The summer break is a slow and quiet time regarding the AFL but it does provide one thing: time to put on our thinking caps.
All our attention has been averted to the upcoming 2025 campaign and fans and players are itching for the bounce of the ball for various reasons.
But as in every year, some may be dreading the beginning of the new season moreso than others based on the scrutiny they have faced or could potentially walk into.
The scrutiny could revolve around off-field antics or a disappointing 2024 year.
A dissection with a fine-tooth comb could also be a direct result of moving clubs or better yet, weighing up what club to choose during the AFL season.
Despite if it is unfair or unjust, these are the players that we think will have the magnifying glass put on them (in no particular order)...
The first cab off the rank would have to be the Melbourne midfielder.
Oliver's season from hell began with multiple off-field incidents that followed a trade exploration to Adelaide at the end of 2023 and leading into the new year.
And it didn't get much better for the three-time All-Australian in 2024.
A shortened pre-season due to his behavioural issues meant that Oliver was immediately behind the eight-ball, and it showed.
The 27-year-old hasn't averaged under 25 disposals since his maiden campaign in 2016, where he collected 19.23 disposals per outing.
Last year, he gathered a measly 23.2 touches by his standards.
A secondary trade exploration saw Geelong enter the conversation, with reports revealing Oliver meeting multiple Cats players as the potential of a switch grew legs.
Ultimately, the club vetoed the idea, keeping the 2021 premiership player in the red and blue for another season.
Last year was also the first time the Demons had missed the finals in three seasons.
And so much of what Melbourne has achieved has been off the back of Oliver's work, and if the struggling club is to buck the external speculation of catapulting down the proverbial hill, then the once-a-star midfielder must lift.
The former Richmond premiership star makes this list purely on the expectation of what he can provide his new club.
Fremantle gave up two first-round selections for Shai Bolton during the most recent trade period in a bold play that suggests they are ready to make the next step.
After their extraordinary 2015 season that saw the Dockers claim the minor premiership to bow out to the Hawthorn dynasty in the preliminary final, the West Australian club has been seen in September once (2022) and posed no real threat to the flag race.
But after a promising 2024 campaign that ultimately resulted in disappointment due to a wretched final month of the year, Fremantle clearly believes they can contend.
But is Bolton the missing piece?
At his best, the 26-year-old is a 40+ goal-kicking midfielder, reflected by his 2022 campaign when he received his maiden All-Australian honours.
Bolton's inclusion should help lessen the burden on Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw and Hayden Young, with the latter flagged for more time inside 50 given how impressive he is the further up the ground he moves.
And then comes the pressure.
Bolton's price tag and subsequent "missing piece" narrative can affect an individual's psyche and for Fremantle's sake, let's hope it doesn't impact their newest recruit.
Similar to the reasons why other players are on this list, Josh Rachele toes a fine line between arrogance and antagonism.
Despite a career-best 30 goals in 2024, Rachele was axed for the final game of the home and away season as he was not upholding club values and standards.
It became apparent that the Crows forward was putting himself before the team, leaving coach Matthew Nicks with the difficult decision to put him in the SANFL.
Throughout last year, multiple incidents put the former Pick 6 in the limelight and not for the right reasons.
Rachele was seen dodging the contest, pulling out of marking bouts and egging on arch-rivals Port Adelaide, signalling to the teeth, or lack thereof, which furthered his initial comments on the radio before the Showdown.
The last one is admittedly where the game is trending toward, with players' goal celebrations walking the plank of what is accepted in the modern game, and what isn't by those of yesteryear.
Better still, Rachele will enter 2025 with a heap of pressure, both internally and externally, to perform.
And there's only one way to silence the noises in your head and the critics out there.
Key forward. Right foot. High-end draft pick. Wears the No.12 and plays for St Kilda.
Sounds like we've entered yesteryear and found ourselves a Nick Riewoldt reincarnate.
But unfortunately for Saints fans, it hasn't worked out that way. Yet.
Max King was supposed to be the mother of all answers for the Moorabbin club but if the last two years are anything to go by, he is not.
At the raw age of 24, King's body has consistently let him down. From ACL tears to shoulder reconstructions, the Sandringham Dragons product is the walking wounded.
In 2022, King played the full season, resulting in 52 goals which could've easily been a lot more had he kicked straight.
The following seasons yielded 23 matches for a return of 47 majors, which was littered with injury and bad form.
St Kilda have been crying out for King to grab ahold of the competition, as his tremendous potential and Pick 4 selection in 2018 suggests.
The Saints were pretty quick to give him a longer pre-season to get his body right for the 2025 campaign, and boy, do they need him to get himself right.
King is the focal point in St Kilda's attack, being the only genuine marking target alongside the lesser likes in Cooper Sharman, Mitch Owens and Anthony Caminiti, with the latter switched to defence at times.
And although the Saints got on a roll in the absence of King, there is no doubt they are better with him in the side.
But with that realisation comes pressure, both to keep on the park and to perform.
It is fair to say that the competition's greatest antagonists make the list of players under pressure.
Jack Ginnivan made his name at Collingwood by receiving free kicks and provoking the opposition to good effect, resulting in many goals and also a subsequent rule change by league powerbrokers.
And after his maiden season at his boyhood club Hawthorn, it hasn't changed, rubbing off on his teammates as well.
Ginnivan is known for his on-field antics coupled with his blatant disregard of how a professional player "should" act, instead working within the confines that only he and Sam Mitchell have created, not the external viewing party.
His online presence and social media capers are a look into the future, which is difficult for some to accept.
As a result, it means he, voluntarily, puts his head on the chopping block more often than not, hence why his name is amongst those deemed under pressure.
His budding partner-in-crime, Nick 'The Wizard' Watson has unashamedly followed suit, garnering copious amounts of attention through his jovial celebrations and irritating, yet intoxicating, style of football.
Watson also found himself on the back end of many "high" free kicks, utilising his evasiveness and low centre of gravity to attract the opposition's errant arms above his shoulders.
The pair combined for 52 free kicks, of which rival clubs would deny most. And that stat would hurt more when looking at Dylan Moore's count (48), who is no stranger to lowering the knees.
Both Ginnivan and Watson are the new kids on the block, and not only will they take on the name, but they'll embrace it.