The top eight is almost settled, with only one club likely to miss out to Essendon. This week’s games will help to define which team that will be.
The round kicks off with the Friday night game at the SCG between Sydney and Collingwood. These two teams have met more often than Josh Kennedy has played AFL games for the Swans, with the Pies in the ascendancy in the win-loss ratio (141-84-1).
Kennedy is in doubt for the match, and if he doesn’t play, it will make Sydney’s task much more difficult. If he does play, it will be his 223rd game for Sydney and match the tally of Jared Crouch, who was famous for his run of 194 consecutive games, the sixth longest streak in AFL history.
Dane Rampe won’t be climbing any goalposts this week, but he will be climbing the Sydney games-played list to join Joe Scanlan and Bernie Evans on 148.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Scanlan was originally from Leopold and captained the club for three years during his nine-season career from 1923 to 1931.
Bernie Evans was a rover who won the best and fairest in 1984, but refused to move to Sydney when South Melbourne was relocated to the Harbour City in 1986. He finished his career at Carlton in 1988.
At Collingwood, Mason Cox’s slow recovery from injury will mean Ben Reid plays again, and this will take him to equal 98th position on the Magpies’ top 100 game players list with two famous names: Ray Shaw and James Clement.
It will also raise the bar to top 100 entry at Collingwood to 146 games, meaning the end of Frank Murphy’s run as a member of the club, 85 years after his retirement.
Ray Shaw – who two weeks ago saw his son Heath break into the AFL all-time top 100 game players – captained Collingwood in 1979 and 1980, having previously won the best and fairest in 1978 to add to his JJ Liston trophy as best player in the VFA in 1973.
Shaw is also the father of Rhyce, who like his brother Heath, started his career at the Magpies but moved to Sydney in 2009 and gave the Swans 143 games of serviceable football.
James Clement was one of my favourite players and I was delighted when Fremantle cleared him after the end of the 2000 season to Collingwood after five years, 84 games and 36 goals at the Dockers.
His closing speed as a defender was remarkable and won him two Copeland Trophies in 2004 and 2005 and All-Australian selection in 2005. He also played in two grand final losses and retired at the age of 31 after suffering serious injury.
Collingwood would be expected to win this game, but as each week passes their next loss gets closer, and Sydney – who are virtually playing an elimination final each week – have shown in the past that they are a worthy foe and should not be taken lightly.
I predict Collingwood will win, but only by a narrow margin of 15 points.
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