On the eve of the home and away season, the AFL captains have predicted that the Gold Coast SUNS will qualify for a maiden finals appearance in 2015.
 
As part of the captains gathering in Melbourne on Wednesday, each club leader was asked to forecast which seven other teams would qualify for the finals this year.
 
12 of the 18 teams in the competition were considered finals contenders by the captains, highlighting the evenness of the league this season. Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney were voted by every skipper, whilst Geelong and Fremantle were nominated by all but one.
 
In a strong indication of how highly their peers now rate them, Rodney Eade’s men received 12 votes – the seventh most.
 
Dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett was nominated by two captains to receive the games highest individual honour for a record-equalling third time. Only Fremantle young gun Nat Fyfe received more votes with four.
 
Last year’s pick No. 15, Jarrod Garlett, was chosen by one club captain to win this season’s NAB AFL Rising Star award. Geelong’s Nakia Cockatoo received the most votes with four, in front of Sydney Swans academy recruit Isaac Heeney on three.