St Kilda coach Ross Lyon addresses his players at quarter time during the AFL Round 22 match between the Melbourne Demons and the St Kilda Saints at the MCG. Slattery Images
Another home and away season is over and now the finals await. Hawthorn are the first premier since 1999 not to make it into the finals the following year to defend their title. 2009 was never the Year of the Hawk.
The Hawks will be the first to concede their season never got out of first gear and Buddy Franklin’s suspension just about summed it up perfectly. They will be back next year though.
Gone But Not Forgotten
There will a number of great footballers who won’t be back. Kane Johnson, Michael O’Loughlin, Adam Simpson, Scott Lucas, Brendan Lade, Mark Coughlan, Nathan Brown and Chad Fletcher are just some of the big names who won’t be returning in 2010.
It doesn’t matter that many of these players played AFL for at least 10 years. It whistled by in the blink of an eye.
Triple Treat?
Given that careers go by so quickly, do we appreciate what we see in Adam Goodes?
Even though he plays for a side that hasn’t had the best of years, that hasn’t stopped him from being one of the favourites for this year’s Brownlow medal.
He is one of eight players to win the medal twice. Only four players have won it three times and each one of them is a member of the AFL Team of the Century. That is heady company for Goodes. Is he that good or is this just another example that the medal doesn’t really mean anything?
Lloyd’s Legacy
There has been much angst since Matthew Lloyd took out Brad Sewell. It swung the momentum the Bombers’ way but will Lloyd be able to take his place in the game against the Crows? Or will the tribunal rub him out?
The Hawks will be out for justice and not just because Buddy was rubbed out for a similar offence. They aren’t fans of the way Lloyd goes about his business and there are many out there who feel the same way.
He is accused of being somewhat of a diver and one who stages for free kicks. He has 926 goals from 270 games and in all likelihood 2010 will be his last season. He has been a fantastic player for Essendon and given that AFL is a team sport, you can’t want anything more than that. He wouldn’t care less if he is liked by opposition fans or players.
Looking Ahead
There are two interstate finals the first week and won’t be any more thereafter. Essendon has had recent success at AAMI and Carlton won earlier this year up at the Gabba so the travelling won’t be an issue.
It will come down to whichever team settles down more. Conceivably either or both of the Magpies or the Dogs could spring an upset. Magpies-Saints will be absolutely massive.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
C'mon David, that's not the way the world works. A player from your own team would have to be a mass murderer before anyone from Carlton could hold a candle up to them!
David Wiseman
Roar Guru
I don't think Adelaide will be able to win three finals in a row on the road, even though all of them will only be in Melbourne. Thus I would say that just four have a chance. I still think the Saints and Cats are a class above but in the finals I'm not going to rule out anything. St Kilda have been playing finals football the whole year and so should be well equipped to take on the Pies. Re Lloyd - answer me this. How would you feel about him if he were playing for another team such as Carlton. Would you still think so highly of him?
Michael C
Guest
too right, alas, my Rooboys weren't as prominent as I'd've liked - and certainly most the time for individuals, if your team is out of contention from mid year on - the level of closely following the top 8 and all the ructions there is diminished. This last couple of rounds were beauties though.....oh....yeah....and North won the last 2 as well. Okay, say no more!! carn North Ballarat!!
simonjzw
Roar Pro
And what a cracker of a home and away season 2009 was!!! One of the best I can remember. Not so many years ago I was worried about the spectacle the game was producing but no such worries this year. Bring on the finals and more champagne football please.
Michael C
Guest
certainly, the greatest danger of going out in straight sets appears to lie with StKilda or Collingwood, with the loser vs Adelaide. Adelaide just have that mix of hard nosed seasoned pro's in the midfield and around the ground plus x factors up forward. Maric in the ruck has been very serviceable - -no star, but, held down the role most of the year.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Collingwood going out in straight sets is definitely on the cards.
Mattay
Guest
I think taking 3rd spot from the Magpies was definitely the gameplan from the Bulldogs. I have no doubt they believe their best route to a GF is via 3rd spot than 4th. For one, I would imagine they'd believe they have a better chance of beating an injury-hit Geelong than an underperforming Saints. Secondly, if they do lose this weekend, it's against Crows or Essendon, and if form is any guide, it would be a match up with the Crows. Yes, the Bulldogs have a good recent record against the Crows, but I would imagine they are the one team the top 4 want to avoid. A loss in round one will see the Dogs play either Carlton or Brisbane, and I think they'd be fairly comfortable with that. For all the hype surrounding Collingwood's recent form, I'm predicting them to go out in straight sets. Whereas, if they finished 3rd, I would say they'd be Prelim certainties. That Brad Johnson goal may well be the start of the end of their 2009 campaign.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
It was an interesting game yesterday with the Bullies taking on the Pies, already firmly ensconced in the top 4, the Bulldogs would overtake the Pies with a 22+ win and take 3rd possie (which they did, grabbing a 24pt win with less than a minute to spare). But the interesting bit is - who really wanted 3rd spot? It's a difficult question to answer - but you'd really want 3rd spot if you thought you were a greater than 50% chance of defeating Geelong in the first week of finals. Why? Because the team that loses to Geelong, would inevitably come through to the Prelim to play St Kilda (the most probably scenario). Collingwood is now in 4th, they will play St Kilda, but that will be the only time they need to meet till grand final day, so they now come through the finals (assuming they get through week 2), going into a prelim against Geelong or the Bullies - and many pies fans will be quite happy about that. Anyway, it was an odd first half, the crowd of 48 thou was subdued, and the game was a bit like a basketball game - holding onto the ball, keeping possession, taking it from one side to the other, short passing, looking for an opening in the scoring zone, keeping contests for the ball to a bare minimum. The Bullies had a two goal break at half time, but Collingwood scored the first 4 goals of the 2nd half to bust the game open. The Bullies then changed tack clogged up the pies' forward line, stopped the scoring and there was one defining moment that brought them back to life. After a hard ball win around centre-half back, a series of quick hanballs released Eagleton on the defensive side of the centre - he had absolutely no one in front of him, and with only Josh Fraser chasing, he decided to put the pedal down, run it 50 metres and split the sticks from 45m. We pretty much controlled the game after that goal - but winning by a sufficient margin was left till the final minute of the game.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
The Mcintyre system also hurt the appeal of finals. 1 vs 8 and 2nd vs 7 isnt as exciting as 1st vs 4 and 2nd vs 3rd thats for sure. Then by the time the good teams were playing each other in th semi fianls we ahd allready seen them play a couple of finals games so it was easier to pick their finals form. DOn't get me wrong their stilll finals but the way they do it now is much more exciting.
Redb
Roar Guru
LK, It's one of the reasons the McIntyre system was booted, at least the top 4 and bottom 4 play each other first week. Redb
Pippinu
Roar Guru
LK Maybe, but that's nothing unusual. To be honest, any of Essendon, Brisbane and Carlton would give themselves a chance agaisnt the Bullies in a one off final (one of the latter two will play the Bullies or Geelong in the 2nd week of finals). Since the bottom 4 play each other first (thereyby eliminating two of the weaker teams), I don't think we need to be more worried than normal about blow outs. There's always at least one blow out every finals - don't be to surprised too see one actually going counter to the odds.
Redb
Roar Guru
DW, I hope you retract your earlier article where you declared the season is just a two horse race. We have 5 with a realistic chance of winning the big one. Stk, Geel, WB, Coll and Adel. And your points about Lloyd are rubbish. Lloyd is tough player he may have Hollywood looks but he has always put his body on the line. I was at the game last year where he and Judd went for the ball, reached it at the same time and almost knocked each other out. Lloyd attacked the ball in the same scenario with Sewell, unfortuantely Sewell got their first and put his head down to pick up the ball. His natural ability as a great forward has been undermined for years by hack defenders - diver my arse. Redb
LK
Guest
This year there seems to be a gulf in class between teams 1-5 vs 6-8. There could be some really ugly scorelines this finals series. I hope I'm wrong though, from a neutral fan perspective.
Redb
Roar Guru
Would have preferred Collingwood v Geelong as a neutral, the maggies really fancy themselves against the Cats. The last time they played in finals it was the 2007 Prelim with 98,002 Cats won by 5 points. One of the greatest games I've ever attended as a neutral. Redb
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Many interesting scenarios emerge over the next few weeks. The bullies would give themselves a starting chance agaisnt Geelong this weekend. If they get that far, they are odds on to meet either Collingwood or Adelaide, both would be tough and highly intriguing prelims. If the Bullies meet Adelaide, it will give club captain Johnno the opportunity to finally erase the memories of 97-98 that probably haunt him to the present day. If the Bullies meet the Pies, they will be hoping to do this to them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zflwJ4Tu-N0&NR=1