Roar Guru
Opinion
We’re down to just five rounds left, a maximum of 20 points to be won.
Those outside the eight must rely on those above losing enough games for them catch up, plus they have to make up the difference in percentage. This is what makes it difficult for the four wannabes currently holding positions nine to 12 on the ladder.
While the result of the Richmond versus Fremantle game on Friday night could immediately open the door for the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, they still have their own dragons to slay.
The Bulldogs have top-two team Melbourne at Docklands on Saturday night, whereas St Kilda travel to Perth to take on the West Coast Eagles in the last game of the round. The result of this game against the improving Eagles could see them as high as eighth on the ladder or as low as 12th – it all depends on the other results on the weekend.
With a two-game buffer from the chasing pack, both Sydney and Carlton take on teams no longer in contention and should be looking at teams ahead of them rather than securing a place in the eight.
Hawthorn, who earlier this year secured their 1000th win, will be hunting another milestone at Blundstone Arena in Hobart on Saturday, when they’ll be looking for their 100th win against North Melbourne, their first century of victories against another AFL team.
Port Adelaide will need to reverse their 35-point loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park in Round 10 to keep their hopes alive, and Gold Coast also have a job in front of them in their game against Brisbane at the Gabba. It’s hard to imagine that either Power or the Suns will have any chance if they lose this weekend, but the surprise results that seem to turn up every weekend may change the dynamics again – and the Power are desperate, which could tell against the Cats.
Collingwood are faced with a real danger game. They’ve had a long winning sequence since Anzac Day but will meet a vastly improved Essendon compared to that day in April, and they’re on a mini streak of their own. But winning runs don’t last forever.
In terms of traditional milestones this round, not many excite. The best AFL traditional milestone is 100, and five players are potentially able to achieve that mark, although it is doubtful that Dean Kent (Melbourne and St Kilda) will ever achieve it.
For the other four, however, it is a significant achievement, as only one in every five AFL/VFL players last this long. Four of the players are playing for at least their second club and are a long way away from claiming top-100 status at a club level.
Five more may play their 50th games, but the two most significant milestones are Taylor Adams’s 150th game for Collingwood and ex-Collingwood player Jarrod Witts’s 100th game for Gold Coast. Last week Adams drew level with Collingwood original Dick Condon and Des Healey.
Condon, player No. 2 in Collingwood’s first game in 1897, was described as “probably the greatest player of his era” and a “truly enigmatic footballer” who regularly ran foul of officials and teammates and was often suspended, playing only 149 games and kicking 101 goals.
Des Healey was involved in a sensational incident in the 1955 grand final when Melbourne’s Bluey Adams came off the bench and collided with him with only three minutes left in the game. Although only 27, Healey never played league football again.
Elsewhere, Jarrod Witts will be the 16th player to play 100 games for the Suns.