Glorifying the AFL's ball-winners and goalkickers is commonplace across the footballing landscape, but as the age-old adage goes: 'defence wins premierships'.
The club that holds the silverware aloft at the end of a season typically boasts a backline consisting of immovable key defenders, eagle-eyed interceptors and attack-minded flankers.
Last year's grand finalists, for example, each possessed stingy, impregnable defensive units, comprising stars such as Darcy Moore, Harris Andrews, Brayden Maynard, Brandon Starcevich, Isaac Quaynor and Keidean Coleman, among others.
So, taking into account last year's performance, current personnel and injuries, where does each club's defence rank as we prepare to embark on the 2024 season?
We've ranked every AFL club's backline from worst to first. Here's 18 through 13.
*Asterisk denotes a current injury to the player.
4. (15th) West Coast Eagles
Core personnel: Tom Barrass, Jeremy McGovern, Liam Duggan, Elliot Yeo, Brady Hough, Jayden Hunt, Tom Cole, Alex Witherden, Jamaine Jones
Among a bevy of shortcomings around the ground, the Eagles will be aiming for more defensive continuity this season after star key-position tandem McGovern and Barrass missed 23 combined games in 2023.ย
Hard-nosed co-captain Duggan is also an instrumental part of West Coast's defence, as is Hough, who projects to ascend in his third AFL season.ย
However, if their All-Australian pairing is forced to combat injury again, the Eagles are in strife. Depth defenders Josh Rotham, Rhett Bazzo and Harry Edwards are on standby, but McGovern and Barrass' shoes are massive ones to fill, especially in a side that was consigned to the wooden spoon last season.ย
West Coast surrendered an average of 33.2 shots at goal per game last year; the most in the AFL and almost four more shots than North Melbourne's next-worst 29.4.ย
Despite the expectation that key personnel stays available for a large portion of the year, the Eagles are still likely to concede heavily again in '24.
