Blues suffer Suns stroke and Freo are finals bound

IF a week is a long time in AFL footy, then Carlton’s week must’ve felt like a journey, by foot, from Geraldton to Adelaide.

Fresh off the complete smashing of their bitter rivals Essendon, the Blues were thinking ‘how good is this?’, we just gotta roll up to the Goldie, take care of the Suns as well as our tans, come home, watch the Kangas take care of Freo and rest up for a bit of finals footy. Sweet!

Coach Brett Ratten at least had the wolves at bay, as speculation about his tenure at the top looked to be put to bed. Unbelievably, the Blues failed in their road trip up the coast and were left wondering if the bus had in fact driven into an alternate dimension that prevents you from physically being able to kick a football through two big poles. They won every stat there is (including bottles of body oil consumed) except the one that matters most – GOALS.

Full credit goes to the Suns though as they secured a great win for the home crowd that had been bribed to attend the match with the promise of free Whoppers.

Ratts might have to update his resume now as his impending doom awaits. Unless Juddy takes the blame and vows to chicken wing himself every night as punishment.

All this overshadowed a simply cracking round of footy, and it didn’t get better than Hawthorn’s victory over Swans. It was 1 v 2, top spot on the line. Buddy was back. A record number of excavators were in attendance. It went down to the wire. Sydney played some of the best footy of the year, but it was the Hawks who found themselves in front at the right time. If this is what we are in for come September, we’re in for an absolute treat.

Another finals bound team, Collingwood usually travel pretty well but the Eagles made sure a few questions creep in as they completely took apart Buckley’s mob and Nic Naitanui continued to defy logic for what is humanly possible.

Fremantle fans weren’t expecting much against the ‘Roos, with Captain Matthew Pavlich pulling out of the game after a Gold Coast related groin strain prevented him from taking part. Cue firmly in rack? No. Freo not only recorded their biggest score in Melbourne for the year but also locked in a top 8 berth, shutting the door on anyone else that wanted a go.

With one round to go, there is still plenty of intrigue to be had. Jeez, it’s good.

IMAGE: Carlton’s Andrew Walker in action during their Round 22 Gold Coast Suns vs Carlton AFL match at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012.

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