Crows fans will be hoping Santa can gift Taylor Walker a special pair of boots for Christmas that will allow him to kick for goal like cross-town rival Jay Schulz. The club's skipper was simply brilliant in 2015, booting 59 majors and reminding everyone he's one of the most damaging forwards in the business. But he struggled in front of goal at times, kicking more goals than behinds in just eight games. If he reduces that figure substantially the Crows will be eyeing off a long campaign. - Harry Thring

Rightly or wrongly, there is going to be a lot of focus on No.2 draft pick Josh Schache next season. For the past five years the Lions have been crying out for a sidekick, and then replacement, for club legend Jonathan Brown. If Santa could leave a Superman outfit with the accompanying powers to help the 18-year-old contribute in his first season, the Lions would be forever thankful. Otherwise, something to temper supporter expectations for the youngster might have to do the trick. - Michael Whiting

With a record 30,000 members signed before Christmas in the stocking, there are plenty of on-field matters to focus on. The Blues’ ‘reset’ is in full swing after an active free agency/trade/draft period and they will need more from their remaining core of experienced players to support the young recruits. Here’s hoping skipper Marc Murphy, Matthew Kreuzer, Bryce Gibbs, Michael Jamison and Dale Thomas are fully fit and do not have to endure major injury setbacks in 2016. - Howard Kotton

With apologies to Bing Crosby, the Magpies are dreaming of a (black and) white Christmas where highly rated draftees can remain healthy enough to actually get on the park (think Matthew Scharenberg and the now-departed Nathan Freeman), a hulking key forward can kick the curse of having two left feet, and a young list brimming with exciting talent can finally live up to the hype under coach Nathan Buckley. Failing that, Carlton finishing on the bottom again would suffice! - Gary Hancock

Apart from the bleeding obvious – a rejection of WADA's appeal against the 'not guilty' verdict for the 'Essendon 34' – it would be nice if Santa could bring along a range-finder to attach to Joe Daniher's not-so-trusty left boot. Throwing grass in the air is all well and good, but big Joe needs a bit more than that. And Father Christmas could also leave behind a sack large enough for Daniher to stuff 50 or so goals into in 2016. - Gary Walsh

Like Santa, Ross Lyon will have his naughty and nice list this Christmas. He will be hoping, wishing, praying that star recruit Harley Bennell stays on the nice list in 2016. Bennell's personal issues have been well documented. He has said all of the right things since being traded to the Dockers and now he simply needs to get fit, stay fit and stay out of trouble. Harley Bennell, performing at his peak in 2016, would be the best Christmas gift the club has ever received. - Alex Malcolm

In the eyes of most Cats’ fans, Christmas came early – just over two months ago to be precise. October 12 might as well have been December 25 for the Geelong faithful as Adelaide star Patrick Dangerfield was stuffed into a recruiting stocking laden with talent. Next came another local product Lachie Henderson, then Zac Smith and finally Scott Selwood to make the Selwood Christmas dinner an even happier occasion. CEO Brian Cook is aboard until the end of 2018, membership is through the roof … what $3.3m loss? - Michael Lovett 

While a magic wand to prevent a repeat of last season's injury chaos would be a nice gift, the Suns would love nothing more than a few fresh signatures under the Christmas tree – namely from Jaeger O'Meara, Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch. All three are out of contract at the end of 2016, and while an extension for Lynch seems a formality, his ace midfield teammates are being circled heavily. Contract extensions would certainly ease the minds of the club and its supporters. - Michael Whiting

Three Giants Jon Patton, Jeremy Cameron and Cam McCarthy share the lead of the Coleman Medal after 11 rounds with the trio dominating the competition. Each has kicked 44 goals for the season by that stage and the round 12 match against cross-town rivals, the Sydney Swans. is a sell-out. Why wouldn't it be? The Giants are undefeated, at home and equal premiership favourites with the in-form Swans. Steve Johnson leads the competition for assists and his appearances on the club website with Heath Shaw have made them cult heroes in the town. Rihanna agrees to play at the AFL Grand Final if her Giants make it to the big dance and TV series Orange is the New Black devotes a program to the Giants, such is their appeal. - Peter Ryan

The Hawks are rolling in cash (pocketing profits in excess of $3million the past three years), so how about a cryogenics machine so they can freeze players when they die, aiming to bring them back to life when the necessary technology becomes available? Yes, we jest. But the likes of Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell can’t go on forever, so coach Alastair Clarkson will be keen to get some fresh blood into the team, especially in the middle (keep Jonathan O’Rourke and Zac Webster in mind). When the stars are done, the replacements will be ready to roll. - Peter Di Sisto

After Jesse Hogan and Angus Brayshaw proved in 2015 that Melbourne supporters are actually allowed to have nice things, the Demon faithful will be delighted if Christian Petracca can repeat the dose. Locking potential superstar Hogan into a 10-year, gazillion-dollar deal would be even better. Failing both of the above, a long-overdue Queen's Birthday win over arch–enemy Collingwood would suffice. 2007 was a very, very long time ago. – Michael Rogers

If we thought Todd Goldstein could get to every stoppage wearing one of those inflatable sumo suits to protect him from the less artful members of the ruck fraternity, we’d plump for that. That might be asking a bit much of the game’s No.1 big man. Instead, the Roos would love a potion to fast-track the development of coltish talls Sam Durdin and Ben McKay so they are ready to replace Drew Petrie, Jarrad Waite and Scott Thompson when they inevitably pull the pin in the next year or two. - Michael Tormey

Cupid's arrow might be taking things a little far, but Ken Hinkley needs to spread the love to help his tall forwards gel this summer. Patrick Ryder arrived at the club in late 2014 to much fanfare, but his combination with Matthew Lobbe failed to deliver. The addition of Charlie Dixon would seemingly complicate things further – just how can they all play together in the same side? One thing's clear, if they can and do so well, the Power will be seriously difficult to stop. 
- Harry Thring

To not finish ninth in 2016? No, sorry, that's petty. Winning a final would be a nice starting point, having been bundled out in September for three straight years by Carlton, Port Adelaide and North Melbourne. Coach Damien Hardwick sure hopes this a season of pushing deep into finals, as he approaches the final year of his existing contract. So come on big man in the red velvet suit, deliver some Christmas joy and give those long-suffering Richmond fans a first finals win since 2001! – Ben Guthrie

Christmas cheer came two weeks early for the Saints when a $12m government funding pledge gave them the green light to return to their spiritual home at Moorabbin. Any other gifts would just be a bonus, but when you're down in the ladder's lower reaches, why not be greedy? Given his importance to the regenerating backline, seeing Jake Carlisle become a model citizen in 2016 would be top of the wishlist. While we're at it, why not a new pair of hamstrings for luckless young gun Nathan Freeman? That's not too much to ask, is it Santa? - Travis King

Buddy Franklin is fit and firing but it is his on-field relationship with Callum Mills, Kurt Tippett and Isaac Heeney that has the town talking. The four players seem born to play together and John Longmire just shakes his head in wonder when watching what they do on the field. Having been virtually locked out of the trade period for two seasons, the competition reels when it becomes obvious the Swans have two of the League's best players on their radar for 2017. All the activity comes at a time when Sydney's housing market drops, making the removal of COLA insignificant. - Peter Ryan

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the blockbuster film Back to the Future. The Eagles' Christmas wish would be for one ride in Doc Brown's time-travelling DeLorean. They would want to travel back to the MCG on October 3, 2015, to play the Grand Final again. But in the unlikely event of Santa driving the DeLorean into the club's offices on Christmas Eve, the Eagles would simply accept an injury-free 2016 to give themselves the best shot at another Grand Final next year. - Alex Malcolm

When the Bulldogs took out their cheque book and gave a 19-year-old phenomenon by the name of Tom Boyd more than $6 million over seven years, they would have been expecting more from their blue chip investment in his first year at the club. Boyd played 14 games through 2015 but was not part of the club's unlikely finals run. If Boyd plays anywhere near his potential, what's to stop the ever-improving Bulldogs from taking another decisive step in their pursuit for their first premiership since 1954? - Ben Guthrie