Nick Dal Santo has posed the biggest questions that he is asking of the 18 AFL clubs leading into the 2020 season.
These are questions that we hope to have answered and will watch with interest over the course of the year.
The former All-Australian midfielder has asked the following of the Cats, Suns and Giants.
THREE QUESTIONS FOR ADELAIDE, BRISBANE AND CARLTON
THREE QUESTIONS FOR COLLINGWOOD, ESSENDON AND FREMANTLE
THREE QUESTIONS FOR HAWTHORN, MELBOURNE AND NORTH MELBOURNE
THREE QUESTIONS FOR PORT ADELAIDE, RICHMOND AND ST KILDA
THREE QUESTIONS FOR SYDNEY, WEST COAST AND WESTERN BULLDOGS
1. How much of an impact can Josh Jenkins and Jack Steven have?
“I don’t want to answer it (the question), but I can see that they can both play really important roles.
“I was staggered that Josh Jenkins, to our knowledge, didn’t get as much interest from other football clubs as what we may have thought. I think it’s a brilliant pick up by the Cats, I like it.
“And also Jack Steven who apparently is going really well.”
2. Is this the last roll of the dice with the current stars together?
“(Joel) Selwood, (Gary) Ablett, (Tom) Hawkins, (Harry) Taylor - the nucleus that has been there for so long and done so much - is this their last roll of the dice as a group?
“You sprinkle in (Mitch) Duncan and (Patrick) Dangerfield and a few others that are really good but that’s the nucleus that have held up for so long.
“We know they make finals, you set your watch to it, but we talk about winning flags with this club. Is this the last roll of the dice for premierships (with this current group)?”
3. Who fills the void left by Tim Kelly?
“It’s a rather large void.”
1. How much of an impact can the new lot of draftees have?
“(Matt) Rowell, (Noah) Anderson, (Sam) Flanders from this draft but also (Jack) Lukosius, (Ben) King and (Izak) Rankine from the year before.
“There’s six players to help them win games and be consistent.
“We talk about Matty Rowell and Noah Anderson, they’ve been the talk of the town for the last 12-odd months. We know how good they are going to be, but they don’t have to wait.
“Sam Walsh didn’t wait last year. They are both ready to play football.
“They have six players ready to have an instant impact together.”
2. What does improvement look like?
“I don’t think we can measure them on wins and losses.
“If we are going to assess the Suns fairly and accurately in 2020, you can’t just purely base it on win-loss.
“I want to see improvement from them in other areas. It might be their percentage at the end of the year, it might be the scores they hold opposition to, it might be how much football they maintain, it might be forward-half pressure.
“But it’s too simple just to say, ‘they’ve only won four games again, they haven’t improved, they’ve gone backwards’. You can improve but not necessarily get wins.
“I want to find ways to judge them fairly.”
3. Can Peter Wright stand up?
“He’s played 66 games of football. It’s time to stand up.
“Can he stand up and just be a focal point for them?
“He needs to be a forward/ruck. He needs to be Jarrod Witts’ support (in the ruck) but he needs to be their main forward.”
1. Can they sort out their injuries?
“This is not injuries necessarily at the pointy end (of the season) because they got a lot of their players back.
“I’m talking about continuity. This has been going on for far too long. This isn’t necessarily the players’ fault but you’ve got to take some ownership of your own career as well and learn about your own body.
“(Josh) Kelly played 18 games, Toby Greene played 19, (Stephen) Coniglio 15, Cal Ward 1, (Lachie) Whitfield 19, (Aidan) Corr 8 and (Matt) De Boer 19. That’s out of 26 games.
“Too many really, really good players not playing enough football together.”
2. How do they respond after the disappointment of Grand Final day?
“I’ve read some articles off the back of that Grand Final loss and going back historically about what’s happened to teams that have been thumped on Grand Final day.
“What has happened in the next four, five and six years after that. It’s not pretty reading. I was surprised and shocked when I read that about how far you go backwards.
“How does this group respond?”
3. Can Josh Kelly produce his best?
“His best was a couple of years ago. I didn’t think he was at his best last year, he had some good numbers.
“He is the silk and the cream on top. They need him at his best if they are going to be around the mark again.
“Not on numbers, on influence on games.”
The three big questions continues on Friday with Hawthorn, Melbourne and North Melbourne.
Listen to Dal's three questions below: