1 It would be churlish to find fault with the Western Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership run, the most feel-good AFL story you could imagine. But one implication it has had is to give every preseason hope a rhetorical crutch – “if the Dogs could do it, why can’t we?” Nat Fyfe said so recently, trying to reframe his Fremantle Dockers’ prospects. The dreamy aspect of the Bulldogs capturing the flag from seventh kind-of obscures two thoughts: one, that it was improbable, and being such, won’t likely happen again; and two, Luke Beveridge’s team is really good, only two wins back of the minor premiers, and will likely validate their quality this season.

2 Of all the curiosities we’re looking forward to this season, the Port Power’s game in Shanghai might be top of the list. It certainly was the most fun thing to write metaphors about in Inside Sport’s April AFL preview (“aerial ping-pong diplomacy”, “Dixon (Charlie) goes to China”).

3 Unintended consequences alert: another thing we’ll be watching is the effect of the new no-third-man-up ruck rules. On the face of it – particularly if that face belongs to the Demons’ Max Gawn – this is a positive nudge in the direction of restoring classic Aussie rules positional value. If it works, dare we see other tinkering around the edge of the laws to create more one-on-one contests around the ground? Alternatively: what if the revised ruck contest has no net effect at all?

4 Truly one of our favourite things in the AFL is the work of Tony Corke at Matter of Stats. Indispensable for fans of footy number-crunching, we incorporated its team rating system, known as MoSSBODS, into our preview this season (among its interesting observations: Adelaide is its top-rated team, and the Crows also have the easiest schedule in 2017). Corke is introducing a refined system this season known as MoSHBODS, which we’re sure we’ll spend most of the season trying to get our heads around.

5 Because everyone lays down this marker, our predicted ladder for the season ahead:
1. GWS Giants
2. Western Bulldogs
3. Geelong Cats
4. Sydney Swans
5. Adelaide Crows
6. Hawthorn Hawks
7. West Coast Eagles
8. Collingwood Magpies
9. Melbourne Demons
10. St Kilda Saints
11. Port Power
12. Fremantle Dockers
13. Essendon Bombers
14. North Melbourne Kangaroos
15. Richmond Tigers
16. Carlton Blues
17. Gold Coast Suns
18. Brisbane Lions