COACH Paul Roos says a clear picture of the 2015 season won’t emerge until almost the middle of the home and away season.    

Roos said it would take up until round 11 to get a genuine indication of how the premiership season would unfold.

“It’s [not until] round eight or 11 really [that the season is shaped],” he said on Roos’ Views. 

“With new teams, new coaches, slightly new personnel and it [being] a new season, it always gets back to what works consistently over time.

“The teams that will be there at the end of this season are the same teams that were there at the end of last season – at this stage.

“Freo … Sydney … we know what Hawthorn [can do] and I like what Essendon has done at the start of the season under really tough circumstances. I think their brand [of football] has been really good.

“Port [Adelaide] has been really stiff and I think Geelong is going to be better than zero [wins] and two [losses]. The challenge for the rest of us is to continually improve as much as we possibly can. We’re seeing that against our opponent this week, the Crows, which has started off the year really well.”

Roos said lower ladder teams from 2014 had already shown strong early season form.

“From a [2014] ladder point of view, [teams] that finished low last year, can play some really good footy. I think that’s what I’ve noticed,” he said.

“St Kilda has played some really good footy and we’ve played some really good football and the Bulldogs have played two really good games.

“I think the gap is still pretty dramatic – when you look at Hawthorn play really well and when you look at Freo play really well – but to the credit of the bottom five or six sides from last year, they’ve played some terrific footy early in the season. I think that’s really good for the competition.”

Roos said teams that produced a pressurised style of play and a contested ball-winning type of game had won 70 per cent of games this season.

“The hard, fit teams are doing really well. Everyone talks about ball use, presses, zones and man-on-man … but still the biggest key to success is going to be: who can win the footy more often around the ball?” he said.

“Freo is doing it particularly well for the first two rounds and I thought Sydney’s effort against Port was as good as I’ve seen them play, [including] all of year. We know what they did last year – they made the Grand Final.

“It’s all based on pressure and winning footy and stopping the opposition at the source. They’re the things that really stick out for me in the first two weeks.”