How do you top that? It wasn’t until deep into Sunday afternoon, as Seven’s commentators were hacking up their last chunks of rhetorical phlegm over Jamie Elliot’s goal in the closing minutes of the biggest game of the home-and-away season, did we know just how this finals thing was going to shake out.
Yes, it’s only a game, but as it says in the Hagakure: “Matters of great concern should be treated lightly. Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.”
So now we come to the final eight, staring with…
Geelong
Two games clear at the top of the ladder, the Cats were five points away from having the league’s stingiest defence, have two generational forwards in Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron – the latter sure to benefit from a week’s rest – and 650 games of midfield experience in Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood. Sure, they’ve a finals record of late that will have many fans nervous, but Geelong simply looks more solid and durable than anyone else in the eight.
Melbourne
There’s a line in Denis Johnson’s Angels that sums up Melbourne’s season so far: “Things hummed, and things trembled. But things held.” Melbourne’s 10-goal win in Brisbane on Friday night was a reminder that the Demons have what it takes to go back-to-back. We were reminded that Max Gawn is sui generis among big men, and on their day Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw have most midfield covered by a considerable margin.
Sydney
Sydney runs into September on a seven-game winning streak. While they didn’t smash the Saints to secure an SCG final, their record at the MCG stacks up. Sydney’s ability to unearth young talent is remarkable, and this season has been driven by the likes of Chad Warner and Callum Mills.
Those who question the worth of the week’s bye before the finals should have a word with Tom Papley. Papley was concussed in the final game of the home-and-away season and entered a mandated 12-day concussion protocol. His season has really hit its strides over the past two weeks and has a game that is built for finals.
Collingwood
William James once observed that the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. With Collingwood it’s safe to say you can overlook all key statistics, bar wins and losses. The Magpies’ joie de vivre and “riding-with-our-hearts” hopefulness has brought about a team that is a win looking for different ways to happen.
For some, Collingwood’s unlikely appearance in the finals will become a proxy war between proponents of their high-octane football that feels like its sustained on a diet of sunshine, and the game’s traditionalists who insist that such a game style inevitably falters this time of year. They tend to view the Pies as one of those Greek heroes who forgets he isn’t a god.
Fremantle
Fremantle is one of the more difficult finals teams to get a read of. A bash-and-crash win in the derby two weeks ago, and a solid away win in Sydney’s west saw them finish the home-and-away season with three wins, rediscovering some of the form that saw them win seven of their first eight matches.
Justin Longmuir is building a very good team, and you suspect that the experience they get from playing finals this year will lay the foundation for further improvement and a genuine tilt at the premiership in the next few years.
Brisbane
Brisbane has come into the finals with better teams that have fallen at just about every hurdle. If Friday night’s pedestrian showing couldn’t have been worse, their morally lethargic skipper ensured it was with a vile insult made to Melbourne’s Harrison Petty. On the surface, this is pathetic. When you dig deeper, it still is. If it is to be a distraction that upsets Brisbane’s September, then perhaps it’ll be in lieu of the penalty the AFL seems incapable of giving.
Richmond
The Tigers have endured losses that would end any other contender’s shot to be a genuine contender. And they have done it in style – dare we say with bursts of energy – with the form of Shai Bolton and Noah Cumberland emblematic of a month of winning football that has seen them exceed 100 points in each game. And then there’s Dustin Martin who looms on the horizon as his hamstring mends.
Western Bulldogs
A last-minute loss by Carlton – not once, but twice – gifted the Bulldogs eighth spot by 0.6%. Their last-minute entry into September may give them the freedom to play without fear – to play like, well… Collingwood. This is certainly the view of the Dogs’ Taylor Duryea who told SEN that it’s now a clean slate.
“That’s all you need sometimes to kickstart something. He [coach Luke Beveridge] has the absolute belief in us and we have it in ourselves, it’s just been a bit of insistency at times. [It] release the shackles a bit, win or go home mentality which we were familiar with last year and now we get to do it again.” And so do we.
