Australian Football

Finals Week 1

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Premiership Season 2017 - Finals Week 1 Review

Total Crowd 235,328 (Avg 58,832)

From 18 to eight to six - only Adelaide, Richmond, Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Sydney and West Coast remain in the hunt after the first week of the 2017 finals series saw Port Adelaide and Essendon take their last bows of the season.

In some ways, it was an underwhelming opening to the finals, with GWS in particular and Essendon to a lesser extent very disappointing in their losses to Adelaide and Sydney respectively. But the weekend was saved twice. Firstly by Richmond, whose win over Geelong at the MCG on Friday in front of more than 95,000 fans breathed life into the finals in a way that only a Tigers win could. The game itself was perhaps not of the highest quality for the first three quarters but, inspired by the magic of Dustin Martin, Richmond blew the Cats away wit a seven-goal last term, giving the series the spark it needed.

The Bombers' loss to Sydney in Saturday's twilight game was somewhat of a letdown, but Saturday night's game at the Adelaide Oval more than made up for that, with Port Adelaide and West Coast producing the first final in history that was decided by a kick after the siren at the end of extra time. It led to euphoria or heartbreak, depending on the team you barrack for, and it gave the finals a fantastic boost as we head into week two. 

As it had last year, the post-home-and-away season bye allowed the finals series to get underway on a Thursday evening with Adelaide hosting GWS. Compared to the 2016 Thursday night match - the Bulldogs against-the-odds win over West Coast - this was very much a letdown for all except Adelaide fans.

The Crows were on song from the start while the Giants were anything but, and by half time Adelaide was 44 points clear and the match looked over. GWS finally sprang to life early in the third term to kick the first three goals of the second half and a miracle comeback looked briefly possible. But the Crows responded with the next three majors, effectively killing the contest, and cruised into a home preliminary final with a six-goal win.

24 hours later, 95,028 fans converged on the MCG to see third-placed Richmond take on second-placed Geelong. The match was not a great spectacle from a skill perspective, particularly in the first half, but that was offset by the incredible intensity displayed by both sides. The Tigers had the better of a low-scoring first half, but two late goals saw the Cats within nine points at the long break.

Geelong had the better of the early stages of the third term and Zach Guthrie had the chance to give the Cats the lead at the 14-minute mark but missed the chance, and the Tigers began to get on top, kicking three of the next four to lead by 13 at three-quarter time. Led by Dustin Martin, Richmond into overdrive in the final term, and left the Cats in their wake, kicking seven goals to one to career to a 51-point win, their first victory in a final since 2001.

While Richmond's drought-breaking win gave the finals a new dimension, the 51-point margin was somewhat of a disappointment, and week one of the finals was crying out for a thriller. It did not come at the SCG, where Sydney hosted Essendon.

Some pundits thought the Bombers would push the Swans all the way, if not cause an upset, given the fact they had done everything but win at their last encounter at the venue. But the Dons struggled to keep in touch in the first quarter after full forward Joe Daniher had kicked the opening goal of the match, and were then blown away in the second term, Sydney kicking 10 goals - Buddy Franklin landing four of them - to effectively end the match. The Swans were 61 points ahead at half time, and cruised to a 65-point win in the second half to advance to the semi finals.

With three matches completed, the closest encounter had been 36 points. The weekend was crying out for a thrilling encounter. The final game, which saw Port Adelaide hosting West Coast delivered in spades. 

The Eagles looked the goods for the first quarter and a half and they led by as much as 31 points at the 10-minute mark of the second term. But the home side gradually worked their way back into the match. The Power trailed by 11 points at the half and only three points at the final change before hitting the lead for the first time in the match in the final term. 

They then extended that lead to 10 points before West Coast hit back to snatch a two-point lead. But Port closed out 'normal time' with two behinds with scores level when the siren sounded. Extra time ensued and the Power took the early advantage before the Eagles got back. Port had a slender four-point lead with seconds to go but a controversial free kick paid to Luke Shuey saw him kick for victory after the siren. The unflinching Shuey split the big sticks with a perfect drop punt, West Coast winning a game for the ages by two points. 

A heartbreaking end to the season for Port and a disappointing one for the Bombers. The big birds - the Eagles and Swans live to fight another day. They will meet GWS and Geelong respectively next week in an attempt to keep their seasons alive. Some other big birds - the Crows - and Richmond will look on having earned a week off, ready to take on next week's winners as they vie for a place in the 2017 Grand Final.

Leading goalkickers after finals week 1

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

R-23, Ladder