“They’re not my flag favourite”: Whateley and Cornes rank their top 4 seeds

Gerard Whateley and Kane Cornes have delivered their weekly seedings of the teams they believe can win the 2020 AFL premiership.

For the first time this year, Whateley and Cornes have come up with the same four in order for their rolling rankings.

Whateley reserved special praise for Geelong who produced one of the best performances of the season by beating top-of-the-table Port Adelaide by 60 points on Friday night.

“Their strategy through the frenzy was excellent,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

“Outside of Collingwood they had the tightest turnarounds, four (games) in 14 days.

“They’ve turned in two of the three best performances of the year. What they did to St Kilda and then they upped that on a four-day break against Port Adelaide.

“They’ve been in and out of my seedings as this year demands a seasoned team who knows precisely what they are doing, who are extremely well coached and have points of difference. They have all that for the time being.

“So, (playing) that level of footy and they are getting better at it all the time. They can also play in multiple different ways and there aren’t many teams who even try that these days.”

Despite West Coast having won seven games in a row, the fact the finals are unlikely to be played at Optus Stadium and with the Eagles due to play just one more game in Perth, Whateley feels the 2018 premiers are vulnerable.

“I’m holding West Coast (at) one. They’ve won seven in a row and they’re a chance to make that eight when they play the Giants but then it’s out of Optus,” he added.

“Here’s my contradiction.

“They are the number one seed based on the footy they’ve played. They wouldn’t be my premiership favourite.

“Unless the whole finals are moved to Perth, and I think that’s not going to happen, they wouldn’t be my premiership favourite.

“Richmond would still be right there. I might even have Richmond as premiership favourite with Geelong.

“West Coast are my number one seed. They have played the best footy for two months now. They beat Geelong, they ran them down from behind, but they’ve only got one game left at Optus and if they don’t see that ground again this year, then they’re not my flag favourite.”

Cornes was more bullish on the Eagles while finally bowing to Geelong.

“I think West Coast and Geelong are clearly head and shoulders above any other team in the competition right now,” Cornes added.

“The first time I’ve had Geelong in my top four all year I’ve taken some time to come around to the Cats.”

See the seeds below:

Gerard Whateley

1. West Coast
   
2. Geelong
   
3. Port Adelaide
   
4. Richmond

Kane Cornes

1. West Coast
   
2. Geelong
   
3. Port Adelaide
   
4. Richmond