AFL Finals Week 1 was certainly entertaining and Week 2 promises more, writes Mark Robinson

PLAYERS living up to or enhancing their reputations is what makes finals great. And the AFL needs to fix the GWS fixture farce, writes MARK ROBINSON.

Brent Harvey farewells the Adelaide Oval crowd.

EXPECT the unexpected was applicable for the first weekend of finals.

The on-field performances were mostly brutal and wholly intoxicating and even North Melbourne’s defeat on Saturday night ended with a lovely touch of theatre as the Crows - and their fans - sent off the Kangaroos Four.

As for the bye and its critics, it might be best to have a rethink. For week one of the 2016 finals series was the most compelling in recent memory.

They are a strange bunch, Crows fans. They cheer Boomer and Co at the end, but jeer Lindsay Thomas who dared to fall to the ground after being kicked by Kyle Hartigan.

And what of the Giants. Those hated Giants. The whinging has started already how a club so young has a team so accomplished and if you want to believe the cynics, it is the AFL’s fault. And if Stevie Johnson gets off, it’s the AFL’s fault again.

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Johnson is in trouble. Accept it was a split second action and not intentional, but he clipped Josh Kennedy in the head and the rules say he can’t do that.

Kennedy’s teammates were telling him to stay down, but from afar it didn’t look like he was foxing. He did return to the field so he didn’t have a concussion and that’s the only aspect which will help Johnson. If he did have concussion, why was he back on the field anyhow.

Brent Harvey walks off after playing his last match for North Melbourne.

Whinge all you like about the draft concessions and the salary cap help, but you can’t deny Kevin Sheedy firstly and Leon Cameron ultimately has moulded a group of talented individuals into a powerful collective. They play breathtaking football.

The off-field was bewildering.

The AFL made Sydney play Greater Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium to maximise attendances but then announced the Giants would be playing a home preliminary final at Spotless Stadium which carries a maximum of 25,000.

APOLOGY: ROBBO WASN’T ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS TODAY DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS. HE WILL BE BACK NEXT MONDAY!

Deals are in place, but the cost is the integrity of the finals series.

If the Giants get a home prelim, why shouldn’t Geelong?

Why should the Giants be so advantaged and the Cats disadvantaged?

Steve Johnson celebrates a Tom Scully goal against Sydney. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Is it an equal playing field?

It is rubbish, embarrassing for the national sport, and if AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan loves football as much as he says he does, then his next endeavour surely has to be to fix this inexplicable scandal.

And it is a scandal.

The cynics would say the AFL is looking after the AFL team and Geelong simply has to lump it.

It’s far from ideal and seriously, Gill, you’d have to agree.

That aside, the Giants were frighteningly good.

Everyone said fear the ball movement and fear the ground-ballers.

What about fear their intensity.

They combined both against Sydney and although Friday night’s game was everything you’d want to have in a final, the Giants’ win was the most powerful win of the weekend.

They were committed, ruthless and here was Exhibit A on outnumbering the opposition at the contest.

Jeremy Cameron’s third quarter was prodigious.

He kicked three goals when mostly everyone else was kicking behinds and his crunching tackle on Gary Rohan in the middle was evidence of the team’s commitment to the contest.

Jezza, you beauty, hasn’t been heard in a final since 1970.

The Swans were outgunned by the middle of the fourth quarter, but have every right to complain to the umpires during the week, not that that will get them anywhere.

Two of Cameron’s goals came after two questionable decisions.

To not give Isaac Heeney a free kick for in the back was mind-boggling and Dane Rampe was stiff to be pinged for holding the ball.

They wouldn’t have changed the result, but it didn’t help the Swans when the game was still up for grabs.

The Bulldogs were similarly committed on Thursday night.

If they win through to the preliminary final by defeating Hawthorn on Friday night, then the Dogs v Giants will be frenetic. Both teams are so manic at the ball it would like watching two zombie clans going at each other.

They have to get over the Hawks, however.

They once were known as the unsociable Hawks, but they now are the thinking-man Hawks.

They plot their way down the field and through the congestion and deny the opposition the ball. It almost won them the game on Friday night and they’ll likely instil the same style against the Bulldogs.

Cyril Rioli soars over Corey Enright on Friday night. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Won’t that be intense. The Dogs will crave the ball and tackle themselves to exhaustion, while the Hawks will play keepings off.

Much was said of Joel Selwood’s selection as All-Australian captain, both positive and negative, and even though the finals don’t count, his game on Friday oozed justification.

That’s what we love about finals, watching players either enhance or live up to their reputations.

In no particular order of merit or performance, the likes of Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio, Liam Picken, Luke Dahlhaus, Patrick Dangerfield, Eddie Betts, Luke Hodge and Tom Hawkins made it a weekend to remember.

As for the bye and its critics, it might be best to have a rethink.

For week one of the 2016 finals series was the most compelling in recent memory.

Originally published as AFL Finals Week 1 was certainly entertaining and Week 2 promises more, writes Mark Robinson