[​IMG]​

Animated!

[​IMG]​

That loud KER-CLACK you heard on the weekend was Sydney locking up top spot. Also possibly NicNat’s knee exploding. They both happened around the same time. But that should do it for Sydney, who are surely too good for Richmond in the final round, since it actually counts this year, and far ahead enough on percentage to stave off anything short of record-breaking thumpings from Adelaide and Geelong.

Likewise, the Crows should hold 2nd spot, although their task is more challenging, since it involves West Coast rather than the Tigers. The Cats could catch them on percentage if they belt Melbourne by 100 points or so while the Crows only squeeze home, but still, that looks pretty safe.

Then the final ladder will look like this:

[​IMG]​

Potential horror for Hawthorn, with a loss to Collingwood likely to bump them out of the top 4. In fact, they could slide from 1st last week to 6th next week, which would be quite the journey. The Hawks have a long strip of potential finishing positions:

[​IMG]​

The Giants are also hard to place right now, since their game against North is no gimme, and could move pretty far in either direction if they get the right results around them.

Melbourne were always a long shot for the top 8, but blew it on the weekend, handing 9th place to the Saints. Although it is actually possible for St Kilda to make finals: I ran 25,000 sims and they snuck in once. So that’s kind of tantalizing. But the other 24,999 times, North got through.

Flagpole! GWS gets a lot of credit for a 92-point smashing of Fremantle in Perth, and the Eagles rise to something like their pre-NicNat-injury position, just as they lose him again.

Right now, you’d definitely call a Sydney-Adelaide Grand Final, with those teams not only in the best form, but also, with home finals, facing the easiest run.

[​IMG]​

P.S. Special mention for Dwayne Russell this week, who at the end of the Adelaide/Port game was shouting about how the Crows could pinch top spot on percentage. Yeah, if they kicked 10 goals in three minutes. NICE MATHS DWAYNE.