Australian Football

Round 23

Premiership Season 2017 - Round 23 Review

Total Crowd 369,205 (Avg 41,023)

It took until the dying moments of the 198th and final match of the home and away season, but the finalists of the 2017 AFL season have at last been decided. Last year's premiers, the Western Bulldogs, will look on in September this year as Adelaide, Geelong, Richmond, GWS, Port Adelaide, Sydney, Essendon and West Coast fight it out for this year's flag. 

The round kicked off with a farewell to three legends of the game as Hawthorn faced the Western Bulldogs at Docklands on Friday night. Two 300-gamers - Hawk Luke Hodge and Dogs Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd (292 games) drew a curtain on their careers in front of more than 48,000 fans, a fair crowd for what was essentially a dead rubber. Had the Dogs won they would have remained mathematically in contention for finals, but in a free-flowing game the Hawks pipped them 99 to 90 before the three retires were chaired from the field to a rousing reception.

At the MCG on Saturday, Melbourne took on Collingwood needing only to defeat the Magpies to ensure itself of a finals berth for the first time since 2006. But the Demons fluffed their lines, a poor first term seeing them more than five goals in arrears at quarter time. They did their best to make up the deficit but fell 16 points short, leaving their fate in the hands of other sides.

Brisbane hosted North Melbourne at the Gabba in the only match of the round that had no potential bearing on places in the eight. It did, however, decide who would 'win' the wooden spoon. The Lions burst out of the blocks but the Kangaroos overtook them on the stroke of half time and never looked back, cantering to a 51-point win, the wooden spoon (and number one draft pick) going to the Lions.

Saturday's twilight game saw Sydney hosting Carlton at the SCG, and the match was surprisingly tight for the first half. After the long break, however, the Swans went into overdrive, with a 10-goal haul from Lance Franklin piloting them to a huge win, the final margin of 81 points putting Sydney temporarily into the top four.

The Swans were there for only a few hours, though, displaced later that night by Port Adelaide, which went on the rampage against Gold Coast at the Adelaide Oval. The Suns trailed by only two points at the first change, but the Power blew them out of the water over the final three terms to win by 115 points, the season's biggest margin.

In the other Saturday night match, Geelong hosted fellow top four side GWS at Kardinia Park. The first half was a relatively even affair but the Cats turned up the heat in the third quarter and the Giants could not keep up. The home side was 40 points ahead at the final change and cruised to a 44-point win, claiming its eighth top-two placing in 11 years, a remarkable achievement.

Essendon hosted Fremantle at Docklands on Sunday, needing a win to guarantee itself of a place in the eight. With the Dockers coming off two consecutive 104-point losses, the Bombers were expected to coast to an easy win, but they were made to work for the entire match, eventually escaping with a 15-point win to make the finals for the first time since 2014.

Had Fremantle won, St Kilda would have had a chance of stealing a place in the eight, but with that out of the equation, the Saints never really got going against Richmond at the MCG. Not that the Tigers would have allowed them to in any case. The well-oiled Yellow and Black machine looked very much a top four team in defeating St Kilda by 41 points to finish in third place on the ladder. The end of the match brought to a close the magnificent career of Saint Nick Riewoldt, his 336th AFL match being his last.

The final match of the round - and of the home-and-away season - decided which team, West Coast or Melbourne, would fill the last of the places in the top eight. The Eagles needed to defeated Adelaide by 21 points or more to claim it, and that margin was flirted with throughout the game. In the end, late goals to Lewis Jetta and Jack Darling got them over the line, leaving West Coast fans euphoric and Demons heartbroken.

So there it is, for 10 teams, including the Bulldogs, the season is over. For the other eight, a week off will be followed by the first week of finals which will see Adelaide host GWS, Geelong take on Richmond, Port Adelaide meet West Coast and Sydney host Essendon. Regardless of the results, the first four of those will live to fight another day. For two of the Power, the Eagles, the Swans and the Bombers, the season will over in a fortnight's time.

Leading goalkickers after round 23

69 - Lance Franklin (Syd)
65 - Josh Kennedy (WCo)
63 - Ben Brown (NM)
62 - Joe Daniher (Ess)
50 - Jack Riewoldt (Rich)
49 - Taylor Walker (Adel), Eddie Betts (Adel)
48 - Tom Hawkins (Geel)
47 - Robbie Gray (Port)
46 - Charlie Dixon (Port)

R-23, Ladder