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?
St Kilda
There's a 10-point gap on the AFL ladder between St Kilda and Carlton, the latter of whom won themselves the final ticket to Wildcard Round.
There's an even bigger gap between where the Saints find themselves at season's end compared to where they, and many others, had them finishing after an off-season spending spree.
The league's two highest-paid players. A raft of well-remunerated role players. Heavy focus on drafting their next midfield in recent years.
It's go time at Moorabbin, and Ross Lyon's testiness at certain stages this year would indicate that he's very well aware of such a fact.
That aforementioned midfield has taken steps this season, no doubt. Hugo Garcia, Darcy Wilson and Max Hall look like 200-gamers for the club. Mattaes Phillipou needs to "train the house down" this pre-season (forgive the cliché) to be considered among them.
It's time to find out just who Tobie Travaglia and Alix Tauru can be for you.
This is a club that's made the most 'win-now' moves of any in recent memory, and it's time to deliver on those actions, lest Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera turn his back on the club of his drafting at 2027's conclusion - as he so very nearly did, just a year ago.
I anointed Ross Lyon this year's Coach of the Year before a ball was kicked, and must receive my due whack for that prediction. It made sense that a man lauded for squeezing every drop of juice out of mediocre lists could maximise one with more talent than one can poke a stick at.
Should he do just that next year, I'll be proven to have been not wrong, just early.
