In a match that will have a huge bearing on the top four (and from history, therefore, the winner of the AFL Flag), West Coast travel to Hawthorn for a big Friday night encounter before the finals. Join us for live scores from 7:50pm AEST (5:50pm WA).
The equation is straight-forward for Hawthorn. The Hawks will secure top spot with a win, and are safely in the top four.
The fourth-placed Eagles will be very keen to notch a win and secure the ‘double’ finals bonus of a top four spot. If they don’t, Collingwood are on the same points on the ladder and may get over them if they win.
As usual, the Eagles are terrific at home and have shown rare form beating Geelong and Collingwood. Now they head to the MCG – a different proposition entirely.
The last game between the two was a dour affair on a slippery night in round four – the Eagles winning at home with just five goals. It’ll be far more high-scoring at the ‘G tonight you’d expect and the travelling Eagles will need at least triple that you’d expect if they are to get over favs Hawthorn.
The Hawks have star Cyril Rioli back – although there is rumoured he’ll be out as one of Hawthorn’s ‘late’ changes – and Buddy Franklin is on the field, which should help them get close to their average of 123 points per game. If Rioli plays, it’s the Hawks best team on paper, playing at home.
They were very slow to begin with against Sydney last start, although came good superbly – but there may be some hope for the Eagles.
West Coast probably can’t stop them up front, so they’ll need to score their own huge numbers. They had 14 goalscorers last week – they’ll need similar this week.