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That’s all from me and the AFL blog for today.
Thanks so much for joining us as Bayley Fritsch led the Demons to a win over the Crows and Essendon kept their finals hopes alive with a thumping win over Gold Coast.
We will have much more AFL coverage and footy blogs to come heading into next weekend’s final round.
Please keep your eyes on The Age Sport and SMH Sport as we hit this important time of the AFL season.
Please have a great evening and keep taking care of each other.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is preparing to bring back Steven May, Tom McDonald and Jack Viney for the final round of the season.
With the Demons looking to secure the minor premiership, May was rested from Sunday’s win over Adelaide due to battling soreness but he will be fine to return.
Goodwin said the decision to rest May was not to do with uncertainty around whether there will be a pre-finals bye or not but based in May being sore.
“He [May] will be playing next week,” Goodwin said.
Carlton’s board received the report on the findings of the review into its football department on Thursday.
Carlton’s board received the players’ view on Saturday.
On the day Marc Murphy played his 300th game, the team he once captained and held together managed to watch an early lead evaporate as 19 unanswered goals were kicked against them.
They were unanswered in that the Blues did not kick one of their own in that shower of goals, but this was an answer in itself.
Essendon’s charge toward finals has continued, after the Bombers demolished the Gold Coast Suns at GMHBA Stadium by 68 points to install themselves in eighth spot, pending the West Coast Eagles’ clash with Fremantle.
Frankly, they deserve to stay there. The Bombers have been playing with far more daring and desire than the Eagles of late, and while they may be a way off the pace on points, they shape as a finals wildcard. Essendon face Collingwood next week. The Eagles play the reinvigorated Lions.
The obvious rejoinder is the Bombers are not ready for a genuine tilt. But there’s a genuine excitement about the way they attack the game, exemplified by the reborn Jake Stringer, who was again the most electrifying player on the ground.
While the Tokyo Olympics succeeded in captivating global eyeballs without meaningful crowds in the stands, that eerie scenario is not realistic for the AFL grand final.
The players want crowds in the finals. The clubs want crowds and, while there are contractual obligations they must grapple with, the AFL hierarchy clearly wants substantial crowds for finals, as AFL chairman Richard Goyder indicated on Saturday.
“The clubs and players want to play in front of crowds,” Goyder, who is based in Perth, told ABC radio, on the subject of the forthcoming finals.
“I had a conversation with Patrick Dangerfield earlier in the week on racism and other things and he said to me: ‘Richard, we want to play in front of crowds’.”
A top-two spot doesn’t quite have the same gloss in these pandemic times. Teams may “host” a qualifying final in name only. But while they cannot yet know what the finals will look like, Melbourne fans can at least know this: their team is one win away from a first minor premiership in 57 years.
A win in Geelong next weekend would secure the Dees top spot at the end of the home-and-away season, a feat the club last achieved in 1964. And the faithful barely need reminding how that season ended.
On a heartbreakingly beautiful mid-August Sunday afternoon at the MCG – the type of day that in normal times would serve as a portent of bustling finals days and nights – the Dees ensured that lightning (this time of the metaphorical kind) would not strike twice for them this season, shrugging off a valiant and rebuilding Adelaide outfit, the same side that had inflicted upon Simon Goodwin’s men their first loss of the season back in round 10.
Essendon has done all they can to keep their top-eight hopes alive heading into the final round with a 68-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at Geelong today.
The Bombers already had a healthy percentage and that only grew in this contest that was tied at quarter-time but then became one-sided fast.
Now the Bombers will hope other results will go their way.
Bombers forward Jake Stringer kicked five goals and made it clear his young side wanted a chance at playing in the finals.
I do like the look of Joel Jeffrey, the second-gamer for the Suns who has pulled in some big marks today.
He just took a mark over the top of the Essendon defence, sadly he couldn’t kick the goal but he looks like someone they can find a place for.
Bombers lead 98-30 with a minute to go.
Jacob Townsend has come up with a goal for the Suns to end a prolonged period, over 45 minutes, without a major.
There are still 10 minutes left for the Suns to try and find a few more goals or for Essendon to further boost their percentage.
Bombers lead 97-30 with 10 mins to go.
The Suns have lost Sean Lemmens who took a knock to his legs while former Adelaide Crows midfielder Rory Atkins has come on after starting as the medical substitute.
The Suns haven’t kicked a goal for over 40 minutes.
Bombers lead 96-24 with 13 minutes to go.