ESSENDON great Matthew Lloyd has named the AFL teams he believes can and cannot win the premiership in 2023 at this very early stage.<\/p>\n
This exercise was completed with Kane Cornes on AFL Trade Radio<\/em> on the spot to determine how many teams enter next season already out of the mix.<\/p>\n Lloyd can only see eight teams in contention, which means 10 are already incapable of winning it, a poor sign for the league\u2019s equalisation methods.<\/p>\n However, he adds that teams can always catch you by surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have said no about Collingwood this time last year and someone will jump up that you do not expect. One of the no\u2019s might finish top five and shock you,\u201d Lloyd said.<\/p>\n \u201cCollingwood shocked me. Fremantle shocked me. The Dockers have got their act together off the field. Collingwood too.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where a lot of these clubs I said no to, they make bad decision off the field as well as on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n Lloyd reckons the teams that can win the flag are Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs, Richmond, Fremantle, Collingwood, Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, Brisbane.<\/p>\n Teams that can\u2019t win the flag are North Melbourne, West Coast, GWS, Essendon, Adelaide, Hawthorn, Gold Coast, St Kilda, Carlton.<\/p>\n Cornes said it is a worry for the AFL that the top teams are getting stronger in this trade period.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m with you, I would\u2019ve said yes to Carlton,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a great situation is it for the AFL to be in? Where you\u2019re starting a season and most people would agree that half the competition cannot win the premiership.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like [the gap] is becoming more significant in this trade period. Richmond is going to get stronger, look at what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n \u201cGeelong are revitalising the youth coming through their list and bypass the development stage with Ollie Henry and Tanner Bruhn, so they get stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s an issue for the AFL. I don\u2019t know how they solve it. Think about how far away North Melbourne is from a premiership, and then you lose a significant piece in this trade period.<\/p>\n \u201cI think most people would agree that over half the competition can\u2019t win the flag next year which isn\u2019t great for the league.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n