AFL 2022 Least Wins Wooden Spoon Betting – Odds, Tips & Predictions

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The AFL 2022 season is getting closer, and while plenty of teams are priming themselves for a tilt at the AFL Premiership or at the very least a top eight finish, a number of sides are far more likely to find themselves a lot closer to the bottom end of the ladder. The Wooden Spoon is the ‘award’ that nobody really wants to win, although it does come with the advantage of the number one pick at the next year’s draft. Still, teams would far rather not be in the picture for the ignominious title of Wooden Spooner at all.

Invariably, however, somebody has to finish last, and these are some of the favourites to do so.

The Suns added yet another bottom four finish to their history in 2021, making it eight times in their 11 years of existence that they’ve failed to break out of that group. It’s a sorry tale for the AFL’s second newest side, and though they do have some talent at their disposal, that’s been the case since their inception into the AFL and it typically hasn’t resulted in a whole lot of success. They did show periods of promise throughout last season, but unfortunately that was matched by numerous equally disappointing showings. They have more talent than most last placed teams, but with no side a clear standout favourite, they are certainly a chance to add yet another last placed Wooden Spoon to their relatively sad-looking trophy cabinet.

The Kangaroos never looked like finishing anywhere but 18th last season after a woeful start to the season, and ultimately ended up a game and a half behind the 17th placed Magpies. They were, however, vastly improved in the second half of the season, and with a little more development under their belt in 2022 they should be a far more competitive outfit. Whether that will translate into wins remains to be seen, but it’s not hard to imagine them climbing off the bottom of the ladder despite their relatively short Wooden Spoon odds.

Adelaide showed plenty of improvement in the early stages of 2021, winning three early games after a 2020 season in which they won just three games in total. It all eventually went pear-shaped, something which was probably to be expected, but nonetheless going from three wins to seven wins in the space of a year is reasonable going. They’ve got a handful of decent pieces littered across the field, but it’s hard to see them improving enough to compete with the top 12 or so clubs, and will likely be not too far away from the bottom of the ladder as a result.

The once-mighty Hawks had a disappointing 2021 season, albeit a somewhat expected one, but it was arguably off the field where they performed the worst. A highly unusual situation which saw them unveil a succession plan for Sam Mitchell to take over the man most view as the best coach in the game in Alastair Clarkson ended about as badly as most predicted, with the latter choosing to step away at the conclusion of 2021, just weeks after publicly announcing he would remain for another year. They now enter 2022 with a new coach, and one who has some very hefty shoes to fill, though from all reports Mitchell will have no issues endearing himself to the team. On the field they’ve got a reasonable amount of talent, in particular in the back half, but they probably need another year or two before they can tear themselves away from the bottom reaches of the ladder.

The Magpies are another club which will head into 2022 with a new coach, though their changeover was a little less controversial than their Glenferrie-based counterparts. Their drop to 17th place last season came after three consecutive finals appearances, including one heart-wrenching Grand Final loss, and it will be intriguing to see whether they can bounce back or whether they are destined for a period at the bottom of the ladder. Like every team in this list they have some talent and don’t appear as bad as many Wooden Spoon teams, but the quality across the leagues might mean they struggle to win many games in 2022 and may well find themselves towards the bottom of the ladder once again.

Wooden Spoon teams that failed to win a match

• Thirteen wooden spoon teams failed to win a match during a VFL/AFL season, the most recent being Fitzroy in 1964.

Most Wooden Spoons Won

• 27 – St Kilda Saints, most recently in 2014.

Least Wooden Spoons Won

• Only the Port Adelaide Power have never won the Wooden Spoon. Ironically, the 21st century’s least successful club, the Carlton Blues, has won all 5 of their Wooden Spoons since 2002.

Most ‘successful’ Wooden Spoon team

• The 1976 Collingwood Magpies hold the record for the most wins by a wooden spoon team in a season with six wins.

AFL/AFLW Wooden Spoon ‘Double’

• Carlton are the only team to have both men’s and women’s teams win the wooden spoon in the same season, occurring in 2018.

The 2022 Wooden Spoon isn’t an easy one to pick, with the quality of the bottom few teams in the league certainly improved from years gone by. No side appears likely to be uncompetitive, which means it may be wise to look for a little value rather than settling on the favourite team or two. Collingwood is undergoing a period of transition with a new coach, and it may take them a little time to get up and running in 2022, as it often does for teams in such a situation. Perhaps that will be enough to see them finish the year at the bottom of the ladder.

Bet on the Collingwood Magpies for the Least Wins in the AFL in 2022