Jagga Smith and a ladder with no love for the Pies: non-Victorian clubs dominate predictions
On a humid training oval, a young forward drills repeat set shots as a steady murmur of conversation follows the session: jagga smith features in almost every preseason headline, while pundits elsewhere have drawn a blunt ladder that leaves the Pies outside the top eight. That contrast — individual hype against a club-by-club forecasting sweep — captures the uneasy mix of optimism and realism now shaping expectations.
Why is Jagga Smith drawing unanimous Rising Star talk?
The preseason chatter around jagga smith has hardened into a clear narrative: a podcast crew put him forward as their unanimous pick for the Rising Star, and discussion has revolved around whether his hype is justified. The pattern is simple — while many voices debate team trajectories, a single young player can become a focal point for hope, scrutiny and media attention.
Coaches and club staff in the background of these conversations have treated Smith’s mention as part of broader talent-watch lists rather than the season-defining factor. At the same time, player-focused hype compounds expectations on the field: a unanimous early-season nod raises the stakes on selection decisions and the workload managers give to a rising talent.
What does the predicted ladder say about the premiership race?
A panel of nine experts averaged their positions and drew a ladder that places non-Victorian clubs high and mainland traditional powerhouses in contested spots. Their combined prediction puts Brisbane at the top, followed by Fremantle, Sydney and Gold Coast in the top four — an outcome that would mark the first time in two decades that the top four are all from outside Victoria.
Below that predicted top four, the experts pencilled Geelong and Western Bulldogs into the top six, with Adelaide and Greater Western Sydney among clubs backed into wildcard positions alongside Hawthorn and St Kilda. The forecast left Collingwood and Carlton short of the top eight, while West Coast was the unanimous choice for the bottom of the ladder. The full predicted ladder reads: 1) Brisbane 2) Fremantle 3) Sydney 4) Gold Coast 5) Geelong 6) Western Bulldogs 7) Adelaide 8) Hawthorn 9) St Kilda 10) Greater Western Sydney 11) Collingwood 12) Carlton 13) Port Adelaide 14) Melbourne 15) Essendon 16) North Melbourne 17) Richmond 18) West Coast.
Such a projection reframes the premiership conversation. One commentator put it bluntly: “We always knew Brisbane had the talent. ” That assessment underlines why a few clubs are seen as true benchmarks; others are judged on whether they can raise their standard at the decisive moment.
How do people inside the game reconcile player hype with club forecasts?
Club staff, analysts and commentators inhabit both worlds. On the one hand, a unanimous preseason Rising Star nod for Jagga Smith focuses attention on player development, rotation and the pressure of early expectation. On the other, the expert ladder reflects structural views about depth, resilience and list construction across 18 clubs.
Voices inside the game — from a pair of pundits who debated recruiting impact to discussion panels weighing five genuine premiership contenders — are balancing short-term narratives about individuals with macro projections about who can sustain excellence. For some clubs, that means squaring the management of promising youngsters with the pragmatic need to secure finals positions. For others, the ladder forecast functions as a challenge: overturn expectations or risk a season defined by outside judgement.
There are no definitive answers in preseason. What these converging narratives do provide is a sharper set of questions: can rising names carry teams beyond their predicted slots? Will the clubs flagged at the top hold that form when it matters most? And how will players like Jagga Smith handle the immediate weight of unanimous attention?
Back on the training ground, the young forward takes another shot, breath steady, eyes forward. The preseason panels have staked their claims about teams; the podcasts have made theirs about individuals. The season will reveal which predictions were crisp reads of form and which were the kind of hopeful noise that surrounds any new talent on the brink of a breakthrough.
