The Hawthorn Hawks And Geelong Cats Looked Strong. The Sydney Swans Staged A Massive Comeback. Ken Hinkley Fired Up The Critics With A Port Adelaide Disaster.
The 2024 Finals Of The AFL Began With What May Have Been The Most Balanced Collection Of Teams Ever Chasing The Premiership Title. Here Are Five Things From The First Four Games That Set Up The Semi-Final Round.
The second round of the AFL finals is ready to begin, and from this point on every game is an elimination match. Sydney and Geelong earned byes for the semi-final round with their round one victories, and will face the winners in the preliminary finals next week.
There were surprises, strong performances, and a few developing stories that played out in the opening elimination and qualifying finals games. Two teams earned a bye week for the semi-finals (The Sydney Swans and Geelong Cats). Four teams moved on to play in the semi-finals (The Port Adelaide Power, Greater Western Sydney Giants, Brisbane Lions, and Hawthorn Hawks). Two teams were eliminated. (The Western Bulldogs and Carlton Blues)
Two teams will advance from the semi-final matches to play in the round three preliminary finals, where four clubs will vie for spots in the round four grand final. Here are five things to look at in round two.
Brisbane Advances With A Solid And Steady, If Somewhat Ho-Hum, Victory Over Carlton
The reality for Carlton was that injuries and a roster that never really seemed to take complete shape during the season arrived in the postseason as the last qualifier on the AFL ladder. Add to that a superb performance controlling the ball and gameplay from one of Brisbane’s most valuable contributors, Dayne Zorko, and the results of this contest were never in doubt.
In moving on, questions remain for the Lions, despite a solid win. Several points were left off the board, with Brisbane scoring more behinds (15) than goals (14). This score was actually mirrored by the Hawthorn Hawks in their match against the Western Bulldogs, though here it felt like the misses were more significant. Instead of putting away an opponent that was clearly outplayed with goals, the behinds allowed the Blues to remain within sight of the Lions until well into the fourth quarter.
Brisbane will need to clean up their play and improve their accuracy if they expect to have a chance against the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
The Sydney Swans Needed A Late Rally To Complete A Comeback, But Might Benefit More From The Win Than Any Other Club
The Swans looked listless early in the game with Greater Western Sydney, falling behind by more than twenty-points and not doing much over three quarters of play to narrow the gap. Sydney began to turn the momentum in the third quarter, when star player Isaac Heeney jolted the crowd by reeling in one of the most impressive marks ever in league play. That effort triggered a revival that began to pay dividends in the fourth quarter, and ultimately the journey that would result in a 6-point victory.
Sydney entered this match undoubtedly needing some an alarm to go off. After starting out the season at a blistering pace showcasing high scoring, strong defense, and plenty of victories, in the final weeks of the year the Swans offered more inconsistent play and suffered several losses. As noted in the round one preview (“ The AFL Begins Its March Toward The 2024 Grand Final ”), GWS presented a sizeable challenge for Sydney. The Giants are a true rival, have played well against the Swans in recent finals play, and were talented enough to break down the Swans and build a lead in the game. Sydney looked distracted and out-of-sorts from the opening moments until well into the second half.
The sleeping dragons—or, more accurately, sleeping Swans—awoke late in the game and presented a burst of brilliant play to win. GWS is now set to face a Brisbane club that looks beatable. Sydney didn’t look as complete as Geelong, but earned a bye week and showed flashes of the team that dominated the league early on.
The Geelong Cats Put Together A Complete Game That Should Have All Remaining Clubs Taking Notice
Ahead of the start of these playoffs, a running observation was that all eight teams were evenly matched and capable of putting together the victories necessary to win the premiership title. Geelong, on the road against the second seed, thoroughly dismantled Port Adelaide and look like a sizable favorite to win it all.
A total of thirteen players scored for Geelong. Eight players kicked goals for the Cats with four players kicking three or more. Compare that to the Power, where eleven players scored points, seven players scored goals but each only kicked one, and no player added more than two behinds.
Twenty goals, eighteen behinds, and an eighty-four-point margin of victory are all impressive results for Geelong. A week off in a well-earned semi-final round bye arrives, and the Cats head to the preliminary final playing the best footy of any team remaining.
Hawthorn Earned An Easy Victory, With A Steady Drumbeat
Sydney was impressive in rallying back to defeat GWS. Geelong looked outstanding in victory. Brisbane earned a win without really taking control. Hawthorn took a slightly different approach to advance.
In a contest that was never really in doubt, the Hawks sailed to a thirty-seven point victory. It was a game that reflected their climb up the ladder and into the playoffs. Early in the 2024 season, the Hawks were as low as seventeenth place in the standings and their play was in shambles. In their last seventeen games, they’ve won fourteen times. It’s a remarkable turnaround, though one missed by many outside of the team’s faithful as the Hawks settled into the seventh position and qualified for the finals.
Calsher Dear exemplified the raw and unexpected play from the Hawks against the Bulldogs. The 19-year-old forward brought the best of his young career to the field, with three goals and four behinds. Another rookie, Nick Watson, scored four goals and one behind. The contributions from this youthful duo would never have been predicted ahead of the 2024 campaign, and now stand as reasons the Hawks are moving on.
Consistent throughout the match, Hawthorn took control in the third quarter (called the premiership quarter), when they held the Western Bulldogs to just seven points. In many ways, this contest was an unremarkably remarkable victory. The Hawks are set up to be overlooked, with the energy and youth poised to take advantage of any team that underestimates them. It’s a great sign for the future, whether or not it moves forward this season.
Ken Hinkley May Indeed Face The Port Adelaide Hot Seat
A loss might not have done it. An eighty-four-point trouncing most certainly will.
The discussions about Hinkley’s leadership had already begun. He’s been head coach of the Power for more than a decade. His regular season results are praised by club officials as one of the best offerings from any coach in team history. His playoff results though are a blindingly illuminated run of disappointment.
Against Geelong in the opening qualifying final, Port Adelaide barely arrived on the field. They certainly didn’t put up much in the way of opposition for the Cats. The Power were outscored, outplayed, and outcoached from well before the contest started until after it ended.
As one of the top teams entering the finals, the Power had the advantage of not facing elimination with a loss. Standing in the way of Port Adelaide in the semi-final round is Hawthorn. The Hawks, of any other remaining teams, could be the worst draw for the Power. They are a club that looked balanced and disciplined while knocking out the Western Bulldogs, and are possibly the least likely to swing from high to low emotionally with their play.
Another loss for Port Adelaide may bring the wolves to the gate calling for Hinkley’s dismissal.
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