Radio silence is what you want from your AFL club at this time of year. Put simply: no news is good news.

While some clubs will run the course of the season with incredible luck, others won’t be able to take a trick.

Foxfooty.com.au has devised your club’s doomsday scenario. Touchwood, it never eventuates.

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Round 18

ADELAIDE – Brad Crouch make the move to become a $1m man

At the conclusion of last season Brad Crouch’s management shopped the midfielder around to see whether a club would make him a $1 million man. Gold Coast showed some interest in securing the best and fairest winner, but ultimately the 26-year-old remained at the Crows. With Crouch coming out of contract at the end of 2020, however, that could all change. Matthew Nicks could face an uphill battle to keep one of his stars at West Lakes. Hardly ideal for the newly installed coach.

BRISBANE – They ‘do a Melbourne’ and fall off the cliff after finals campaign

The Lions were one of the stories of 2019, with Chris Fagan’s inexperienced side climbing from 15th to 2nd at the end of the home and away season. While the staggering ascension ended on a sour note – Brisbane were sent packing from the finals in straight sets – the season was nothing short of special for a side that play fast and attractive footy. The doomsday scenario, therefore, would see the Lions fail to make finals – just like the fate that befell the Demons last year.

The Lions were sent packing in straight sets. Source: Getty Images

CARLTON – Charlie Curnow suffers more setbacks with his knee

Charlie Curnow can’t take a trick at the moment. But what if that bad luck with his knee extended beyond the middle of the season and he barely featured for the Blues in 2020? That would heap even more pressure on the likes of Harry McKay and Mitch McGovern to kick a winning score. It would also likely mean that, despite playing decent footy in defence, Levi Casboult would spend the whole season roaming the forward line. Carlton can’t put a time frame on Curnow’s return from a fractured patella and the longer we’re all in the dark the longer his time on the sidelines could be.

COLLINGWOOD – Jordan De Goey flies the coop

It has been a tumultuous start to 2020 for Jordan De Goey, who walked out on his agent, Ben Niall earlier this month. The timing was hardly ideal given the half-forward comes out of contract at the end of this season. We’re not suggesting it’s a trend, but a doomsday scenario could see De Goey walk out on the Magpies were a suitable deal not reached by the year’s end. A precocious talent who appears to have the capacity to win a game off his own boot, De Goey is hardly a player Collingwood can afford to lose.

Staying or going? Source: News Corp Australia

ESSENDON – Another season without a win in September

It’s the record that keeps on spinning when it comes to the Bombers. While John Worsfold’s side made the final eight last season, a 55-point defeat to West Coast extended the club’s finals win drought to 15 long years. A 16th straight season without a finals win isn’t inconceivable for the Bombers given the evenness of the competition. But supporters probably can’t take much more pain.

FREMANTLE – New coach, same story

The Dockers finished the 2015 home and away season in first position. The next four seasons read something like this: finishes of 16th, 14th, 14th and 13th. Justin Longmuir has been tasked with returning the Dockers to the finals, after Ross Lyon failed to do so four years in a row. Mediocrity just won’t cut it, but can one summer at the helm allow Longmuir to drastically turn Fremantle’s fortunes around?

GEELONG – Another Preliminary Final heartbreak

It’s not like the Cats have been starved of success, but their recent track record when it comes to finals is difficult to digest. In three of the past four seasons Chris Scott’s side has made the penultimate round of the year, only to be knocked out in heartbreaking fashion. In 2016 the Swans blew the Cats out of the water in the first term to secure passage to a Grand Final, with the Crows and Tigers doing the same in 2017 and 2019 respectively. There’s only so much heartbreak Geelong can take. And with some stars coming into the twilights of their career the window is narrowing to not just make a Grand Final, but win a premiership.

GOLD COAST – The Suns become custodians of an unwelcome record

As it stands, the Suns have racked up 18 losses on the trot. In the AFL era, the record for the most losses in a row belongs to the Swans in the early ‘90s with 26 consecutive defeats. Should the Suns fail to win a game before Round 10 they could become custodians of this rather unwelcome record. In good news for Gold Coast, though, last year they burst out of the blocks to start the season at 3-1.

GWS – The scars of a 89-point Grand Final loss linger

The Giants more than earned their spot in the 2019 decider against Richmond, but the spectacle of the Grand Final quickly washed away, as the Tigers romped to an unassailable lead by halftime. GWS only managed three goals for the entire match in what was the most lopsided Grand Final in 12 years. Let’s hope those scars don’t linger. Adelaide’s 2018 season acts as a cautionary tale on the back of its defeat to Richmond in the 2017 big dance.

HAWTHORN – Tom Mitchell isn’t the same player

The last time we saw Tom Mitchell was his Brownlow year of 2018, where he averaged 35.3 disposals, eight clearances and 6.3 tackles per game. Then came a horrific broken leg suffered at training and a year watching from the sidelines. In his absence, Hawthorn managed to finish ninth. With the return of Mitchell – who’s arguably worth two players – the Hawks should be in finals contention. Yet broken legs have proved difficult to return from.

MELBOURNE – The Demons start the season 0-3

It’s a long way back when you start the season with three losses on the trot – and Simon Goodwin’s side don’t have the easiest of introductions in 2020. The Demons travel to Perth to play West Coast in Round One before taking on GWS at the MCG in Round Two. In both matches, Melbourne’s opposition will start as favourites. A home game against Fremantle in Round Three shapes as the club’s best opportunity to walk away with the four points, but even that match isn’t straightforward. But start the season at 0-3 and you can all but kiss finals goodbye.

NORTH MELBOURNE – Life under Rhyce doesn’t stay so cheerful

Rhyce Shaw’s incredible rise from assistant coach to caretaker coach to full-time coach was simply mind blowing. At just 38, the premiership player has a team of his own, and one that has completely fallen head over heels in love with him. But there’s no knowing when the honeymoon period will end. It’s one thing taking over a team and steering it to the end of the season. The real test is in front of Shaw and the North Melbourne Football Club.

PORT ADELAIDE – The Power’s celebratory season doesn’t hit the right note

There’s so much at stake for the Power on and off the field in 2020. Fail to win a final and Ken Hinkley will almost certainly be searching for a new job. It’s immense pressure for the coach – pressure which will only be amplified given it’s the club’s 150th anniversary. Already, Hinkley has stuck his neck out, saying the club can win the flag this season.

RICHMOND – A no show in September

The Tigers have become accustomed to not just making finals, but winning premierships over the past three seasons. So their doomsday scenario would have to be missing out on finals altogether. We must admit, life’s pretty sweet when you’ve won two of the last three flags.

ST KILDA – New recruits fail to lift the Saints out of the mire

They were the most active club during the trade period, with Bradley Hill (Fremantle), Dougal Howard (Port Adelaide), Paddy Ryder (Port Adelaide), Zak Jones (Sydney) and Dan Butler (Richmond) all arriving at Moorabbin as the Saints enter a new chapter under Brett Ratten. We’ve heard how the likes of Hill, Jones and Butler will make St Kilda a faster team, merely by their inclusion, while Howard and Ryder solidify the club’s key position stocks. Yet change doesn’t always breed success, which is what the Saints faithful – with only one flag in the club’s history – so desperately crave.

SYDNEY – The kids aren’t as good as we thought

The rebuild is well and truly in play at the Swans. Not only did they miss finals for the first time since 2009, but regularly blooded the youngest team in the competition each weekend. The upside? Plenty of games into the next generation of kids, such as Nick Blakey, Jordan Dawson, James Rowbottom, Tom McCartin and Ollie Florent. As far as the narrative goes, these are the players of the future and the ones that will eventually catapult the club back into finals contention. Hopefully that narrative continues to evolve in 2020.

WEST COAST – The veterans never get going

Some of the Eagles’ most valuable players are their oldest and most important. Josh Kennedy (32), Shannon Hurn (32) and Nic Naitanui (29) are all in the twilights of their careers, but remain as three of the club’s most influential players. Ostensibly, they play well and the Eagles tend to win. But the club can’t rely on them forever. Throw in pre-season injuries to Jeremy McGovern (heel/achilles) and Jack Darling (fractured cheekbone) and there could be cause for concern when it comes to the Eagles kicking off their 2020 campaign in style.

WESTERN BULLDOGS – The second best list doesn’t produce

When Champion Data revealed the Western Bulldogs were inferior only to reigning premierships Richmond in their list ratings, many heads were turned. On the back of the club’s stunning second half of the 2019 season the expectations were high for Luke Beveridge’s side. Champion Data’s findings only exacerbated those beliefs. While it’s not as straightforward as saying the second best list should be the second best team, naysayers will certainly come out of the woodwork if the Bulldogs don’t fire.