Golf Clubs

So it looks as though the eight playoff sides have been determined. As you can see by a look at the ladder after week 22, St. Kilda is the only side that can catch North Melbourne. They're one game back of North with one game to play. The Saints play Brisbane and the Kangaroos face GWS. The odds favor North Melbourne ending the season tied with St. Kilda. 

However, StK would have to win by something like 25 goals and the Roos would also have to lose by that amount in order for North Melbourne to miss the playoffs, because of percentages. So it's not very likely.

AFL ladder after round 22

Also, Hawthorn has lost two of their last three to fall to fourth from the top spot. If they don't fall further, they'll play in the first round of the finals still with the opportunity for a bye should they win. The disadvantage is that it'd be a road game.

The Hawks lost last week to West Coast, who lost their big ruckman Nic Natanui to an ACL tear during the game. Nic Nat will be out till the middle of next year. Bummer. It's fun watching him play. The Eagles will make the eight, but making a deep run in the postseason is less likely without the big man.

Last week I watched North fall to Sydney. I saw today that Kangaroos player Brent Harvey at age 38 will not be offered a contract for 2017. There seems to be a greater emphasis on the team and the collective in the AFL, because the reason given was that they want to get young players game experience. I don't know-- Harvey just set the league record for games played and still looks to be in fine form. I get that his days are numbered, but his loyalty and commitment to the club and to the game should give him the opportunity to exit on his own terms.

Adelaide overcame beat Port Adelaide to move into a tie for the top spot. Eddie Betts of the Crows had a great game in helping his side to their 16th win of the season. It's amazing what they've done, since their head coach Phil Walsh was killed during the 2015 season. Walsh's son stands accused of killing his father.

Anyhow, what they've overcome is awesome stuff.

Up for this week: West Coast (without a key piece of the puzzle) meets Adelaide, and Melbourne faces Geelong. When the week is over, everyone else gets to head out to the golf course and play 18 and get ready for 2017.

The Run Home

There was some pretty good footy played in round 21...

Western Bulldogs overcame a stubborn yet inconsistent Collingwood side. The Dogs are hoping for a top six finish, which would involve a home game to start the playoffs. The top four sides play for the chance to get a bye week, the next two play for home ground to open the finals, and the seventh and eighth place have to battle all the way through. So Western helped themselves on that count. 

A goal from ruckman Nic Natanui with :08 left helped West Coast beat GWS by one point. It's amazing how those single-point behinds can make such a big difference. 

And in one of the two games I saw, Geelong looked dead in the water against an inspired Richmond, trailing the Tigers by 35 at three-quarter time. But then the Cats found their inspiration, kicking six goals and scoring 45 consecutive points in the fourth term to beat Richmond. 

In looking last week at home grounds and how the sides in and around Melbourne play the majority of their games close to home, Geelong also has it pretty good, as they're only an hour away from the Melbourne Cricket Ground or Etihad Stadium, where many AFL games are played. It does seem to be a bit of an advantage to the Victorian clubs since travel is reduced during the home-and-away season. Outliers such as Fremantle and West Coast have a nearly three-hour plane ride to Adelaide and 3:30 to Melbourne. Multiply that by two or three and it can add up, especially if you add in a trip to Sydney or Brisbane. 

It's not as bad for the Brisbane Lions on the other coast, as it's 2:30 by plane to Melbourne, and Sydney/GWS only fly an hour and a half into town. 

It's why those home games in the postseason are so critical.

Elsewhere, Hawthorn also beat North Melbourne to stay at the top of the ladder. 

After round 21, the final eight are still pretty much set, though not confirmed. North Melbourne leads St. Kilda and Melbourne by two games with two to play. The other seven are confirmed and are more concerned about seeding as mentioned.

On tap for round 22, I'll look at Sydney at North, and Adelaide is at Port Adelaide. This is a technicality, since the Crows and Power both call the Adelaide Oval their home grounds. Sydney and Adelaide both have a chance at a home game in week 1 of the finals, so there's still a lot that's up in the air. 

History Lesson

So Mason Cox was back in the lineup for Collingwood. He managed to kick a couple of goals but his shoulder was wrapped pretty well and it was plain to see it was bothering him. The up and down season of the Pies continues with a 15-point loss to the Richmond Tigers, who are struggling this season. Last year Richmond had a big streak to close out the season, winning like their last nine to qualify for the postseason. They're not having similar fortune this season.

My other match of the week was the Western Bulldogs qualifying for the eight with a win over North Melbourne. The Kangaroos can still make it, but Western sealed their trip to the postseason. It's pretty remarkable work by the Bulldogs since they've lost a lot of players to injury this season, including their captain Robert Murphy very early in the season.

Last week I wrote about Matthew Pavlich and Brent Harvey, and I saw some St Kilda highlights the other day and another player was wearing the old #7 jumper that Lenny Hayes wore before retiring in 2014. Those things made me think about how AFL teams honor their great players of the past, because Hayes was prominent on those two hard-luck Saints teams in 2009-10 and it didn't take long for someone else to put on his old guernsey.

I get it that there are only so many to go around and that you can't retire everyone's number, hang them from the rafters, put them on the ring of honor or whatever. There are 18 AFL teams and many teams share different venues such as Etihad or the MCG. That makes it tough honor past players in any of those ways.

Geography plays a role, since in the area of Melbourne, Victoria, you have the teams Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon, Melbourne, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, and North Melbourne all within a very close proximity of one another. That's almost half of the 18 teams in the competition. A park for each of those sides isn't practical. In fact, I find it amazing that there's such strong fan support for teams that are so close geographically.

Stateside the situation is different. Teams don't share a venue unless it's a situation like the Seattle Seahawks/Sounders. In a league of X number of teams, there are X stadiums nationwide, so honoring past players by putting their names/numbers on display is easier. Each team gets to do their own thing.

I have noticed that individual AFL teams each do a great job of preserving histories on their own websites. There are a lot of 'teams of the century' from the older clubs, as well as naming of all players to wear a specific guernsey number, premiership seasons, and such. So it's nice to see these things told, retold, and preserved.

On tap for this week-- three weeks left in the 2016 home and away season. Geelong at Richmond, and North Melbourne at Hawthorn. The Hawks dropped one to Melbourne last week and are now just one game clear of four other sides at the top of the ladder. I saw one prediction list them as falling to fifth by the end of the season. Their percentage isn't as good as the teams below them, and they've got questions regarding injury and suspension. Should be fun.

Play on!

Brent Harvey and Matthew Pavlich

The two matches shown last week both involved milestone performances by two longtime champion footballers: North Melbourne/St. Kilda and Sydney at Fremantle.

We'll start with Kangaroos champion Brent Harvey who set the AFL record for career games played with 427. He is listed at 167 cm/77kg, or about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 170 pounds and plays on the forward line. Being that size, speed and accuracy are important parts of his game. He debuted in 1996 and has played in two Grand Finals, winning in 1999. Hawthorn's Michael Tuck held the previous record of 426 games before his retirement in 1991.

Harvey, at age 38, seems to think he can still play and contribute-- he sees 450 games as a possibility. Watching him zip through the middle of the field makes me think sure, why not? However Harvey is aware of the needs of the club and is loyal to the club when he understands it's not about him.

North defeated the Saints 85-62. Harvey kicked his only goal near the end of the game. The Saints needed to win to keep their hopes alive of finishing in the top 8.

Freo's Matthew Pavlich is 6'3" and 220 lbs (192 cm/99 kg) and is a center half-forward. He reached milestone game number 350 this past week. Matty Pavs was the Dockers' captain from 2007-15, and he's played in one Grand Final, falling to Hawthorn in 2013. His height is a major advantage when taking marks within range of goal. He's one of only 15 men in the history of the league (which dates back to 1897) to reach 350 games.

Pavlich's milestone was overshadowed by Harvey's. Didn't really matter much-- Freo stayed within shouting distance in the first half, but Sydney blew it wide open in the second, winning by 90 points. In listening to the commentators, it sounds like the retirement writing is on the wall for Matthew. It's weird, since at age 34 you'd think he's got a few more years left. Also a little sad that such a fine and versatile player has not hoisted a premiership trophy.

An individual player's milestone games seem to be more of a thing down under than they do here in the states. My thought is that we place a higher value on it when a coach does it, and more likely if it's a round (and big) number win. Maybe it has something to do with the number of games that are played. Here it's 82 (NBA), 162 (MLB), 16 (NFL), and 80 (NHL). These just don't seem to be numbers that lend themselves to milestone games, with the exception of the NFL, but that's slightly misleading, as the nature of the NFL leads to more injuries, missed games, and subsequent retirements.

So it's nice to see the AFL honor two of their all-time greats.

On the DVR this week: four weeks left in the 2016 home-and-away season. Collingwood/Richmond and North Melbourne is at the Western Bulldogs. The hot-and cold Magpies are in 12th position on the ladder, and Richmond laid an egg last week in a big loss to GWS.

North is in 8th position, three games clear of ninth place with four games to play. The Bulldogs are in 7th place with the same number of wins, but ahead of NMFC by virtue of a higher percentage. That ought to be a fun one.

This means the eight playoff sides are already in place, barring some unusual occurrences. First-place Hawthorn leads the field by two games. After that it's a mess. four teams are tied at 13 wins and three are knotted a game behind at 12 victories. So it'll be a wild ride, but it seems as though we know who the eight will be.