The Race for the Flag in Squiggly Lines - Round 14, 2016

Animated!

Another good week for the Crows, who crept closer towards the preciousss. Imagine if they’d kicked straight! They’d be cuddling a couple of premiership cups already.

The Cats recorded another away-game-in-Melbourne failure, their third for the year.

Hawthorn are on top of the ladder for the first time since mid-2013 for ages, and, paradoxically, about as weak as they’ve been since then, too. Last year at this time, the Hawks were 4th, and about to annihilate Fremantle (1st) and Sydney (3rd), after which they were about as clear a flag favourite as you could imagine… and still they wouldn’t win the minor premiership, because Ross Lyon kept sacrificing virgins to demon goat-gods in exchange for close wins. This year, it’s the Hawks who have had the close games fall the right way, and so they’re on top, at least nominally.

Speaking of unconvincing wins! Richmond have won 5 of their last 6 without once managing to resemble a finals threat. I thought Carlton’s winning streak was overrated but the Tigers have made that look impressive. Four of those five wins have come against the bottom 4 in Essendon, Brisbane, Fremantle and Gold Coast, with a highest winning margin of 42.

Freo dropped anchor as Collingwood ramped up their defence, keeping the Pies clear of a rising St. Kilda.

The Ladder Predictor has some interesting movement down the bottom, with Brisbane now ever-so-slightly more likely to win the spoon than Essendon, and Fremantle falling into the bottom 3, also by the barest of margins.