As you know, football punting is best tackled for fun rather than profit. I, for one, over the years have embarrassed myself with my carefully considered predictions of success or failure for various teams. So knowing my enormous shortcomings, I looked for the wisdom of crowds last year and you, fellow Dockerlanders, came up with this.

How did we go? Not too bad, but not so good either. Have we learnt our lessons from last year? Let's see.

This year the collective has predicted…

• Top four: Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong & St Kilda
• Bottom of the eight: Carlton, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs
• Just missing the finals: Adelaide, Melbourne, Richmond, Sydney
• Cellar dwellers: Brisbane, Essendon, Gold Coast, Port Power, West Coast eGurls

Using a simple variance measure, the collective you were absolutely certain that Collingwood would be in the top four whereas the eGurls and Port would be fighting for the 2011 wooden spoon. You were, however, less than certain about Hawthorn Carlton and Sydney. Some of you had these teams excelling. Some did not.

Extrapolating from your band predictions, this is how you saw the ladder at the end of the HomeNaway:

Collingwood
[daylight]
Fremantle
St Kilda
Geelong
Western Bulldogs
Hawthorn
North Melbourne
Carlton (on percentage from Sydney)
-----
Sydney
Adelaide
Melbourne
Richmond
Essendon
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Port Power
West Coast eGurls

Remember that you made these predictions before the NAB Cup. With additional injuries and the evolution of the 2010 bottom clubs' development, some may be tempted to change their predictions. Perhaps a few may rate Essendon and the eGurls higher. Perhaps not…