The cream rose to the top in Round 21, with Adelaide, Sydney and GWS demonstrating why they are the three flag favourites with just two games left before finals.
GWS brutally ended the resurgent Bulldogs’ run of good form, with a comprehensive 48-point win over the reigning premiers. While the Dogs nearly doubled the Giants’ inside 50 count, they had no answers up forward, while the victors were led by a dominant Jonathan Patton. Leon Cameron’s men look to be peaking at the right time of the year.
Sydney produced arguably the most one-sided beatdown of the season, blowing Fremantle off the SCG by 104 points. The Dockers hadn’t reached double figures by half time and while they did limit the damage in the second half, it wasn’t enough to stop the biggest loss in Ross Lyon’s decade-long coaching career.
Adelaide faced the toughest test of three flag favourites over the weekend, but were still far too good for Essendon and in doing so, locked in a home final. Essendon got on a roll at one stage and looked set to threaten, but the Crows just had too much firepower and won by 43 points. Matt Crouch continues his rise towards stardom, picking up 35 touches for the winners.
Elsewhere, Melbourne almost certainly ended St Kilda’s season with a 24 point win at the MCG, Port Adelaide kept their top-4 hopes alive with a 27-point win over Collingwood and Brisbane perhaps handed Carlton the wooden spoon with a 10-goal win over their crosstown rivals, Gold Coast.
What did you like, learn and hate from AFL Round 21? Have your say here.
