MAD MONDAY is almost upon us, but for 10 AFL clubs, the only bonus for not making the finals is the head start on preparations for next year.

Truth be told, planning has no doubt been well underway for weeks, if not months, but every club has their off-season to-do list and here is our estimation at what sits atop each one. 

• Full finals fixture and ticketing information

ST KILDA

Establish reasonable expectations for 2017
The Saints will be the trendy pick to barnstorm their way into the finals next year on the back of as respectable 12-10 record this year. Heck, had Paddy McCartin kicked a gettable shot with a few minutes left at Aurora Stadium against the Hawks in round four, the Saints might be finalists. Expectations will be huge ahead of next season, with Jake Carlisle back to stiffen the backline, so what will be interesting out of the Saints as they prepare for the off-season is what their expectations are. Will they talk themselves up, or will there be a hosing down of the hope and excitement? We have a sneaky feeling the Saints will embrace it all and more power to them if they do.

• Nine things we learned from round 23: Roo is ready for 2017

MELBOURNE

Manage the exits
Some heart and soul types will likely be departing the club in the next few weeks and it will be the first big test for incoming coach Simon Goodwin. Any or all of Jack Grimes, Lynden Dunn, Colin Garland, Chris Dawes and Heritier Lumumba won't be with the club in 2017 but how the Demons manage their departures will be a key. The Dees have done most things well in the Peter Jackson-Paul Roos era, so this will be an early test. A bit like the Saints, there will be some expectation around the Dees in 2017. 

COLLINGWOOD

Some muscle for Bucks
In comes Graeme Allan as head of football, with Neil Balme (if he stays) as a director of coaching. Assistants Ben Hart and Steve Grace are also tipped to leave the club. We think Nathan Buckley coached his best when he had Rodney Eade as his sounding board/director of coaching and the Pies could do with another experienced pair of eyes in the coach's box. Former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson could be the man but there is the rider that he is one of Buckley's best mates. Will he be able to challenge Buckley when and if required?

• Who staked their finals claim in this weekend's state leagues? 

PORT ADELAIDE

Counting down the days
No club will be looking forward to the end of the WADA bans (with the exception of the Bombers of course) more than the Power. Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries were best 22 players who never got on the park all year and Ryder in particular offers all sorts of fresh tactical options for Port next year. Their absences don't excuse their terrible inconsistency all year and the gaping gap between their best and their worst footy, but Ken Hinkley's whiteboard already looks better with those two names on it for next season.

CARLTON

Time to manage the list
The Blues have up to 20 players on their list who are yet to sign new deals heading into next season. A handful have met the trigger points for contract extensions, including Sam Rowe, while others such as Blaine Boekhorst and Dennis Armfield are believed to have been told they're good for next season. Levi Casboult, Kade Simpson and Zac Tuohy are in discussions, as is Matthew Wright. Plenty of Lygon Street lattes on the menu for list manager Stephen Silvagni in the next few weeks.

RICHMOND

Open for business?
The Tigers also have a stack of players yet to sign new deals for next season and if you believe the message boards, most of them are welcome to leave and not come back. It won't be anything like that of course but the Tigers will be a fascinating watch amid speculation that one or more of the big five – Alex Rance, Brett Deledio, Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin – could be moved on so that the club can bring in the number of high draft picks needed to regenerate the playing list. You would think Martin and Rance are untouchable, but stranger things have happened in footy. Based on Richmond's insipid end to the season, no player (or coach for that matter) should feel safe.

GOLD COAST

Walk the walk
We've heard big statements from footy clubs in the past. Tom Boyd wasn't going to be traded by GWS at the end of 2014. The same for James Aish who the Brisbane Lions swore black and blue they wouldn't trade at the end of last year. Now it is the turn of the Suns who are demanding two early draft picks for wantaway midfielder Jaeger O'Meara, who is looking for a move interstate. Will they get them? Perhaps not. But they hold a slew of early draft picks in any event, great currency for the wheeling and dealing to come.

FREMANTLE

Erase the hard drives
The Dockers won't win the wooden spoon this year, but virtually nothing else went right for the club in what was a disastrous year. Sometimes footy clubs don't dwell on the match just gone, they just get on with the next one. That should be Ross Lyon's approach, as he consigns 2016 to the rubbish bin and gets on with the new campaign. Freo has sights set on bringing Brad Hill and Cam McCarthy to the club; the mechanisms by which they do the deal while keeping some rare early draft picks will be fascinating.

BRISBANE LIONS

People and culture
The shame for the Lions is that Paul Roos is about to jet off into the Waikiki sun and take a well-earned sabbatical from footy. Roos is a favourite son of Fitzroy, still admits to having an emotional attachment to the Lions, and is precisely who the club needs in this time of need. Roos' strength is bringing in the right type of people to instill a new culture and set a new direction. He did so at the Swans and then at Melbourne, and that's the requirement right now at the Lions. Given Roos' unavailability, the first phone call for the Lions on Monday is to Neil Balme, about to be replaced as head of football at Collingwood. He won't come cheap, but we suspect with the right sort of, ahem, encouragement from the AFL, he'll be interested enough.

• After the siren: Dissecting this year's finals feast

ESSENDON

Bottle the spirit
Even those with hearts of flint would have been moved by the emotional post-match scenes at the MCG on Saturday after the win over Carlton. The Bombers are keen and they're united, and with a swag of their best footballers able to walk back through the doors of the club in just over a fortnight, John Worsfold has plenty to work with as he plans for his second season. No sweltering time trial, no never-ending sprint session in the scorching sun will be too much for Essendon this summer after what the club has been through and it makes for an ideal launching pad for 2017.