Following the nine-part series ranking each AFL club's positional lines, it is time to review each AFL team's list in its entirety and determine which sides can enter 2025 with full confidence in the talent on their list.
While some clubs may be star-studded in one spot, this list will take the entire squad into account, looking into the depth, firepower, and performances in 2024 across all three areas of the field.
Those who have been consistently at the top of the rankings throughout our series will undoubtedly find themselves at the top of the board once again, but those who popped into the top six just once, or those who had a starkly low ranking in comparison to their other results, may find themselves dropped to midtable or below.
RELATED: FORWARD LINE RANKINGS, MIDFIELD RANKINGS, & BACKLINE RANKINGS
So, here is the concluding chapter to Zero Hanger's pre-season list rankings, signifying the best and worst teams on paper for the year ahead.
18. Richmond
(Backline ranking: 17th; Midfield ranking: 18th; Forward line ranking: 18th)
This one should be no surprise.
A mass exodus of key figures at the club plus an influx of teenage draftees positions the Tigers for a year of rebuilding. While wins may be scarce in 2025, Tiger fans can hang their hat on the emerging stars preparing them for a (distant) future flag tilt.
The key takeaway from their rankings was that there are two sides to the coin of their youth. While there are up-and-coming talents such as Josh Gibcus and Tom Brown in the backline, Sam Lalor and Josh Smillie to get a run through the midfield, and Mykelti Lefau and Maurice Rioli Jnr inside 50, there are also hardly any ready-made options to aid the veterans with immediate impact.
Selection calls will be intriguing each week, as Adem Yze attempts to balance blooding the youth and maintaining some veteran leadership and experience. Unfortunately, the abundance of inexperienced options leaves the Tigers' list build as the current worst in the competition - but let's see how long that lasts.
