- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With 12 teams still in the hunt for a finals berth and only six rounds to go, Round 18 is shaping up as another crucial round for all teams still in contention.
Four of the nine games involve teams that both have aspirations to play in September; however, results over the past few weeks – including North Melbourne’s brave effort against Collingwood last week – show that there is no such thing as an easy win for sides facing those out of the race.
Round 18 is also shaping up as a statistician’s dream, with all nine current AFL top 100 game players likely to take the field, with six of them disturbing the current rankings.
The most senior of the top 100 – both in age and games played – is Fremantle’s David Mundy, who is now just four games adrift of the ninth-placed Adam Goodes for most VFL/AFL games. Another top 20 player, Scott Pendlebury, will play his 350th game, joining Eddie Betts (Carlton & Adelaide) and Doug Hawkins (Footscray & Fitzroy) on that number.
Lance “Buddy” Franklin will become a top 30 player, joining Fitzroy’s Kevin Murray and David Cloke (Richmond & Collingwood) on 333 games. Travis Boak, Jack Riewoldt, Tom Hawkins and the newest member, Shane Edwards will also all advance further up the list.
The situation is similar with the current 10 top 100 AFL goal kickers. Tom Lynch is not playing and Josh Kennedy and Tom Hawkins’ targets of seven and 10 goals respectively to move up the list appear unlikely, but for the other seven elite players, a one or two-goal haul will see them advance up the rankings.
One goal is needed by Jack Riewoldt and Taylor Walker, whilst Franklin, Jeremy Cameron, Jack Darling, Luke Breust and Jack Gunston all require two goals to improve their ranking.
Scott Pendlebury (Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Friday night’s game at Docklands between the 9th and 10th teams on the ladder, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs, will make the task of making finals for the losing side so much more difficult.
Both sides were convincingly beaten last week, so the result will hinge on which team can tun it around quickest.
The three day games on Saturday – Collingwood visiting Adelaide, GWS hosting Brisbane and Richmond playing North Melbourne – should see the potential finalists as winners. But – once again – both the Lions and Tigers lost games last week that they were expected to win, and the Magpies just snuck home against the lowly North; so stand by for another surprise result this week.
The two Saturday night games involve four teams highly likely to be playing finals this year in Fremantle, Sydney, Carlton and Geelong, so the evening is more about deciding the pecking order on the ladder, which has a huge influence on a team’s chances. Stand by for some unrelenting football.
On Sunday, the Northern Territory game is shaping as a must-win game for the Power against the now more vulnerable Melbourne.
With Port Adelaide coming off a good win and the Demons losing to Geelong last week, the sparks could fly.
The match at the MCG presents a similar scenario, with a good win by the Hawks and a bad loss by the Eagles. The main interest in this game may be the performances of the four top 100 goal kickers playing: Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling (West Coast) and Luke Breust annd Jack Gunston (Hawthorn).
Gold Coast will need to win the final game of the round, but it won’t be easy against a much improved Essendon. Can they keep their finals hopes alive?
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.