After the weekend.

With a blink of an eye, the 2009 home and away season is now officially ended and for eight clubs it's mad monday, for the other eight the quest for finals is ahead. There are some really good games ahead which will take interesting shape but I will look into those a little later.

To Friday night and West Coast hosted Richmond at Subiaco. And after not a bad start from Richmond, West Coast then took over and ran away winners by 80 points. It was a disappointing end to Richmond's season who said farewell to Nathan Brown and Mark Coughlan. What will the future for these two players? Only time will tell. On the otherhand West Coast finished off the year rather well and could be one of the teams to watch going into 2010.

To Saturday and Geelong hosted Fremantle at Skilled Stadium. Geelong controlled the game pretty much which was what was expected to win by a comfortable 40 points. To me Fremantle have got a bit to learn about playing in Victoria, but with the list they have they will eventually kick into gear. They do have a good starting block at home, if they win more away then anythings possible for Freo. Geelong have still got room for improvement if they are to go far in September.
To the MCG and Hawthorn hosted Essendon in what was going to be the game that decided who takes 8th spot. And what a game! Hawthorn started with a blaze of glory and I thought that they could take out 8th spot plus some momentum going into September. But it wasn't to be. A game changing bump from Matthew Lloyd on Brad Sewell which sparked a massive blue kick started the Bombers into gear who went on to win by 17 points. Brad Sewell was left with a damaged jaw and the Hawks fuming at him saying that he has a tendancy to line people up. What? He is one of the softest players around, to me he needed to do something, maybe not to that extreme in order to prove that he's not! He will go for that. If Franklin can get two weeks after appeal for something that I still consider line ball then he will definately get more! Otherwise Hawthorn will genuinely have something to complain about! After all they are a hard at it side they should have been expecting something like that was coming to them! To me Lloyd did something that could have gone two ways. Either Hawthorn would have come out and thumped Essendon or it would have ignited Essendon, it turned out to be the latter.

To Saturday Twighlight. I know sounds funny doesn't it? Carlton hosted Adelaide at Etihad Stadium. This was another game that I was looking forward to as it would decide who takes fifth spot and book a home final. Carlton came out and started well before they ran out of steam and Adelaide completely dominated and won by a massive 72 points. It's something that the Blues did not need going into the finals an honorable loss would add character, but if they can rebound next week then anything can happen. Adelaide on the otherhand has got a home final and momentum going into the first week of the finals.

To Saturday Night and Sydney hosted Brisbane at the SCG. This game had everything, well just about but it offered more than what I thought. Sydney were out to farewell three of their champions, Michael O'Lauchlan, Jarrad Crouch and Leo Barry. Brisbane was wanting momentum going into the finals as they hadn't had the best record against Sydney. This time it was Brisbane taking the points and booking a home final by 8 points.
Over to a rain logged AAMI Stadium and Port Adelaide hosted North Melbourne. Both teams were wanting pride going into 2010 and Port were hoping to send off two of their champions in Brendan Lade and Peter Burgoyne. It was pretty much low scoring, goals were at a premium and it took a 50 metre penalty against Nathan Krakeour for North to pinch the game by 4 points. Both teams will need to regroup and refocus in order to set themself up for 2010, it will be interesting to see what happens there.

To Sunday and Melbourne hosted St Kilda at the MCG. Melbourne started well and you thought that maybe just maybe there could be an upset but it was St Kilda who proved that they should be premiership favourites and won by 47 points. Melbourne could be reasonably pleased with their effort but there is a lot of improvements to do if they are going to press forward towards 2010 including top draft picks.
To Etihad Stadium and Collingwood hosted Western Bulldogs in a clash that could shape the remainder of the eight. It was a good game because both teams took turns dominating and for a while. Then in the last quarter the Dogs took charge and ended up winning by 24 points going past the 22 points that they needed in order to sew up 3rd Spot. So that now shapes up the eight and here it is:

1. St Kilda 20-0-2 156% 80
2. Geelong 18-0-4 127% 72
3. Bulldogs 15-0-7 123% 60
4. Magpies 15-0-7 122% 60
5. Adelaide 14-0-8 118% 56
6. Brisbane 13-1-8 107% 54
7. Carlton 13-0-9 110% 52
8. Essendon 10-1-11 98% 42
9. Hawthorn 9-0-13 93% 36
10. Power 9-0-13 89% 36
11. Eagles 8-0-14 93% 32
12. Sydney 8-0-14 93% 32
13. Kangaroos 7-1-14 83% 30
14. Fremantle 6-0-16 77% 24
15. Richmond 5-1-16 74% 22
16. Melbourne 4-0-18 75% 16