Opinion
Sunday’s games included four of last year’s final eight, but as of Saturday night, only two (Collingwood and Brisbane) appeared certain to again make the finals this year, although both the other two still have their fate in their own hands, and a win would shore up their chances of making it.
Boy, what a difference 24 hours can make. Essendon did enough to defeat the Crows by seven points, the Eagles totally decimated the hapless Magpies to such an extent that they are now on shaky ground and the Eagles are not only short-priced to make the finals, but are expected to figure prominently at the pointy end.
Their defeat of Collingwood was an awesome display of hard, skilful team work that left the Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom-less Magpies floundering with no answers in seventh position on the ladder, one position ahead of the Tigers but with a greatly reduced percentage difference between the two.
It says volumes for Collingwood’s defensive efforts in the early part of season when – even after an 11-goal flogging – they have still conceded the fewest points by any team.
That said, it appears that with no Jeremy Howe, Pendlebury, Jordan de Goey or Sidebottom the team would struggle against any team that has a quality ruckman who can win his share of knockouts and deliver them to a quality midfield for fast and precise entry into a forward line that had at least one major go-to player that could mark and kick goals.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Media/Getty Images)
While it is not all doom and gloom, there is no doubt that the Eagles’ current sequence of four wins in a row is giving opposition coaches plenty to think about.
Apart from the four points that the Bombers scored to elevate them to sixth position on the ladder, there was plenty of others reasons to celebrate. Tom Bellchambers managed to play his fourth game for the year, which took him to 133 games, the same number that Courtenay Dempsey managed to play in his 11-year career between 2006 and 2016, and so he joins Dempsey in the death seat: position 100 on the Dons’ top 100 game players list.
An even more impressive achievement however was Josh Kennedy’s seven goals against Collingwood at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Already the Eagles’ greatest goal scorer, Kennedy moved up the top 100 AFL goal scorer’s list past Brendan Fevola, Carlton’s full forward from 1999 to 2009 before finishing his career with one season at Brisbane.
Kennedy’s total goals of 629 took him into the top 30 AFL goal scorers of all time where he remains tied with Hawthorn’s Michael Moncrieff. Moncrieff was recruited from Edithvale-Aspendale and played for the Hawks between 1971 and 1983. He was a member of two premiership teams in 1976 and 1978 and in those two years kicked over 90 goals for the year. In total, Moncrieff was Hawthorn’s leading goal kicker on five occasions.
To add to the party, the Eagles’ Shannon Hurn played his 276th game to draw level with Glen Jakovich as the second greatest game player at the Eagles. Liam Ryan’s goal meant that he drew level with Jakovich on the Eagles’ top 100 goal scorers but much further down that list.
The nail biter between Brisbane and Melbourne was another close encounter that saw Brisbane run out victors and join Port Adelaide on top of the ladder with 24 points, albeit nearly 20 percentage points behind. Despite the loss by Melbourne, it was a good game for Jake Melksham – the highest goal scorer in the game – whose three goals saw him climb higher up the Demons’ top 100 goal scorers list since his recent entry.
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