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Not since 2006 has there been as many as four teams miss the finals in the following year.
By finals time in 2007 Fremantle, St Kilda, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs had made way for Geelong, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne and Hawthorn, who had all risen from the bottom half of the ladder to claim four of the top five positions prior to the finals.
Geelong had finished clear leader on top of the ladder and Port Adelaide had claimed second position on percentage over the West Coast Eagles.
The Cats and the Power subsequently played off for the premiership, with Geelong winning comfortably.
Fast-forward to 2021 and we again have a newbie claim their position at the top of the ladder in their first year back in. However, the other newbies could claim only the bottom three positions in the eight.
For those teams ousted this year, Richmond fans will feel the pain, having won three premierships in the last four seasons, whereas West Coast Eagles can only claim the one flag despite making finals every year since 2015.
Six of the eight teams left in the competition have won a premiership this century, with Greater Western Sydney never having won one and Melbourne last winning in 1964, but those looking for omens will realise that 1964 was the last time Melbourne had finished on top of the ladder and the Olympics were held in Tokyo.
Port Adelaide will be the only team able to claim a home-ground advantage in Round 1 of the finals when they play minor premiers Geelong at Adelaide Oval, the site of their triumph over the Cats by 41 points in Round 13.
On display will be three AFL top-100 game players: Joel Selwood, Travis Boak and Tom Hawkins. All will move up the games-played ladder significantly as a result of this first final. Selwood will play his 332nd match and join legend Leigh Matthews, Drew Petrie, Corey Enright and Justin Madden in the top 30.
Travis Boak, who broke into the top 100 this year, will play his 304th game, matching the tallies of current Richmond champion Jack Riewoldt and former players Jimmy Bartel and Shane Crawford.
Tom Hawkins will join a list of ten players – including Carlton’s Marc Murphy, who retired in the second last round this year – on 300 games.
This was formerly an iconic number to reach, and many played on until they got there and then retired. As a result, the exactly 300-game total is on its way to becoming the most crowded hot seat in history. Win or lose – and barring injury – Hawkins will move on to 301 games next week courtesy of the double chance, leaving the other ten players holding down position 88 on the list.
That will mean the only players between them and the bottom of the list are Lenny Hayes (St Kilda) and Wayne Campbell (Richmond) on 297 games and tied for 98th position, while Tiger Jack Titus, who played his last game 78 years ago, and North Melbourne dual Brownlow Medalist Keith Greig are tied in 100th spot on 294 games.
With the top 100 retirements already announced and the failure of Fremantle, Richmond, Collingwood and West Coast to make the finals, there is only one other AFL top-100 game player in action in the finals this weekend: Sydney’s Lance Franklin. Buddy will join Brisbane’s Marcus Ashcroft on 318 games.
Of course the main interest in Franklin will be whether he can kick eight goals to reach his 1000, but other AFL top-100 goal kickers on display this weekend are Geelong’s Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.
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