The Race for the Flag in Squiggly Lines

Animated!

Adelaide have been one of the most interesting sides all season, but in dispatching the Giants last week and the Eagles away this week, and holding both opponents to reasonably low scores, they’ve looked less like “one-dimensional outlier” and more like “premiership material.”

If it were a year or two ago, you’d say the Crows were on target to lose a Grand Final. But in 2016 we’re still waiting for a flag favourite to emerge, and Adelaide look pretty good to me.

There’s a long way to go, of course, but I’ll be surprised if the Crows don’t go deep.

As for the other contenders… well, it’s pretty simple this week: the winners all had a good week and the losers didn’t. No honourable losses or shameful wins, not among the top teams. So the Hawks showed some of the old firepower against Essendon, the Bulldogs secured four points away against Port, and the Cats and Giants both won by a lot against good opposition (North, Sydney).

In a season this tight, no-one can afford to drop a game. But that’s especially true for Port Adelaide, who need a fair bit to go right if they’re to squeeze into the finals, and fell a little short against the Dogs.

It was also a bad result for the Eagles, who fell back to the pack with the loss at home to the Crows.

Ladder predictor! Look, let’s be honest: We might as well put eight names in a hat and order them at random. There’s nothing between them. But here it is: