Cornes, Hodge and White name their number one premiership seeds

Which team do you have the most confidence in nine rounds into the 2024 AFL season?

That was the question posed by Adam White to Kane Cornes and Luke Hodge on SEN Sportsday as the ladder begins to take shape.

With a big enough sample size, Cornes has Geelong as his number one seed despite the Cats dropping their last two games after starting 7-0.

He was even impressed with Chris Scott’s side in their six-point loss to Port Adelaide last Friday after they fought back from 49 points down and he thinks that the Cats will be well set for September football.

“Which team do I have the most confidence in right now? I think it's a very tough question,” Cornes said on SEN's Sportsday.

“I'm still really high on Geelong. I think that they’re still, for me, probably the number one seed.

“I'm giving them a couple of outs for the last couple of weeks, but they're going to be in a pretty good position.

“He's not about the now, Chris Scott, he’s about playing your best football in September.

“I think no one has more of an eye on the bigger picture than Chris Scott.

“The way that he will manage his squad ... like Zach Tuohy didn’t play on the weekend. If you’re serious and if you're going to go all out and win, he plays.

“Their midfield is a slight concern, there's no doubt about that. But I think there are some protection mechanisms that he can use with that.

“What other team could come back from 49 points down given how hot Port Adelaide was? … But you still never fully felt like Port Adelaide had that game in the bag.

“So, it's Geelong for me.”

White himself picked Melbourne as the side that he likes most despite their 6-3 record.

He picked the Dees above all other sides as he has the most confidence in their top six players over any other club.

“I'm going with Melbourne, and I've been with Melbourne all year and they drive me crazy watching them because I feel that they could play so much better than what they do,” White said.

“But for me, I trust their top six players. I feel that in a high-pressure game, they are going to stand up and get the job done.

“I'm saying that with no confidence and the reason I ask the question is, I think it's one of the most open seasons I can remember where there is not a standout team.”

Hodge picked next and couldn’t understand why Melbourne would be White’s selection.

The four-time premiership Hawk thinks that the obvious choice is Sydney who currently sit on top of the ladder at 8-1 with the most points for in the AFL and the least points against.

“My pick is Sydney, every day of the week,” Hodge said.

“Sydney have kicked the most points of any club. Sydney has the best defence of any club, they have let through the least.

“I'm going for the team that’s the best at attack and I'm going for the team that’s the best at defence.

“I reckon Thursday night against Carlton was a pretty big bloody game and for them (Melbourne) to have 20 plus more inside 50s (and lose)…

“If my life was on the line and I was picking a team, I'm not picking Melbourne, my friend.”