Australian Football

Round 22

Premiership Season 2017 - Round 22 Review

Total Crowd 271,561 (Avg 30,173)

The marathon that is an AFL season is almost over, with the finish line in sight. With one home-and-away round remaining, another team - Hawthorn - has 'dropped off the perch', the Hawks no longer even a mathematical possibility of playing in September. That leaves 11 sides in the hunt, but for three of those, West Coast, St Kilda and the reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs, the chances of making it to the finals are very slim.

Many believe that Adelaide and Sydney are the teams most likely to face off in the Grand Final. If they do, and they produce a match comparable to the one they played on Friday night, few footy fans will complain. The two sides turned on a thrilling affair that had twists and turns, stunning highlights and a dash of umpiring controversy before the Swans prevailed by just three points produce the 30th match of the season decided by six points or fewer, a V/AFL record.

History was made in the round's second match when the first ever V/AFL game played for premiership points in Ballarat took place. It was a home game for the Western Bulldogs, who have agreed to play two matches per season at the North Ballarat stadium for at least the next five years, but the match was won by the 'visitors', Port Adelaide. The Power's 17-point win ensured them of finals action, while almost certainly ending the Dogs' premiership defence.

At the MCG Collingwood caused second-placed Geelong a lot of bother, as it has done relatively often in recent times. The Magpies defeated the Cats earlier in the year, and looked well on the way to doing so again when it led six goals to two at quarter time. But the Pies could find only three more goals over the next three quarters, while Geelong found eight, just enough to eke out an 11-point win.

Saturday's twilight match pitted GWS (third) against West Coast (eighth) at the Sydney Showground, with the Eagles needing a win to stay in the eight. They put up a pretty good show, and were within a point at the 19-minute mark of the final term, but three late majors from the Giants saw the home side sneak a 21-point win.

Carlton broke two droughts at Docklands on Saturday night, one far longer than the other. In defeating Hawthorn by seven points, the Blues won their first match since defeating the Suns in June, and conquered the Hawks for the first time since way back in 2005. The loss officially ruled a line under Hawthorn's finals chances, the Hawks to miss for the first time since 2009.

Saturday night's other match saw Essendon - another team looking to claim a top-eight spot - take on Gold Coast at Carrara. The Bombers didn't make it easy for themselves, struggling to a 10-point lead at three-quarter time, but a strong last term saw them home by 33 points and back into the eight, their finals fate now in their own hands.

The first of the Sunday games saw Melbourne - yet another team trying to shore up a place in the eight - take on the bottom-placed Brisbane and the Demons, too, made heavy weather of their task, with the Lions well within touch until the final few minutes. They got there in the end, though, and now have a pretty firm hold on seventh place with a very winnable game against Collingwood to come.

St Kilda, too, remained a mathematical possibility of making the eight heading into its match against North Melbourne, and the Saints made sure they remained in the hunt, seeing of the Kangaroos with a big second half to win by 49 points. 

The match might have started within a close encounter but it certainly didn't end with one. At Subiaco, the Fremantle Dockers stuck with Richmond for a quarter and then fell away badly to go down by 104 points, their second successive three-figure thrashing. As bad as the Dockers were, the Tigers were magnificent, maintaining a place in the top four as a result of the massive win.

So that brings is to round 23, the last before the finals, and the AFL will be delighted that eight of the nine games to be played will have a bearing on the places of teams either in the top eight, or fighting for one of those places. And even the ninth game will hold great interest, because the loser of the Brisbane v North Melbourne match will 'win' the wooden spoon.

Leading goalkickers after round 22

64 - Josh Kennedy (WCo)
60 - Joe Daniher (Ess)
59 - Lance Franklin (Syd)
56 - Ben Brown (NM)
49 - Taylor Walker (Adel)
47 - Eddie Betts (Adel), Jack Riewoldt (Rich)
46 - Tom Hawkins (Geel), Robbie Gray (Port)
44 - Tom Lynch (GCo)

R-22, Ladder