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Swans will be too good for premiership contenders

Roar Guru
1st September, 2014
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Roar Guru
1st September, 2014
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1841 Reads

September 1 means two things, the start of Spring, and the beginning of the AFL finals, which morphs everyone and anyone into an expert on who will make the grand final, and who will triumph.

I am part of that throng, and here are my thoughts on the eight teams that have a chance at glory.

Sydney Swans
I see it as Sydney’s flag to lose. They have the best list of all the contenders and are supported by a near perfect run into the finals. Their strengths revolve around an exceptional midfield, an attack that can make nightmares come true and an underrated defence. Within their group, there is an unshakeable belief fuelled by a relentless desire for success. They have many proven big game performers and will take a power of beating this year.

Key Man: Lance Franklin. It would not surprise me to see Buddy run amok in this finals series.

Verdict: My favourites for the premiership.

Hawthorn Hawks
There is little doubt that the Hawks have the team to win the flag, and seal back-to-back premierships. They have class on every line,  made more threatening by the tactics of the best coach in the game, Alastair Clarkson. Their main strength is their versatility which confuses the opposition and makes match-ups so hard to plan for. Of concern going into the finals is the injury to Cyril Rioli, which robs the team of real x-factor, as well as leaving them vulnerable on the outside.

Key Man: Hawks’ defence. Brian Lake, Josh Gibson and Ben Stratton have missed a combined 34 games this season and are the pillars of the defence. Now that they’re all fit they could prove decisive.

Verdict: Will make the grand final, but fall to Sydney.

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Geelong Cats
The Cats are a team that always inspire doubt, but then punish you for this by getting it done when it most matters. Their strength revolves around their many on-field generals, who have been there and done that, and always lift when it matters. Their defence, marshalled by the vastly underrated Harry Taylor, is the team’s strength with its x-factor being their strength on the outside.

Jets like Steven Motlop, Allen Christensen and Mitch Duncan can cut teams to ribbons with their combination of line-breaking ability and skill. The main concern for the Cats is the reliance on Tom Hawkins for their goals. He kicked 62 for the season. If he is shut down, there is no other trusted big forward to fall back on with the team relying on small and mid-sized forwards, or midfielders to kick a winning score. This rarely cuts it in finals.

Key Man: Steven Motlop. The names of Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins and Steven Johnson are easy to list, but Motlop, with his magical skills, takes Geelong to another level.

Verdict: Their journey ends in the preliminary final.

Fremantle Dockers
The Dockers could gatecrash these finals as they’re starting to fire on all cylinders. They are faced with a virtual mission impossible in the first week, playing Sydney away, but overcame a similar challenge last year, and triumphed. If they can do the same this year it will give them a week off, with a home preliminary final in Perth and a huge chance of winning the flag.

Their strengths lie in their midfield, which is arguably the best in the game, supported by a defensive game plan that suffocates the life out of oppositions. If their attack can give support to evergreen spearhead Matthew Pavlich, then the premiership cup heading west is a very real possibility.

Key Man: Luke McPharlin. The fitness of their back line general could be the difference between them threatening, or seriously challenging.

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Verdict: If Mcpharlin was fit, I would be inclined to tip the Dockers to beat Sydney this week, and playoff for the flag after winning a home preliminary final. But his absence leaves a hole too big to fill against the Sydney attack, meaning they will lose this week.

Port Adelaide
The Power’s missed their chance to steal fourth place, and with it a crack at Sydney, after losing to Fremantle in the last round. One can see them winning easily in week one, at home against the Tigers, but being long odds to beat the loser of the Sydney versus Fremantle clash away from home in week two.

Verdict: Out in week two.

Essendon Bombers
The Dons are a team that are very strong in their top 10 players, but the quality of the rest of their 22 drops away alarmingly.

Verdict: North will knock them out in week one.

North Melbourne
The AFL’s Jekyll and Hyde team, with their best being exquisite, but their bad being horrid.

Verdict: I can see them beating Essendon, but being ousted in the second week.

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Richmond Tigers
The Tigers enjoyed a fairytale run to make the finals, but, as in all fairytales, there is a big bad meanie.

Verdict: Port Adelaide will play that role, smashing them in the first week.

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