AFL Power Rankings: Round 8 2015

In Greater Western Sydney’s three-and-a-bit-year stint in the AFL I have several times referred to them as terrible, or some variant thereof. For the first time ever this week, GWS has a positive rating on these rankings. I am now prepared to say that the Giants are good. They may actually be more than good, given the rate at which they are improving. The Giants have won six of their first eight matches for the season, including beating highly-ranked teams like Hawthorn and Adelaide.

Meanwhile, the newer club that was expected to be good, the Gold Coast Suns, now sit back on the bottom of the rankings. They may be off the bottom within a week, given there is a group of teams that are basically as bad, including Carlton, St. Kilda, Brisbane, and possibly Melbourne. The flipside to this group of bad teams is that there are twelve teams with positive ratings, from Hawthorn all the way down to Essendon and Collingwood.

The other point I thought was of note is that the top four rated teams are now clearly the top four: Hawthorn, West Coast, Sydney, and Fremantle. While many football followers probably have some doubts about the credentials of the Eagles, the other teams in that group will come as barely any surprise, and there looks at this stage a good chance the premier will come from one of those teams.