Mike Sheahan, who has been involved in Australian Rules media for 50 years, thinks Ross Lyon’s Fremantle is poised to atone for last year’s Grand Final disappointment.
“I like Freo,” he said when asked who his tip for the 2014 Premiership was.
“If I had to put money on a team now, I’d back Freo because I think they’re guaranteed to get top four, and (they’ll) probably get top two.
“They’ve had that taste of finals, so I reckon there’s a real window there.”
Sheahan on Ross Lyon
Sheahan predicted Freo’s conqueror Hawthorn to again be prominent, even without superstar forward, Lance Franklin, while ‘Buddy’s’ new club Sydney was also a huge chance to lift the Cup.
But he tipped neither to be Freo’s opponent in the 2014 decider.
“For some reason that I cant quite articulate, I still like Collingwood,” Sheahan said.
“Four of my best 15 players in the competition play for Collingwood, and five of the top 25.
“Right now, I’m happy with a Freo-Collingwood Grand Final.”
Sheahan on the Purple Army
Sheahan said history showed that a team from outside the top eight usually becomes a contender the following season.
“For someone to come from nowhere, North Melbourne are the flavour of the month, (but) they’re still a bit flaky, (so I’m) not sure that I’d go for them,” he said.
Sheahan also predicted that one of the most contentious issues surrounding the game, the interchange rotation cap, would be a non-issue.
The AFL has limited clubs to a maximum of 120 interchanges per game in 2014.
“I reckon it’s a nonsense rule, I’ve never believed in cap,” Sheahan said.
“I’ve never heard anyone walk out of the footy and say, ‘geez, I was disappointed with the rotations today’. I think it is an aesthetic that someone at the AFL doesn’t like.”
Sheahan said most clubs in 2013 averaged close to the current cap anyway.
“I would have made it 100 and make them use it strategically and made it mean something,” he said.
