Round 23: the other games. The prelude to finals and the prelude to Mad Monday.

[KSAS]

This was the most exciting final round of Footy I can remember since 1987 for those old enough to remember. Every spot in the final five (back then) was up for grabs, with most games being played on the Saturday arvo & went down to the wire. Radio "around the grounds" frenzy. IIRC we played fellow finalist Fitzroy and lost but still managed to grab the double chance (went out in straight sets for 2nd year running. No home finals existed back then. All at MCG or VFL Park).

[stevoswan]

Equally though - what about the immediately preceding free against the Dees for a ‘not sufficient attempt’ ball that went out of bounds as the Melbourne player desperately tried to kick the ball into his forward line in the last two minutes?

That was a ridiculous decision.....a howler.....so the 50m penalty to the Demons was karma to me.

[stevoswan]

One of the best final rounds of footy ever.....it was truly momentous! The end of the Demons/Cats game was insane and for sheer drama, the end of the Lions/WC game was exhilarating....especially with a real crowd going berserk. Just thrilling stuff! We could just sit back and enjoy it all unfolding, safe in the knowledge our team had done it's job and we enter the finals with some positive momentum.

It was a great day for AFL footy. Now for the serious stuff!

[Sandridge]

Spot on KSAS and stevo!

it's been a pulsating round of footy! The Swans had a huge win, Port came from behind to narrowly knock off the Poodles, Richmond and Hawthorn drew and the Brisbane/Eagles and Geelong/Demons games were just riveting! Wanting the Poodles to drop to fifth, i was "riding" every kick in the Brisbane game and the Lions, fortunately, produced the goods. And Melbourne's come from behind win sealed by a Gawn kick after the siren was astounding! A round to remember!

[Agent 86]

I could understand the 50 being awarded if the ball had bounced, but I am not sure you can penalise a player for spoiling a ball just over the boundary. Plenty of players try and mark a ball when it has gone over (playing to the whistle as it were), so I didn’t see the action as being any different or worthy of the penalty. The Fox crew didn’t seem to have a problem with the decision though.

Yeah, I found that interesting as well. You’re allowed to spoil the ball over the boundary (although I would like to see the rule changed - but then again just another thing for poor umps to get wrong). When you have eyes for a high ball are you also expected to know exactly where the line is - that was a tough 50.

[Thunder Shaker]

This was the most exciting final round of Footy I can remember since 1987 for those old enough to remember. Every spot in the final five (back then) was up for grabs, with most games being played on the Saturday arvo & went down to the wire. Radio "around the grounds" frenzy. IIRC we played fellow finalist Fitzroy and lost but still managed to grab the double chance (went out in straight sets for 2nd year running. No home finals existed back then. All at MCG or VFL Park).

You're mixing up 1986 and 1987.
Round 22 1986: Fitzroy defeated Sydney by 10 points at Victoria Park. Fitzroy booked an elimination final spot, Sydney had a qualifying final.
Round 22 1987: Sydney defeated Fitzroy by 8 points at Princes Park. Fitzroy did not make the finals in 1987.

[dejavoodoo44]

Seems that Fremantle have just handed Essendon the final spot in the eight. Essendon could lose against Collingwood, and still get in on percentage, with a 10/12 record. I presume that if they decided to make a handful of late changes, then there'd be some sort of sanction for that?

[stevoswan]

Seems that Fremantle have just handed Essendon the final spot in the eight. Essendon could lose against Collingwood, and still get in on percentage, with a 10/12 record. I presume that if they decided to make a handful of late changes, then there'd be some sort of sanction for that?

The AFL would immediately reinstate the pre-finals bye.

[dejavoodoo44]

The AFL would immediately reinstate the pre-finals bye.

Wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[KTigers]

Wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I don't know about that man. I'd be getting the finals over as quickly as they can. The Covid is about to run over the whole country.

[Thunder Shaker]

An interesting little snippet from this round was Richmond's draw with Hawthorn. Had Richmond won, they would have finished ninth. It would have been the first time they have finished ninth in an odd-numbered year and the 11th time overall.

[KTigers]

An interesting little snippet from this round was Richmond's draw with Hawthorn. Had Richmond won, they would have finished ninth. It would have been the first time they have finished ninth in an odd-numbered year and the 11th time overall.

Did you see the post match interview with Hardwick? He commented on this. I think the Tigers threw this game. There was no way they
were going to finish ninth in an odd numbered year. Two odd numbers is just too much. It's, you know, too odd. Hopefully the AFL will
investigate this.