Brett Kirk of Sydney Swans celebrates with team mate Jarrad McVeigh during the AFL Round 21 match between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs at the SCG on August 21, 2010 in Sydney. Photo by Krystle Wright/Slattery Media Group1
It’s going to be an intriguing final round of the season with four teams in the bottom half of the top eight all fighting for a chance to host a home final.
On paper you would have to say both Fremantle and Sydney are in the box seat, but as we saw on the weekend, anything can happen in football.
Flirting with form the Dockers all but waved the white flag against Hawthorn leaving seven of their best players out of the line-up in Tasmania.
The plan was to rest and revitalise ahead of the match against the Blues.
But the question now is: will that move end up being a stroke of genius or a complete disaster?
Only time will tell.
On the flip side the Hawks came away with a massive confidence booster ahead of their round 22 clash with Collingwood.
But will the win come at a cost?
Not only is defender Grant Birchall likely to miss the finals after injuring his hamstring, a potentially serious knee injury to Luke Hodge threatens to completely derail Hawthorn’s premiership hopes.
If the Hawks are to do the near impossible and win a premiership from outside the top four they won’t be able to do it without their spiritual leader.
This could be season over for Hodge and the Hawks.
Sydney gave their spiritual leader Brett Kirk the perfect finale at the SCG with a memorable victory against the Bulldogs.
The Swans will now take on a resurgent Brisbane at the Gabba for their chance to secure a home final.
A week ago this might have looked like a fait accompli, but the Jonathan Brown led Lions showed against Essendon they will be anything but a pushover.
Based on form though the Swans are playing almost as well as anyone in the competition and if they can knock off the Lions they will head into the finals with a huge amount of momentum.
Now with all of that in mind this is how I think the finals series will look for week 1.
With superior percentage Sydney will beat Brisbane and finish 5th.
Fremantle will beat Carlton at Subiaco and end up finishing 6th behind the Swans only on percentage.
Baring in mind though if the Dockers do have a massive win they could still finish as high as fourth, but that is extremely unlikely as it requires the Bombers to beat the Bulldogs.
Hawthorn will put up a brave fight against Collingwood but fall narrowly short at the final siren and remain in seventh spot.
While Carlton’s loss to the Dockers leaves them languishing in eighth spot.
Therefore the first week of the finals would look like this:
The Swans will play the Blues in Sydney, Fremantle will take on the Hawks at Subiaco, while the Magpies will play the Bulldogs and the Cats will play the Saints both at the MCG.
There is of course a chance of four finals in Melbourne but that would only happen if the Blues and Hawks were both to win, and the Swans were to lose to Brisbane.
Unlikely yes but stranger things have happened.
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