outside finals could mean that it is time for a change at Alberton.
Can Cripps bring Charlie back to Carlton?
We know we won't have a repeat Brownlow Medal winner given the injury to Tom Mitchell, but who will step up in 2019? Could it be a Carlton celebration with Charlie going to Patrick Cripps?
Last season the young star finished fourth in the Brownlow count with a creditable 20 votes, even though the Blues only won two games for the year.
Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw finished third and also looks set for a big year, but he will have some votes scavenged by midfield partner Clayton Oliver.
Last year Cripps averaged 29.6 disposals and 7.6 clearances a game, while nearly doubling his inside 50 tally from 2017 when he missed seven games through injury.
The arrival of number-one pick Sam Walsh, VFL recruit Michael Gibbons and ex-Giants utility Will Setterfield to join the likes of Paddy Dow, Ed Curnow and veteran Marc Murphy means Cripps will have help in the middle for Carlton.
A contested ball beast, he has speed and athleticism and will likely benefit from the 6-6-6 rule giving him more room to move.
The big number nine will be vital for the Blues — but can he make it a medal-winning year?
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