Australian Football

Round 22

Premiership Season 2016 - Round 22 Review

Total Crowd 253,460 (Avg 28,162)

22 rounds gone with one to go and the final is eight is finally settled, as most thought it was for a vast majority of the year. Well, almost settled. It remains mathematically possible for St Kilda to sneak into eighth spot at the expensive of North Melbourne but it would require the Saints to win by about 120 points against Brisbane and the Kangaroos to go down to GWS by about the same margin. While a huge win by St Kilda over is not beyond the realms of possibility, it's virtually impossible to imagine North losing by such a margin, even allowing for its poor recent form. 

The 'battle for the top eight' party-poopers were the Demons - or perhaps the Blues, depending on your point of view, with Carlton's defeat of the Dees ending Melbourne's hopes of scraping through. Had Melbourne won, a win to the Dees at Kardinia Park next Saturday and a loss by North to GWS might have seen the Demons displace the Roos. 

With those hopes dashed, there's still plenty off interest in the battle for places within the eight. In fact, while North's spot in eight place is locked (barring a Saints' miracle), every other place is up for grabs. With only one game separating Sydney at the head of the ladder from the seventh-placed Western Bulldogs, some sides could finish anywhere from first to seventh by the time round 23 is done and dusted in a few days time. 

The last-round scenario was set up by several results in round 22, the first of which saw West Coast knock Hawthorn from the top of the ladder, the Eagles jumping out to an early lead and keeping the Hawks at bay for the rest of the night on Friday to record a 25-point win and bring themselves back into top-four contention. But just as their premiership hopes rocket, they also potentially nosedived as Nic Naitanui landed awkwardly in the final term and ruptured an ACL, an injury that will see him out for up to 12 months. The Hawks also suffered a similar severe blow with their own ruckman Jonathon Ceglar doing an ACL in the same quarter. Hawthorn now hangs on to a place in the top four by a thread, with its own ruck stocks depleted. 

On Saturday at Bellerive Oval in Hobart, North Melbourne took on Sydney having won eight games in a row at the venue and with a chance to ensure a place in the finals but the Kangaroos couldn't quite match it with the Swans, succumbing by nine points. While the result left North vulnerable, it took Sydney to the top of the ladder at the expensive of Hawthorn.

Another nine-point result played out at the MCG, where Richmond hosted St Kilda, but by accounts of most who witnessed the match, it was not a match to remember. The game was marred by poor skills and turnovers and both sides struggled to find the big sticks. In the end the Saints won with a score of just 55 and the aggregate match total of 101 was the lowest of the season. 

At the Sydney Showground, GWS put behind it the disappointment of last week's heartbreaking last-second loss to West Coast at the same venue to put Fremantle to the sword. The Giants were only 20 points ahead at the long break but put on the afterburners in the final two quarters, holding the Dockers to just two behinds while adding 11 goals to win by 92 points and need the top-four dream alive. 

Saturday night's matches produced a thrashing in Melbourne and a thriller in Adelaide. At Docklands in Melbourne Collingwood jumped out of the blocks to kick seven goals to nil against Gold Coast in the first quarter and added five goals to one in the second to blow the Suns out of the water and lead by 68 points at half time. The Pies went into cruise mode after that but still run out big winners, the final margin being 71 points. 

At the Adelaide Oval, few expected Port Adelaide to give the Crows too many concerns but, as with most Showdowns, the two teams turned on a cracker of a contest. The Power were in front at quarter time and within striking distance for most of the match, the result only decided by a late Eddie Betts special from the boundary line in his 250th match, as Adelaide sneaked home by 15 points. 

Sunday's first match was the one that killed off Melbourne's finals chances. Carlton got away to an early lead and while the Demons closed the gap at various stages during the afternoon at the MCG, they never really looked like winning and the Blues prevailed by 20 points, ending a nine-game losing streak and the Demons' last hopes of a place in the eight.

Geelong travelled to the Gabba and looked like making short work of the Brisbane Lions after scoring seven goals to one in the first quarter. Brisbane had other ideas, though and had closed the gap to just 15 points at the long break. Sadly, the Lions couldn't maintain the challenge into the second half and the Cats ran away to a 10-goal win to remain in the top four.

The last game of the round pitted Essendon against the Western Bulldogs. This was a match the Dogs were expected to win comfortably but they have made a habit of turning such games into close ones in recent weeks. Fortunately for the hearts of Dogs' fans, this time around the red, white and blue had a comfortable 40-point win on the back of a six-goal-to-one first quarter. The win kept alive the Bulldogs' chances of a top-four finish.

And so it all comes down to round 23, with six of the nine games to decide exactly where the teams within the top eight will finish - seven if you believe in the possibility of the St Kilda miracle. It should be a fascinating final round from the first bounce of Friday night's Adelaide v West Coast game until the final siren sounds in Sunday's Fremantle v Western Bulldogs match.

Leading goalkickers after round 22

75 - Josh Kennedy, WCo (5)
67 - Lance Franklin, Syd (0)
65 - Tom Lynch, GCo (2), Eddie Betts, Adel (5)
59 - Josh Jenkins, Adel (2)
48 - Jeremy Cameron, GWS (3)
47 - Jack Riewoldt, Rich (1), Jack Gunston, Haw (2)
46 - Tom Hawkins, Geel (2)
43 - Taylor Walker, Adel (2)

R-22, Ladder