How important are early wins?

A brilliant article on ESPN by The Arc’s Matt Cowgill, looking at how much we can predict from early wins/losses:

Think it’s okay for your club to slowly work its way into the season? Think again. Statistics show the early rounds do more than any other point in the season to set teams on a path to finals – or not.

Source: Footy Forensics Statistics prove it is crunch time already in the 2017 AFL season