PLAYING STYLES OF AFL TEAMS IN 2025

                                               

Before the commencement of the 2o25 AFL season, a bunch of Twitter football stats accounts posted reviews of each team based-on the season previous which I did link to in this particular post back in February.

After the shit show that was AFL-media in 2025 and the just-passed trade period, if it's real game analysis you're after then you should be following these guys:

Ricky Mangidis, James Ives, Cody Atkinson, Emlyn Breese and One Percenters

There's a few others that popped up through the course of the year but for the sake of this post, I'll keep at this lot as this information mostly comes from them with some other bits from other sources like Fox Footy etc.

What you'll see is little tid-bits I've chosen from most AFL teams that describes how they play, why they play like that and the results they get from doing so posted prior and during the 2025 AFL season.

For community coaches, you might recognise a team's traits in your own team's and then gather some idea's on how to make it more effective for your won team.

ADELAIDE

• Were 14th for clearances in 2024 (5th in 2025) so were having to defend and initiate their offense from deep in defense so then used a sling-shot style in an attempt to get the opposition on the move and to lose them in transition.
• They were/are very compact on defense but very expansive on offense. 

BRISBANE

• The stat to show the amount of control or chaos a team likes to use is the average marks per game divided by the average  groundball hard ball gets where the league average was 3.1(more groundballs than marks). Brisbane average 20 marks more than groundballs yet are still 2nd in groundball gets differential.
• 1st for kicks.
• Their medium forwards come up closer to the cntest then spread rapidly when the Lions win possession pulling the defense out of shape and allows for more handball out of congestion
• They use quick release kicks (released in 3secs or less) to find uncontested marks

CARLTON

• In 2024 they sacrificed a number at stoppage for an extra defender to generate more scores from turnover
• They were 3rd last for inside 50's from defensive 50
• Had the lowest score generated from defensive 50 so in their 2025 practice game they brought everyone up to run and carry through the mid 50 while disconnecting 1 of their tall forwards to maintain a longer/deeper target over the back
• Often just needed 1 more handball through the mid 50 in 2025
• In 2025 they moved the ball the fastest from an uncontested mark but then were 5th slowest from a contested mark. The first stats throws the game into chaos yet they don't maintain possession through play switches or 45 degree kicks as they had the 5th least uncontested marks per game
• They take the 3rd most contested marks and win the aerial 50-50's better than most but then concede any advantage they gain by going so slow off the back of it.
• They play transition footy the wrong way around where they kick to long and shallow inside 50's off of uncontested marks then go painfully slow after opening the ground up with contested marks

COLLINGWOOD 

• They create pressure around the opposition ball carrier to force poor quality disposals and thus create interceptions then attack from those intercepts very quickly
• Offensively they like slow play kicking to/along the boundary
• On kick outs the skinny wing or high half forward stays boundary side and then is the first Pies player to rip through directly to goal
• Skinny wing/midfielders may also be at the front of the contest doing their angled run in and make up the 2^nd wave of runners when the ball is won
• On Collingwood in close games, football is a game of skill and while there is variance game-to-game in how well skills are executed, you can control enough to tip the scales in your favor. Fly identified and drilled into them the effects of chaos/control in close game scenarios and how much variance to let into the game. When chasing a late lead they play as open/expansive as possible and as time is the enemy, congestion/stoppages are avoided at all costs, even if it means letting the ball spill out from them or the opposition as they're more likely to win a loose ball back then a contested ball. When defending a lead they reduce variance by restricting the amount of football that can actually happen so now with time again being the enemy but of a different kind, they search for congestion, stoppages and the boundary, often giving up 1^st possession to pounce on the opposition that does get it and continue to slow the game down via stoppages or free kicks for holding the ball on the opposition
• Love to use speed and numbers - speed to get past a defender before they’re set then numbers to be predictable to each other. What looks like reckless/aggressive corridor play is actually controlled chaos as they have speed and numbers through there when they do
• On offense they prefer slow and wide so they can reorganise their defense behind the ball and play a forward half game and/or free up Moore as the spare interceptor. They are the best at holding shape around the ball and refuse to compromise even if they concede contested possession inside so they can apply frantic pressure when they do lose the contest and counter punch on turnovers and then once they win territory they don’t give it back. They kick down the line more than anyone but they also score next after a kick down the line more than anyone.