It seems that just moments since the dust settled on the MCG, AFL teams are beginning preparations for 2012. Not much more than a week into November, players - especially the youngest in the squads - are hitting the track and "getting another pre-season under their belt."

It is at this point in the year where confidence booms, and excitement and hope reign. In the coming months, you will hear the phrases "tearing the track up" and "training the house down" more times than is healthy.

Indeed, a look at most club websites and Twitter accounts will inform you that players are already feeling positive about next year, and their playing lists are most definitely in better shape than at the same point 12 months ago.

North Melbourne tells us that Jack Ziebell has already "gone to another level" and that Sam Wright and Lachlan Hansen are "dominating" the team's pre-season runs. On Monday, Adelaide's new coach Brenton Sanderson watched his new recruits go around like "cut cats." Over in Abu Dhabi, Carlton's David Ellard assures his fans that their squad is "heading in the right direction for next season."

St Kilda's Arryn Siposs reckons "the vibe around the club feels really good, I think everyone is excited about the year ahead." At Essendon, they've predicted the "toughest pre-season to date." Fremantle is proudly sporting a "beefed up Stephen Hill" and revealed that new coach Ross Lyon has implemented "a regime that has seen the benchmark shifted." And Tom Rockliff ensures us that Brisbane has developed a "good competitive environment and in the new year it will go up another notch."

Now, I don't mean to sound cynical. I'm not for a second trying to detract from the painstaking training that the players go through to get ready for a full AFL season. Just reading about Carlton's 6am starts and Adelaide's back-to-back running tests makes my muscles hurt.

I'm also not trying to suggest that what is said is untrue. Jack Ziebell probably has gone to another level and his fitness probably is "a long way ahead of where it's been in his previous three pre-seasons." That's only natural as a player moves out of his teens and matures into his body.

But I do want to take this opportunity to remind people that it's perhaps a good idea to take what they read with a grain of salt. Teams will milk the excitement that the pre-season breeds for all it's worth. We will continue to hear about the promising progress of youngsters and the remarkable durability of senior players. There'll be 18 teams talking themselves up before the start of the season.

After all, now, while the slate is clean and they're all level in the premiership race, is their best chance for a membership drive.

The truth is, they can't all improve. For every team that rises up the ladder, another has to slide. We can't know which team that will be yet, but one thing I can guarantee you is that they will have sounded pretty confident in February.

So by all means, get excited about your team's progress. As the season approaches, speculate away as to which kids will break into the first team. But if you are planning to pin your hopes, and predictions, on those sugar-coated comments coming out of the club, just remember that the other 17 clubs are sounding just as confident before the first bounce. And that 18 into eight doesn't go.