It's Preliminary Finals week in the AFL, or the end of my (televised) season since my cable carrier has puts the Grand Final on the premium tier of channels and it's not worth the $12 per month to me.
Sydney/Geelong was the first match chronologically, but the AFL calls it the second prelim final. Probably has something to do with where the teams are on the playoff bracket.
Anyhow the Swans punched hard and fast in the opening quarter, much like they did against Adelaide in the previous match. It was effective both times, as Sydney routed the Crows by 38 and Geelong by 37. Neither game was that close.
Sydney is through to the Grand Final.
In sharp contrast the other prelim final, Western Bulldogs against GWS Giants was a fantastic and riveting game that swung back and forth. So captivating, in fact, that the TV types were seemingly out of breath for the last seven or eight minutes. GWS scored a goal to tie with less than four minutes remaining, giving the commentators reason to mention a five-minute extra time session in case of a tie at the end of regulation. It made no difference as the Bulldogs got it done at the end and won by six points.
It was about a 50/50 split in terms of crowd support at Spotless Stadium, home of the Giants. The crowd roared as the final siren sounded-- so much so you'd have thought the Dogs were at home. It's the first time they've been to the Grand Final since 1961, and this could be their first premiership since 1954, so this has been a big, big win for the Western Bulldogs organization.
Someone I kind of feel badly for is Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy, whose season was lost to a torn ACL at the very end of a close loss to Hawthorn. He debuted with the club back in 2000 and has played 295 games waiting for a chance to play in a game like this.
So it's Swans/Bulldogs for the 2016 premiership.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Preliminary Finals
And then there were four.
Western Bulldogs beat Hawthorn and did so comfortably. In the early stages, the Hawks played like the three-time defending premiers they are, but the Bulldogs came back strongly and wound up winning by 23 points. The Hawks lost to Geelong last week and to WB this week, sending them out of the postseason despite having the double chance to move on.
This was a rematch of the round 3 matchup I watched earlier in the season, that Hawthorn won by three points. It was also the game where Bulldog captain Robert Murphy blew his knee out in the latter stages of the game. I remember talk back then that the Dogs were premiership favorites, and thinking they would have trouble without Murphy. But now they're into the preliminary final against GWS, a side in only their fifth year of existence. Interesting factoid-- I talked about St. Kilda champion Lenny Hayes a month or so ago, and found out he's an assistant with GWS.
Interesting that this match is being played at 24,000-seat Spotless Stadium, home of the GWS Giants. League semifinals should probably be played in buildings that hold more than that number. It just seems like a larger number of fans would be interested in seeing this game, especially since Western is looking for a chance to play in their first Grand Final since 1961. That kind of makes me want to root for them-- their fans have paid the price to be supporters of the team, whereas the Giants are the new kids on the block. I won't actually back one side or the other since it's a kiss of death for the team I choose.
In the other semifinal, Sydney scored 45 first-quarter points and withstood serious pressure from Adelaide in the middle two quarters to win by 36 points. The Swans move on to play Geelong in the other matchup in the round of four at the MCG.
So of the top four teams, top-seed Sydney, second-place side Geelong and number four GWS are still alive, as is the #7 seed Western Bulldogs.
Play on!
Western Bulldogs beat Hawthorn and did so comfortably. In the early stages, the Hawks played like the three-time defending premiers they are, but the Bulldogs came back strongly and wound up winning by 23 points. The Hawks lost to Geelong last week and to WB this week, sending them out of the postseason despite having the double chance to move on.
This was a rematch of the round 3 matchup I watched earlier in the season, that Hawthorn won by three points. It was also the game where Bulldog captain Robert Murphy blew his knee out in the latter stages of the game. I remember talk back then that the Dogs were premiership favorites, and thinking they would have trouble without Murphy. But now they're into the preliminary final against GWS, a side in only their fifth year of existence. Interesting factoid-- I talked about St. Kilda champion Lenny Hayes a month or so ago, and found out he's an assistant with GWS.
Interesting that this match is being played at 24,000-seat Spotless Stadium, home of the GWS Giants. League semifinals should probably be played in buildings that hold more than that number. It just seems like a larger number of fans would be interested in seeing this game, especially since Western is looking for a chance to play in their first Grand Final since 1961. That kind of makes me want to root for them-- their fans have paid the price to be supporters of the team, whereas the Giants are the new kids on the block. I won't actually back one side or the other since it's a kiss of death for the team I choose.
In the other semifinal, Sydney scored 45 first-quarter points and withstood serious pressure from Adelaide in the middle two quarters to win by 36 points. The Swans move on to play Geelong in the other matchup in the round of four at the MCG.
So of the top four teams, top-seed Sydney, second-place side Geelong and number four GWS are still alive, as is the #7 seed Western Bulldogs.
Play on!
Sunday, September 18, 2016
The Finals
Last week I watched all four of the opening round playoff matches-- two elimination finals and two qualifying finals. The top four seeds play in qualifying finals, in a 1-4 and 2-3 matchup. Win and you qualify for a bye into the final four, or a preliminary final match. Lose and you have to play your way through, but your season is not over.
I think the elimination final concept is pretty self-explanatory... the 5th place team meets the eighth place side, and 6 meets 7. Lose and you're eliminated. Win and you play the losers of the 1-4 and 2-3 games.
So.
Geelong and Hawthorn played in the 2-3 game, and it was a match worthy of being a playoff game. The Hawks missed a kick after the final siren and the Cats won by three points. Hawthorn would then have to play two more matches to make the Grand Final, whereas Geelong only needs to win one more time.
Hawthorn would go on to face the Western Bulldogs, a side that beat the West Coast Eagles. Western went to Perth and won big against the Eagles. West Coast defeated playoff team Adelaide in the last week of the home-and-away season, giving us a reason to think the blue and yellow could win without their big ruckman Nic Natanui. It's especially weird since WCE has a reputaiton for playing poorly on the road. This time they played a bad game and did it in the safety of their home grounds.
Elsewhere regular-season premiers Sydney took a beating from the GWS Giants, in an intra-Sydney squabble. So the Swans move on to face Adelaide, who drummed North Melbourne out of the postseason. The biggest thing about the Kangaroos is that Brent Harvey played his final game in the blue and white after he and three others were not offered contracts for 2017, so this became a sort of swan song for some North greats.
The next round will see Hawthorn vs. Western Bulldogs and Adelaide vs. Sydney. Winners advance to face Geelong or GWS, losers pack their stuff.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Off week
So the regular season wrapped nearly two weeks ago and there was no AFL footy played last week. There was a legends game, and there was also a women's match as the AFL seems interested in putting together a women's league.
The AFL playoff sides took a week off, so your humble correspondent also chose to take a Labor Day vacation.
That's something I don't understand. Eight teams bust their tails in order to make the playoffs, and there is a premium places on finishing in the top four because in the 1-4 and 2-3 opening round matchup has the payout of a rest week to the winner. But now everyone gets a week off. Even North Melbourne, which lost their last four matches but made the eight anyhow.
Elsewhere, briefly, Fremantle star Matthew Pavlich retired at the end of the home-and-away season after 353 games. It was a pretty gloomy year for the Dockers, who had enjoyed a lot of success recently. But their win over the Western Bulldogs (who made the eight) was a nice way to end the season and to honor a great player. Matty Pavs seems like a decent sort and it sounds like he's ready to face some new life challenges now that his footy career has wrapped.
Now on to the eight. These all seem like really good matches, and I have the DVR set to record all four.
(7) Western Bulldogs is at (6) West Coast Eagles. WCE was thought to not be a contender, then they played so well vs. Adelaide.
(2) Geelong plays (3) Hawthorn. Great. your reward for playing strong footy at the end of the season is getting to play the three-time reigning premiers. And at the MCG instead of at your home grounds.
(1) Sydney is at home vs. (4) GWS. This game is being played at ANZ (pronounced A-N-ZED) Stadium, instead of Sydney's home, the Sydney Cricket Ground, or at Spotless Stadium, home of the Giants. A nice intra-city squabble here. ANZ Stadium was where Hawaii played (American) college football against California a few weeks ago. I've got another blog post on college football Down Under.
The final game of the weekend is (5) Adelaide at home vs. (8) North Melbourne. The Crows laid an egg against West Coast to close the season, when they had a top four seed to play for. The Kangaroos played well to start the season and closed the season poorly.
In the 1-4/2-3 games, the winner gets a bye and an extra week of rest but also the risk of rust, since they'll have played one meaningful game in 3+ weeks. The losers of those games play the winners of 5-8/6-7. The losers of the lower-seeded games are done for the season. So it starts with 8 and will be down to 6 by the end of the weekend, then four, then two then, well, I think you get the idea.
Looking forward to it. Play on!
The AFL playoff sides took a week off, so your humble correspondent also chose to take a Labor Day vacation.
That's something I don't understand. Eight teams bust their tails in order to make the playoffs, and there is a premium places on finishing in the top four because in the 1-4 and 2-3 opening round matchup has the payout of a rest week to the winner. But now everyone gets a week off. Even North Melbourne, which lost their last four matches but made the eight anyhow.
Elsewhere, briefly, Fremantle star Matthew Pavlich retired at the end of the home-and-away season after 353 games. It was a pretty gloomy year for the Dockers, who had enjoyed a lot of success recently. But their win over the Western Bulldogs (who made the eight) was a nice way to end the season and to honor a great player. Matty Pavs seems like a decent sort and it sounds like he's ready to face some new life challenges now that his footy career has wrapped.
Now on to the eight. These all seem like really good matches, and I have the DVR set to record all four.
(7) Western Bulldogs is at (6) West Coast Eagles. WCE was thought to not be a contender, then they played so well vs. Adelaide.
(2) Geelong plays (3) Hawthorn. Great. your reward for playing strong footy at the end of the season is getting to play the three-time reigning premiers. And at the MCG instead of at your home grounds.
(1) Sydney is at home vs. (4) GWS. This game is being played at ANZ (pronounced A-N-ZED) Stadium, instead of Sydney's home, the Sydney Cricket Ground, or at Spotless Stadium, home of the Giants. A nice intra-city squabble here. ANZ Stadium was where Hawaii played (American) college football against California a few weeks ago. I've got another blog post on college football Down Under.
The final game of the weekend is (5) Adelaide at home vs. (8) North Melbourne. The Crows laid an egg against West Coast to close the season, when they had a top four seed to play for. The Kangaroos played well to start the season and closed the season poorly.
In the 1-4/2-3 games, the winner gets a bye and an extra week of rest but also the risk of rust, since they'll have played one meaningful game in 3+ weeks. The losers of those games play the winners of 5-8/6-7. The losers of the lower-seeded games are done for the season. So it starts with 8 and will be down to 6 by the end of the weekend, then four, then two then, well, I think you get the idea.
Looking forward to it. Play on!
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