Make finals? Avoid the wooden spoon? Win the premiership? At the start of the 2025 season, ESPN's footy writers came up with a pass mark for all 18 teams. So, for those teams whose seasons are over, did they pass or fail?
Note: This will be updated throughout the finals as each club's season comes to a close.
Adelaide
2025 pass mark: Play finals
Result: TBD
Brisbane
2025 pass mark: Return to the Grand Final
Result: TBD
Carlton
2025 pass mark: Play in a preliminary final
Result: FAIL
We're not sure there's a bigger fail than this one. Yes, that's including West Coast!
The Blues entered season 2025 as one of the early flag favourites and ended it as unquestionably the most embarrassing campaign of the Michael Voss era, going backwards in just about every one of Champion Data's crucial metrics. Carlton won nine games and ultimately missed out on a spot i/n finals by a staggering 24 premiership points ... plus percentage.
But things might be about to get even worse for Carlton. Talented defender Jack Silvagni just informed the club he won't be there next year, star ruck Tom De Koning looks set to join St Kilda on a mammoth eight-year deal, and two-time Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow has been heavily linked with a blockbuster move to the Swans. Concerning times, indeed.
Collingwood
2025 pass mark: Make the most of the ageing list
Result: TBD
Essendon
2025 pass mark: Have a winning record post the mid-year bye
Result: FAIL
The Bombers began the year somewhat brightly, winning six of their first 10 games to give fans hope that perhaps they had finally turned the corner and could ... maybe, just maybe ... be competitive throughout the year. Unfortunately, from that point on, the Dons went winless, falling from the top eight to the bottom four.
Those are the facts, but it would be unfair to ignore the near laughably long injury list Essendon was forced to deal with throughout the year.
At times, the Bombers' injury list included more than half the club's entire list! As a result, no club played more players throughout the year than them. Injuries aren't an excuse, they're often a legitimate reason for a club's poor performance.
Fremantle
2025 pass mark: Win a final
Result: TBD
Geelong
2025 pass mark: Avoid signs of slowing down
Result: TBD
Gold Coast
2025 pass mark: Snap the finals drought
Result: TBD
GWS
2025 pass mark: Contend, and make amends
Result: TBD
Hawthorn
2025 pass mark: Prove their rise in 2024 was not a fluke
Result: TBD
Melbourne
2025 pass mark: Give their stars a reason to stay
Result: FAIL
Few teams had a more disappointing and dysfunctional campaign than the Demons. The club won just seven games, finished 14th, sacked premiership-winning coach Simon Goodwin, and dealt with ongoing tension among senior players ... Max Gawn, Steven May, we're looking at you. In fact, aside from the first years of Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay, we're not sure there were really any positives of Melbourne's season.
So why would any star player want to stay? Gawn will be 34 years of age the next time he steps onto a footy field. Christian Petracca will be 30 and Clayton Oliver 29. Who knows if they finish their careers in the red and blue? Who knows what the future looks like for this club?
North Melbourne
2025 pass mark: Be in finals contention for most of the season
Result: FAIL
Considering the Kangaroos finished the season in the bottom three, and only two premiership points clear of a Richmond side many expected to go winless in 2025, this one simply has to be a fail.
Have the Roos improved under Alastair Clarkson? Yes ... slowly but surely. This year, they scored more and conceded fewer points per game, though still not enough to trouble any of the league's top sides, outside of their notable draw against the Lions, of course.
But North Melbourne should take great comfort in what the Crows have just been able to achieve. Adelaide finished last season in 15th position, then launched up the ladder to take out the minor premiership the following year. If you get it right, things can happen very quickly.
Port Adelaide
2025 pass mark: Send Ken Hinkley off in style
Result: PASS
Okay, okay, finishing the season with just nine wins and in the bottom six is far from a fairytale send off for long-time coach Ken Hinkley, but hear us out. The club's final game of the season, against Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval, was every bit a fitting finale for Hinkley, with his undermanned, widely written off side upsetting a club looking to lock up a top four spot. The Power won by four points in Hinkley's -- and Travis Boak's -- final game, an emotional end to this chapter of Port history.
Now to the bad. Port really did fall off the cliff this year. Don't forget, this side played in a preliminary final just 12 months ago. Injuries to key personnel, including Todd Marshall, Zak Butters, Jason Horne-Francis, and Jack Lukosius certainly didn't help the cause.
Richmond
2025 pass mark: The kids prove last year's draft haul was a success
Result: PASS
It's probably not yet a pass with flying colours, but we're happy to call it a borderline pass for now.
The Tigers ripped it back to studs in the offseason, offloaded senior talent, and welcomed a host of new faces into the club. This year, Richmond blooded nine debutants, including last year's top selection Sam Lalor. Many of them showed encouraging signs to suggest they have long-term futures at the club, including Luke Tranor, Jonty Faull, and Thomas Sims, while we're yet to get a look at highly-touted mid Josh Smillie and only saw glimpses of Taj Hotton.
Despite the inexperience, the Tigers still managed to win five games -- five more than many predicted earlier in the year -- and avoided the wooden spoon. They also achieved the remarkable feat of not losing a single game this season by a triple figure margin.
St Kilda
2025 pass mark: Somehow, overachieve
Result: FAIL
This is a tough one. The Saints hit the jackpot a few weeks back by getting star defender turned midfielder Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera to re-sign for two years, there's also strong reports they could be set to welcome Blues ruck Tom De Koning in the offseason, but the on field performance didn't exactly scream overachievement.
Ross Lyon's side won nine games for the year. On the surface that doesn't sound too bad, but it was actually the club's equal-worst season in terms of wins since 2018. Not only that but if we put those nine wins under the microscope you'll notice a worrying trend. Five of them were by a single figure margin and only two of them came against top 12 teams.
The other worry for the Saints is that they managed to kick 100 points just once this season, the same amount as league cellar dwellers West Coast and Richmond.
Sydney
2025 pass mark: Another Grand Final appearance
Result: FAIL
Wow, the Swans didn't really come close to hitting their pass mark this season. Dean Cox's squad disappointingly missed finals, becoming the latest team to suffer from the Grand Final curse of losing by 40+ points and failing to make the eight the next year.
Having said that, Sydney did manage to save face in the back half of the year. They ended the season 8-3, playing a far more dynamic and competitive brand of football. The Swans are also the frontrunners to land two-time Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow, who appears as if he's played his final game for the Blues.
West Coast
2025 pass mark: Build the type of nest Harley Reid won't want to leave
Result: PASS
Initially, this only looked like it could be a pass if Harley Reid confessed to enjoy losing games of football and coming under severe media scrutiny week after week. But given the star midfielder just put pen to paper on a new contract, we can't view it as a fail.
The Eagles failed to demonstrate any sort of improvement in 2025 and may have actually just had their most disappointing year in club history. One win and 22 losses, a woeful percentage of 60.1%, and the worst season-long contested possession differential ever recorded by Champion Data.
We've said for 24 months things will take time for West Coast to turn things around, but re-signing Reid will go a long way to building confidence and a strong culture at the club as they look to rebound up the ladder.
Western Bulldogs
2025 pass mark: Don't let a tough start ruin the season
Result: TBD