Crawford was in Wod-onga yesterday for the Victorian launch of the 20th year of AFL Auskick with kids from nearly all the primary schools in the city, and said that it was almost impossible to pick a top eight.

“It doesn’t matter how knowledgable you are about footy, you’d be foolish to try and predict what’s going to happen this season,” Crawford said.

“There’s so many teams in the mix, particularly in the lower half of the eight, I think it’s going to be a fantastic season.”

Last year’s top four finishers Hawthorn, Sydney, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide were likely to finish high on the ladder again, but the logjam for positions from fifth through to 12th is where the real competition would be, Crawford said.

“So many teams are in the mix at the moment,” he said.

“Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon are all thereabouts, arguably they were all a little bit down on form last season and they’re all bound to rebound strongly and make a case for themselves late in the year.

“Adelaide and the Gold Coast will be really hungry to make the eight, and definitely have the personnel to get there.

“Throw in the Lions, they have a lot of improving to do, but you look at the potential in their list, they have some real talent up there.”

Crawford said the Giants were set for a big year as well, after re-signing key players Jeremy Cameron and Devon Smith, as well as recruiting Bulldogs midfielder Ryan Griffen.

“I really rate the Giants, they have such a huge pool of talent up there,” he said.

“You can see the improvement in every game they play.

“Once the defensive side of their game improves, how they apply pressure when they don’t have the ball, they’ll be a real threat.”

The Hawthorn legend predicted number one draft pick Paddy Mc- Cartin would see plenty of game time alongside St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt, drawing comparisons between them and the development of Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin at the Hawks.

“At the end of the day, getting game time into Buddy and Roughead was what helped Hawthorn become the dominant side they are today, and you can see a similar sort of model there for the Saints,” Crawford said.

“Obviously the difference there is that McCartin will be learning from one of the champions of the game in Riewoldt, so there’s a lot of potential there for the Saints to generate a bit of excitement.”

Crawford tipped Fremantle’s Nathan Fyfe to claim the Brownlow after last year’s stellar season, but couldn’t go past Hawthorn for the flag.