Footy is back! And here at upstart, we couldn’t be happier – well most of us couldn’t be happier.

The 2011 AFL season kicks off on Thursday night with the traditional Round 1 clash between Carlton and Richmond at the MCG.

Who knows what this season will bring?

Can the Pies go back-to-back? Has the premiership window for St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Geelong been firmly shut? Can Hawthorn return to its menacing 2008 form? Can Karmichael Hunt transform from a star rugby league player into a successful AFL player? Will the new substitute rule flop? Will Michael Malthouse coach next year? Can Gold Coast be competitive?

Whoa – too many questions!

To answer all these, we’ve asked our AFL experts to gaze into their respective crystal balls. Here is how they think the 2011 season will pan out.

Ben Asgari

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. St Kilda
3. Western Bulldogs
4. Hawthorn
5. Geelong
6. Carlton
7. Fremantle
8. Melbourne

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal: Brendon Goddard (STK)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Nathan Buckley says he won’t coach in 2012 should Malthouse and the Pies go back-to-back this season.
Karmichael Hunt…Will struggle yet still play most games because he is in an average side.

Ben Asgari is a third year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Melbourne preview here. Ben is also upstart’s horse racing guru and you can read more of his work at his ‘Ben Asgari Racing’ blog.

Dyson Baker

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. Hawthorn
4. Geelong
5. St Kilda
6. Carlton
7. Adelaide
8. Fremantle

Premiers: Hawthorn
Wooden Spoon: Port Adelaide
Brownlow Medal: Joel Selwood (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Nathan Buckley to coach Collingwood next year and, depending on where the Bulldogs finish this season, Mick Malthouse to head west and take the Dogs through the next stage in their development.
Karmichael Hunt…Will continue to develop and will eventually become an integral part of the Suns’ line-up.

Dyson Baker is a first year Bachelor of Business (Sport and Leisure Management) student. You can read his Brisbane preview here.

Kevin Cheong

1. Collingwood
2. Geelong
3. St Kilda
4. Western Bulldogs
5. Hawthorn
6. Carlton
7. Sydney
8. Fremantle
    

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Joel Selwood (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Jack Riewoldt (RICH)
Biggest Story: Brendan Fevola to kick 100 plus goals in the VFL and get drafted back by Carlton – only for him to lapse one more time.
Karmichael Hunt…Will struggle to adapt to the pace and strength of the AFL, while his lack of footy smarts will mean he won’t cope with the smarter forwards.

Kevin Cheong is a first year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Fremantle preview here.

Nicholas Ciantar 

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. St Kilda
3. Hawthorn
4. Western Bulldogs
5. Sydney
6. Carlton
7. Fremantle
8. Geelong

Premiers: St Kilda
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Dane Swan (COLL)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Mick Malthouse will leave Collingwood to much anger from president Eddie McGuire and accept a coaching roll at another club.
Karmichael Hunt…Will play most games but will find it tough to cope with the demands of AFL.

Nicholas Ciantar is a first year Bachelor of Social Sciences student at La Trobe University. You can read his St Kilda preview here.

Jake D’Amato:

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. St Kilda
4. Hawthorn
5. Geelong
6. Carlton
7. Melbourne
8. Fremantle

Premiers: Western Bulldogs
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Joel Selwood (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: The new substitute rule and Essendon realizing James Hird’s role as coach does not improve the lack of ability on their list.
Karmichael Hunt…Will capture the attention of the crowd but won’t have a significant impact on the field.

Jake D’Amato is a second year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Richmond preview here.

Giulio Di Giorgio

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. St Kilda
3. Hawthorn
4. Carlton
5. Western Bulldogs
6. Adelaide
7. Geelong
8. North Melbourne

Premiers: St Kilda
Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal: Scott Pendlebury (COLL)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Rodney Eade to be sacked from Western Bulldogs
Karmichael Hunt…Will be a solid contributor in his first year.

Giulio Di Giorgio is a third year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Carlton preview here.

Mathew Farmakis

Top Eight:

1. Western Bulldogs
2. Collingwood
3. Geelong
4. Hawthorn
5. St Kilda
6. Carlton
7. Melbourne
8. Fremantle

Premiers: Western Bulldogs
Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal: Joel Selwood (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: The debut of Sudanese ruckman Majak Daw – get ready for some ‘Magic’ references. 
Karmichael Hunt…Should be solid, he probably won’t be a star but seems capable of performing adequately.

Mathew Farmakis is a Postgraduate student studying Media and Communications at Swinburne University. He previously completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree at La Trobe University. You can read Mathew’s Port Adelaide preview here.

Dylan Maxwell 

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. Fremantle
4. St Kilda
5. Hawthorn
6. Sydney
7. Geelong
8. Carlton

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal:  Tie between Aaron Sandilands (FRE) and Scott Pendlebury (COLL)
Coleman Medal: Jonathan Brown (BRIS)
Biggest Story: The constant enquiries into Mick Malthouse’s coaching career after 2011.
Karmichael Hunt…Won’t have an issue with performance and endeavour, but the one thing that he will have trouble with is adapting to a new sport and building his own footy smarts.

Dylan Maxwell is a third year Bachelor of Arts student at La Trobe University. You can read his Collingwood preview here.

Tom Midwood

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Geelong
3. St Kilda
4. Hawthorn
5. Essendon
6. Western Bulldogs
7. Fremantle
8. Melbourne

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Jimmy Bartel (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Gary Ablett not making the expected impact for Gold Coast.
Karmichael Hunt…Will struggle big time for the first 10 rounds then may start to adjust – don’t expect too much though.

Tom Midwood is a first year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Geelong preview here.

Liam Quinn

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Geelong
3. Hawthorn
4. St Kilda
5. Fremantle
6. Melbourne
7. Western Bulldogs
8. Gold Coast

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Scott Pendlebury (COLL)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: The massive recruiting drive by the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Karmichael Hunt…Will have the physical attributes to play AFL, but massive queries over the mental element of his game.

Liam Quinn is a first year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his West Coast preview here.

Michael Pell 

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Hawthorn
3. Western Bulldogs
4. St Kilda
5. Geelong
6. Carlton
7. Sydney
8. Adelaide

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Port Adelaide
Brownlow Medal: David Swallow (GC)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Andrew Demetriou and Adrian Anderson to admit they got the new substitute rule wrong and to abolish it mid season to allow the old four player interchange system to be reinstated.
Karmichael Hunt…Will fare better this year than Israel Folau will next year.

Michael Pell is a second year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can read his Essendon preview here. 

Joel Peterson

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. St Kilda
3. Geelong
4. Hawthorn
5. Western Bulldogs
6. Fremantle
7. Sydney
8. North Melbourne

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal:  Brendon Goddard (STK)
Coleman Medal: Nick Riewoldt (STK)
Biggest Story: Brendan Fevola to be sacked from a VFL club after fooling around with a teammate’s girlfriend, meaning his footy career is officially over.

Joel Peterson is a first year Bachelor of Journalism (Sport) student at La Trobe University. You can read his North Melbourne preview here.

Farhan Shah:

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. St Kilda
4. Geelong
5. Carlton
6. Adelaide
7. Sydney
8. North Melbourne

Premiers: Western Bulldogs
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Gary Ablett (GC)
Coleman Medal: Matthew Pavlich (FRE)
Biggest Story: Brisbane coach Michael Voss to be sacked by season’s end after the Lions claim the Wooden Spoon.
Karmichael Hunt…Certainly won’t be a superstar of the competition, but the high scrutiny in the early rounds will subdue throughout the course of the season.

Farhan Shah is a first year Bachelor of Journalism (Sport) student at La Trobe University. You can read his Adelaide preview here. 

Merryn Sherwood:

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. Hawthorn
4. Geelong
5. St Kilda
6. Carlton
7. Sydney
8. Melbourne

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal: Luke Hodge (HAW)
Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin (HAW)
Biggest Story: Expansion – Gold Coast’s first season and what stars will join Greater Western Sydney’s stable come 2012.
Karmichael Hunt…Will go better than expected and his tackling could be quite effective.

Merryn Sherwood is an honours student enrolled in Bachelor of Business (Sports Management) at La Trobe University. You can read her Hawthorn preview here and her Sydney preview here. 

John Takemura

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Western Bulldogs
3. St Kilda
4. Geelong
5. Hawthorn
6. Melbourne
7. Carlton
8. Fremantle

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medal: Scott Pendlebury (COLL)
Coleman Medal: Mark LeCras (WCE)
Biggest Story: Gary Ablett returns from Osteitis Pubis to inspire Gold Coast to a win in the inauguration of Gold Coast Stadium against the Cats.
Karmichael Hunt…Should be in the line-up for the Suns’ first game against Carlton and do a handy job as a stopper in the backline.

John Takemura is a third year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University and is upstart’s soccer guru. You can read his Western Bulldogs preview here.

Ben Waterworth

Top Eight:

1. Collingwood
2. Hawthorn
3. Western Bulldogs
4. St Kilda
5. Geelong
6. Carlton
7. Fremantle
8. Melbourne 

Premiers: Collingwood
Wooden Spoon: Gold Coast
Brownlow Medal: Joel Selwood (GEE)
Coleman Medal: Barry Hall (WBD)
Biggest Story: Michael Malthouse secretly signs to be coach of Carlton for 2012 midway through the season.
Karmichael Hunt…Will be inconsistent but show he has the potential to be a reliable defender for the future.

Ben Waterworth is a third year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University and is upstart’s sports editor. You can read his Gold Coast preview here and follow him on twitter @bjwaterworth.

upstart’s Final Verdict:

Premiers:

Collingwood – 10
Western Bulldogs – 3
St Kilda – 2
Hawthorn – 1

Wooden Spoon:

Brisbane Lions – 8
Gold Coast – 6
Port Adelaide – 2

Brownlow Medal:

Joel Selwood (GEE) – 5
Scott Pendlebury (COLL) – 4
Brendon Goddard (STK) – 2

Coleman Medal:

Lance Franklin (HAW) – 10

Good luck to your team in 2011!