Although each win earns our Club an equal four premiership points, there are some teams over which a victory is worth considerably more. Here, in no particular order, are the current AFL teams I love Carlton to beat:

Collingwood - The ‘Pies are the traditional inner city rival which has never forgiven us for several grand final humiliations in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Apart from the ANZAC Day game and the One-Day-In-September itself, no matches draw crowds as large as Collingwood-Carlton clashes. Long may the rivalry continue (at least while Eddie McGuire remains Collingwood President).

Richmond - Although recent season openers against the Tigers have been pretty much one-way traffic in Carlton’s favour, historically Richmond has always been tough to beat. Add in the fact that our new coach, Mick Malthouse, was once a star player for the Yellow-And-Black, and this year’s opener should be a big one.

Hawthorn – Since the Hawks’ near-death-experience of almost merging with Melbourne in 1996, the ‘Poos and Wees’ have gone from strength to strength in terms of finals appearances, club memberships and money in the bank. As a result of this, their supporters have grown increasingly vocal at games in recent years, and have also adopted the annoying habit of singing songs at games much in the manner of English Premier League soccer supporters.  Quite frankly, Hawthorn is the new Collingwood and must be stopped.

West Coast – Whenever I see former Blue Josh Kennedy kicking goals from centre half forward for the Eagles, I have to remind myself just how well we did to pick up Chris Judd over five years ago. West Coast has caused us recent pain in the finals, and some payback during what remains of the Judd era is well overdue.

Essendon – Late last season we smashed the ‘Dons by almost 100 points. This felt almost as good as beating them by just one point in the famous ’99 Preliminary Final. Assuming Essendon actually participates in the 2013 season (by no means a foregone conclusion given what the NRL’s Cronulla Sharks are currently experiencing), wins against them will remain hard to achieve, and therefore all the more sweeter to experience.

North Melbourne – Despite their own indifferent form in recent years, the ‘Roos have too often proved a difficult nut for Carlton to crack. In the 1980s when North was structured as a private company, we actually owned 15% of its shares for a while. North needs to be reminded once more that Carlton is the superior club for denizens of Melbourne’s inner North.