The AFL Wildcard Round and finals series are officially upon us for 2026, with the eight teams missing out now turning their attention to free agency, contracts, the draft and selection calls ahead of next year.
Their home and away responsibilities have come to an end, but the disappointed decision-makers at the eight clubs condemned to watching September from the sidelines are about to earn their keep.
Whether priority 1A is transitioning to a new coach, deciding how best to spend Pick 1 at the upcoming National Draft (or both, if you're Essendon), or attempting to land a big free agency fish, months of planning for the upcoming free agency, trade and drafting periods are about to bear fruit.
So just what is on the agenda for your club?
Gold Coast
What was supposed to be a season that franked the firsts of their last campaign unravelled rather quickly.
Damien Hardwick's men started the season like a house on fire, with boom recruit Christian Petracca at the centre of a mesmerising first three weeks on the Glitter Strip.
Fast forward to the final week of August, and the wheels have well and truly fallen off.
The Suns went 6-14 after that initial flurry of victories, underscored by the 10 consecutive losses that populated June and July.
Compounding matters further, the Suns do not own their first-round draft pick, courtesy of the trade that brought Petracca to the club.
The Suns, then, have two levers to pull in the hopes of changing their fortunes.
Ben King, on Monday, confirmed his desire to depart the club for the greener pastures of his Victorian homeland. He's a restricted free agent, so the Suns must play hardball at the trade table to maximise their return for their long-tenured forward.
As it stands, Pick 59 is their first selection at the National Draft - a pick unlikely to yield a player that will materially impact winning football.
The other lever is internal improvement. Three-time premiership coach Hardwick accepted much of the blame for this season's mediocrity when fulfilling his media obligations late in his club's season, in language reflective of that which was used at 2016's conclusion - far be it from me to tell you what happened next.
Force your way into the earlier rounds of the draft, and optimise the considerably talented magnets already on your list. Reputations, but more pertinently, the health of the code in its northern frontier, depend on it.
