AFL Round Up – Results, Recaps and Finals

The landscape of the 2018 AFL finals series has been revealed and confirmed following the 23rd round of the season.

The final round started in Adelaide on Friday night with Port Adelaide clinging on to a faint hope of September action, but their finals aspirations were quickly crushed by Essendon beginning the game with a six goal first quarter. In his final game for the Bombers and potentially his career, Brendan Goddard notched up 27 disposals and led his charges, along with solid performances from Zach Merrett and Devon Smith. A bitterly disappointed Port Adelaide crowd didn’t have much to get excited about with the exception of a game high 32 possessions to Chad Wingard, while Justin Westhoff kicked five majors for the Power.

Geelong and Adelaide enjoyed victories in boring one-sided affairs against Gold Coast and Carlton respectively. The Cats march on towards finals football while Adelaide are left to pick up the pieces of a failed 2018 campaign. No doubt the losers of these matches will be back on the training track before most other clubs as they turn their attention to next season.

The clear game of the round was Richmond v Western Bulldogs. The Dogs were gallant in defeat and probably deserved to win in some respects, but the class of the Tigers shone through with the likes of Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin being major contributors to the three-point win. Jack Macrae had a day out for the losing side with 43 disposals.

Sydney suffered a nine-point loss to Hawthorn in a tight affair at the SCG on Saturday night. The Swans were without stars Lance Franklin and Luke Parker who were both late withdrawals with coach John Longmire not willing to risk them given that finals are only two weeks away. For the Hawks it meant securing a top four finish. It was a thrilling encounter with both teams expected to be prominent in the finals.

At Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon North Melbourne cruised to a 23-point win over St Kilda. The Roos were a class above in the contest and after an impressive first quarter, cruised for the remaining stanzas. Attention turned to Ben Brown as he attempted to secure his first Coleman Medal but only managed 3.2 to finish the season with 61 goals, falling short to Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt by 4 goals.

Across town, Melbourne Demons easily accounted for the GWS Giants at the MCG winning by 45 points. The Dees had been referred to as flat track bullies with a 0-7 record against the top nine sides prior to defeating West Coast in Western Australia a fortnight ago and again claimed another finals bound scalp in the last round.

West Coast have fought through adversity in the second half of the season with a series of major injuries and suspensions to secure a home final with Collingwood, after defeating an improving Brisbane Lions outfit by 26 points. Jamie Cripps, Jack Redden, Luke Shuey and Jack Darling were star performers for the Eagles with Allen Christensen named best afield for the Lions.

Whilst this week means curtains for the bottom 8 teams, the top half of the table will enjoy a week to rest and recover before their finals campaigns begin. Here is a quick look at the winners and losers so far in 2018.

The ‘already winners’ of 2018:

Melbourne – The Dees missed out on finals in 2017 on percentage and atoned this season finishing in fifth position and will play finals for the first time since 2006. Melbourne will be calling on all the experience of Jordan Lewis to help the young side and send the Cats packing.

Collingwood – Finishing 2017 with only five teams below them on the ladder, the Pies showed supporters that they could again go to another level in the final series after winning 15 games in the minor round. Collingwood look set to welcome back several key players but face a tough assignment first up against West Coast in Perth.

The ‘big losers’ in 2018:

Carlton – Continued on their merry losing way amounting only two wins in the minor round. The Blues will be looking forward to the return of Sam Docherty next season to assist Patrick Cripps and Charlie Curnow as they attempt to rise from the ashes.

Adelaide – Suffered a fall from grace after finishing the 2017 season as minor round premiers before falling short to the Tiges in the big dance. 2018 began with the squad in the news for all the wrong reasons after a well-documented preseason camp. Injuries curtailed the season early with Brad Crouch, Rory Sloane and Taylor Walker missing large portions of the season.

Port Adelaide – The Power were on track for a top two finish at the half way mark of the season but suffered a horrific second half of the season losing six of their last seven games. At the beginning of the season they recruited well and looked like they could match it with the best teams but fell well short. Port could be dealt a severe blow with star Jared Polec set to join a Victorian based team in 2019.

The first week of finals will see the following teams battle it out for premiership glory

Richmond v Hawthorn – Thursday, September 6 @ 7:20pm (MCG)

Melbourne v Geelong – Friday, September 7 @ 7:50pm (MCG)

Sydney v GWS Giants – Saturday, September 8 @ 4:20pm (SCG)

West Coast v Collingwood – Saturday, September 8 @ 8:10pm (OS)

Richmond flag favourites at $2.35

By: Michael Buckley