The finals kicked off last weekend, with a couple of predictable results and a couple of surprises.
Geelong had little trouble disposing of St Kilda, winning by 58 points, and progressing straight to the preliminary final. The win was marred by a season ending knee injury to Brent Prismall early in the 1st quarter. He has been a fringe player for the last couple of years, often mentioned as trade bait, who has finally managed to get a regular game in the first team and was playing in his first final. like Matthew Egan last year (and this year), he will miss out on the ultimate prize through injury. Paul Chapman also had a scare with a hamstring twinge but with the extra week's rest should be ok.
The most interesting duel of the game was in the ruck, pitting former Geelong captain Steven King, now a Saint, against the men who squeezed him out, Mark Blake and Brad Ottens. It must have been a bitter experience for King to see his old team march on without him.
The most intriguing and controversial incident came after the game when Matthew Scarlett and Robert Harvey had a verbal altercation with Scarlett appearing to have upset Harvey and the duel Brownlow medallist not at all happy about it. There's been plenty of speculation in the media and on the internet about what was said but no-one has confirmed anything and I suspect it will remain a mystery. Scarlett is a great player but has a reputation for being difficult to get along with. Harvey is seen as a legend of endurance and ability who rarely gets upset so something must have touched a nerve for him to react the way he did.
In the other Qualifying Final Hawthorn thumped the Western Bulldogs who like last year have fallen in a very big hole at the end of the season. Rodney Eade made a mistake a few weeks out from the finals saying they were now concentrating on their first final against Hawthorn. Ever since then they've lost form and lost games and will need a huge reversal to get back on the winner's list this week against a battle-hardened Sydney Swans who play close-down football and wear teams out by attrition. Hawthorn looked good with Lance Franklin continuing to lead the way and excite the media with his virtuoso performances. He is being mooted as the only thing standing in the way of successive Geelong premierships. He is a very good player and can't be taken lightly but I couldn't believe his ego, watching himself on the big screen at the game constantly! He too has a reputation and has been the subject of much rumour and speculation. To be so idolised and feted at such a young age probably only adds to his immaturity and volatility.
In the Elimination Finals, Collingwood surprised everyone by easily accounting for the Crows in Adelaide while Sydney completely scuttled North Melbourne's season at the Olympic Stadium before a paltry crowd of under 20,000.
Collingwood have done well considering the turmoil around the club caused by Didak and Shaw's misadventures and the surprise loss to Fremantle in the final round. They can never be under-estimated but they are inconsistent and even if they beat St Kilda this week I can't see them troubling hawthorn in the preliminary final. They have been a bit of a bogey team for Geelong, inflicting the only defeat the Cats suffered this season, to the amazing tune of 86 points! It was a rare night, the Magpies played like men possessed, laying over 90 tackles, and the Cats were off their game. There would be a certain sweetness in beating Collingwood in a Grand Final but they would be one team who would go into such a game with some confidence.
North Melbourne are the biggest losers of the season. In round 22 they only had to beat a disappointing Port Adelaide at the MCG to secure 4th spot and the double chance. Instead they got belted by Power, dropped to 8th and faced an away final in Sydney on a ground they had never played on. Sydney duly took full advantage of their good fortune and beat the Roos in dreadful conditions with three quarters of shut-down footy and one quarter of a goal-scoring avalanche. Dean Laidley has done well to get North into the finals the last couple of years but they have then fallen away badly. Sydney on the other hand defy all predictions of their demise and downward slide and could still cause an upset.
Semi-Final Tips:
Collingwood to beat St Kilda
Sydney to put the Bulldogs to the sword.
