Carlton enters finals with a little luck but played September-worthy football on Saturday

THE TACKLE: Carlton enter the finals with a little luck but played September-worthy football on Saturday. 

THERE'S a doctored picture in cyber world of Mick Malthouse's head on speed skater Steven Bradbury's body, an image taken at the 2002 Winter Olympics, when Bradbury won gold in epic circumstances.

Behind the smiling Malthouse are his flailing competitors, the heads of James Hird and Jobe Watson superimposed on them.

Malthouse meme

It is slick work and clearly the suggestion is the Blues were lucky to make the finals at a humiliated Essendon's expense. And they were.

If the Bombers hadn't mismanaged their supplements program, the Blues miss the eight, there's pressure on club president Stephen Kernahan and chief executive Greg Swann and questions are asked yet again about the wisdom of sacking Brett Ratten and hiring Malthouse.

All that was forgotten when Carlton recorded its greatest win under Malthouse on Saturday.

The Blues were lucky, but it is always said the harder you work, the luckier you get.

In front of a packed house, on the road and seven goals down, the Blues worked harder than Port Adelaide in the final 30 minutes.

It was the kind of footy that made them worthy finalists. Well, worthy enough, because one team had to fill Essendon's spot.

Carlton certainly stood up. So did Brisbane at Geelong, in a game that was pulsating, while Adelaide did what had been deemed necessary in Perth - smash West Coast by at least 11 goals.

In the end, Carlton had to win to play finals and it did so on the back of will, aggression, resilience and belief.

Those words haven't always been associated with the Blues this season, but against Port they earned the right to play Richmond at the 'G on Sunday in front of about 90,000.

Now we're talking.

Two titans will go head to head, and soon enough we'll be talking about the '72 and '73 Grand Finals, Neil Balme into Geoff Southby, the Tigers' most recent final in 2001 and, of course, Kevin Bartlett will stir the pot every day this week.

He started on Sunday on Twitter: "Richmond and Carlton have played 22 finals against each other. Tigers 16 wins and a draw #saynomore."

Out of Essendon's misery comes intoxicating anticipation.

The Tigers will play their first final in 12 years against a team that has recently treated them with contempt. Not so long ago, it was asked if the Tigers should retain the Round 1 encounter against the Blues, such was their ineptitude.

Now the Tigers will be raging favourites, although they have their issues.

Chris Newman has missed the past three weeks with an ankle injury. He has played 232 games without a final, and his return will headline the build-up, along with Jack Riewoldt's knee injury.

The Blues will probably get back Chris Judd.If they carry the momentum and self-belief from Saturday, we're in for a cracker.

Skipper Marc Murphy played like the real Marc Murphy, not the one hobbled by self-doubt, and Bryce Gibbs played like we hoped he would three years ago.

The Blues need those three - Judd, Murphy and Gibbs - to lead this week and Eddie Betts, Jeff Garlett and Chris Yarran to reproduce their form this week. The three amigos were instrumental against Port.
If they win, the Blues will be in a semi-final.

Now, that would a case of grabbing your luck and running with it.

Simonds Stadium

ONE small issue is the lack of transparency and respect from the AFL, but they have got the major issue right.

Geelong should host a home final because they deserve it.

Talk of Geelong having an unfair advantage is ridiculous. It's from people wanting to have a fight for the sake of it.

You can speculate about deals done with Etihad - they have been promised two extra games next year, it is said - about looking after Collingwood, about Fremantle fans already booking tickets, about only having a 35,000 capacity at the Cattery, yet it all pales to the rather significant fact that Geelong finished second on the ladder.

It's pure rubbish that if the game was played at Etihad it would attract up to 20,000 more fans to the game.

The AFL aren't dingbats - well, not all the time - and they have accurately predicted between 30,000 and 35,000 fans would turn up to the Docklands if the game was played there.

Seriously, at roughly $85 a ticket, why would the AFL give up close to an estimated $1.5 million in gate revenue and also piss off Fremantle and their fans?

They know they won't get a big crowd in town, so why not allocate the Cats the same home-ground advantage enjoyed by non-Victorian teams when they play finals at home.

It's rather curious listening to the commentary about Dockers fans missing out.

Last year at the MCG, where the Dockers rolled the Cats, it's understood 1000 Freo members turned up.

So, where suddenly are these extra 10,000 or so Freo fans - and I'm being generous - supposedly going to turn up from should the match be at Etihad? It doesn't add up.

As for AFL, no doubt they could've handled this better.

Fremantle chairman Steve Harris told SEN Radio on Saturday he found out about a possible final at Geelong via a radio report last Thursday.

On that day, the idea was floated. On Friday, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou voiced his considerable voice on the subject, and on Saturday night it was official.

Would've thought the Dockers deserved to be told by the AFL.

It appears as if it's a ruling on the run, but the AFL would argue differently. They'd say it was always an option. It's just that they didn't communicate it til now.

Remember, anywhere and any time is the Dockers' mantra. So Simonds Stadium shouldn't be a mental hurdle.

Roos

LIKES:

1. Paul Roos
For some reason, Roos still won't 100 per cent commit and if he changes his mind, the Demons will be devastated.  It won't happen. Why would he choose to speak to the club's leadership group last Tuesday if he wasn't going to coach them. No, Roos will coach Melbourne, which is just a terrific story all round. We all have friends who barrack for Melbourne, who all have been disillusioned with their team for several years, but today you can't wipe the smile off their faces. Have to agree with James Brayshaw though. Where is the all the money coming from?

2. Saints on Saturday
It was a carnival game more than a real game, but that's what happens in Round 23. Five players topped 30 possessions, led by Montagna and Stevens with 47. The Kosi, Milne and Blake show in the final quarter was entertaining, and former coach Ross Lyon added to the post-siren emotion when he hugged all three of them. He can be a cold-hearted and practical man sometimes, but he'll never forget what those three did for him.

3. Dogs on Sunday
Forget the result, this day was for Daniel Cross. We do plenty right in footy, and we do last games to perfection. For Cross, it was 27 touches, seven tackles, five clearances, which included some trademark Cross courage, and being carried off by his great mate Matthew Boyd. On the same day Cross departed, we saw, and not for the first time, his replacement in action. Tom Liberatore is a star. Another double-digit return in tackles (11) and clearances (12) to go with 36 touches. Smokey for  a spot on the All Australian bench?

4. Roughy
The Coleman Medallist might just be the most popular footballer for fans outside of their own club. He is humble, a comedian, and a super footballer and arguably more important to Hawthorn's premiership campaign than Buddy. And he might get to prove it. If Franklin is suspended, and he surely will, then Roughead will be clearly the team's go-to man. Remember the fears that Roughead wouldn't get back to full throttle after his achilles injury? He's better now than he was.

5. Kevin Sheedy
Once, you thought it would never end. And suddenly it's all over. He started as a back-pocket plumber and departs with an impact which rivals those of Ron Barassi and Ted Whitten. He is an extraordinary person. He is funny, crazy and loves new frontiers. He is competitive, vengeful and once upon a time would run barefoot across broken glass just to punch an opponent in the head. He was a genius coach, a fearsome coach and a coach of the sport, not just Essendon and GWS. He loves a red, loves a punt, and loves travelling. He loves talking and loves listening, but loves the former more than the latter. He loves knuckleheads and says he dislikes teachers. He introduced martians and marshmellows and he waved jackets and slit his throat. More than everything he loved the game. He is a future legend of the AFL Hall of Fame.

6. Marc Murphy
The critics need to acknowledge the Carlton skipper for one of the performances of his career - are you reading Mark Maclure? A difficult season plagued by injury and a lack of confidence, Murphy's final quarter against Port Adelaide was inspiring. Eight disposals and two goals got the Blues over the line. His goal to reduce the score to four points was magical. He gathered the ball in the middle, manage to get a two-hand drop to the ball and lob it over two Port opponents, ran on, took the ball back from Waite, took a bounce, and nailed it from 45m. Daniel Jackson will have his hands full this weekend.

Jack Ziebell

7. Jack Ziebell
Twenty-seven touches, four goals, five tackles, five clearances, Ziebell is Voss-like in how he goes about it. Still 22, he has become the standard-bearer at the Kangaroos in terms of commitment and big-time moments. He is a bull of a player who has got his fitness levels to elite midfield requirement. Also can see a situation where Ziebell might replace Swallow as captain, just as Hodge did Mitchell at Hawthorn. Not because Swallow. or Mitchell, were poor captains. More that Hodge and Ziebell had captain written all over them.

8. Gaz
The genius showed off in front of his old man with another captivating game. Thirty-odd disposals, four goals and lighting-strike first quarter helped him to three Brownlow votes, which might be crucial. As Sandy Roberts once proclaimed, what more can you say?

9. Scott Pendlebury
If Ablett is the most mercurial fast-twitch player in the comp, then Pendlebury is the most mercurial slow-twitch player running around. Thirty possessions a game is the norm - he's had 17 games of 28-plus this season - and yesterday against the Kangas it was 33 and two goals, Most observers reckon the goal of the year should go to the most magical, but I'd argue Pendlebury's one-handed, off-balance take in the middle and gallop to the 50m line, was as good as any goal kicked this year.

DISLIKES:

1. Buddy Franklin
Wrote after the pre-season competition Buddy was flirting with danger with late hits and bumps. It came to fruition. I fear he will miss two matches. If it is graded medium impact and not low impact, to go with the reckless assessment, then it will be three weeks down to two. Which is ridiculous, but they are the rules. Just can't see how the MRP can grade the hit as low. The only solace for Hawks fans is that without him, the team plays pretty good footy.

2. Whingeing (i)
The Cats deserve the right to play a home final at their home ground. Get over it, people.

3. Whingeing (ii)
No point punters having a crack at Fremantle coach Ross Lyon after he rested half his team for the St Kilda clash. It's not a good look - hasn't that been a popular comment this year - but Lyon's decisions are based around his team winning the premiership, not winning first crack at the best youngster in the draft. People ask if it's tanking. It's not. Not giving your team the best chance at winning a football game is more accurate. So is that wrong? Of course it is. It's a talking a point, and even the AFL has said they will "have a look at it". What exactly can the do?

4. Ryan Lester
This is not a dislike for the young man, a dislike because he wasn't able to write his name into Brisbane folklore. The poor bugger might not have slept well on Saturday night. Amazingly, with 30 players around the ball, he found the ball in his hands with seconds to play, had room to position for a shot, to get a kick away, to get it on target, but couldn't find enough height on the kick. It was a tantalising finish to a performance which Mark Harvey reckoned would've made Vossy proud. You can't disagree.

5. North sympathy
Can there be a more pathetic description of a team than what North Melbourne is being labelled with. Best team outside the eight, they say. What does that really mean? It means you were ranked ninth of 18 teams in the competition. Ninth. It means ... well, it means nothing. Not having a go at the Kangas, but it's consolation rubbish. If anything, the Kangas should be filthy. It was a wasted year. Developed in areas, failed in others. No finals, again.

6. Worsfold's future
Three weeks ago he was a lock. Today, it is one of the more intriguing situations in football. The Eagles have capitulated, but they have also been wrecked by injury. Did the players make a statement about the coach or make a statement that the season's end couldn't come quickly enough? Only club insiders know the truth. So what happens now? Does Worsfold ask the club does it want him to continue, or does the club ask Worsfold if it's best he step aside after two decades of devotion as a player and a coach? Think it might be the latter.

7. Bullying
On Saturday night, a female Essendon fan had a sign confiscated by security staff and eventually the police after - it was claimed - the AFL had made a complaint. Her sign read: "AFL can take whatever it wants, but it can't take our passion". It can't be right that the AFL stepped in. Surely. If true, what a frightening situation. The AFL might run the game, but it does not control the hearts and minds of the fan. Rightfully, Twitter was full of furious Bombers fans. Really, in trouble for a placard which said that? Why was she in trouble? What type of country are we living in?

8. Bulldust
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has accused the West Australian Football Commission and the West Australian state government of "treachery" for booking Subiaco next Saturday night for a rugby union international. It means the Dockers could potentially be scheduled to host the Pies in the second week of the finals on the back of a six-day break for the Pies if they beat Port Adelaide. So, a sporting international versus a possible six-day break. Hmmm. Not on Eddie's side on this one.

9. Clash jumpers
Carlton v Port Adelaide. Why?

BEST TWEETS:
@Winni3Box: How North aren't in the finals does my head in. You can quote that tomorrow

@Couttsy20 :  Like: Season being over so I don't have I watch the Dees again. Dislike: the Dees. #thetackle #membershipdollarswellspent

@StewPaton:  Said it 3 months ago. Will say it again here. Giants are chasing the wrong Hawthorn key forward

@madritzer:  likes the fact that the pain is over for the #dons fans #atlast dislikes #afl bully tactics

@emtwenty:  L: murph officially arrived as skipper. D: jumper clash - if it was confusing on the TV imagine the players under pressure?

@davidtilley1882: L: Saints! Reminded me why i do this every year! D: Umpires! Chappy, Vickery, Cloke. NO excuses for mediocrity!

@justin1flynn: Like: in a season of drama, Richmond finish 5th on 15 wins. Massive improvement. Dislike: Buddy getting reported. Silly boy

@seanbrown_93: like: bombers players getting around to their fans dislike: richmond fan who asked why I was clapping 'the injectors'.

@love_lentils: Like: Fairytale farewell to three greats of StKilda fc, dislike: super late review Kosi goal.

@stustar09: Like: Roughie winning the Coleman. Dislike: FREMANTLE HAVING TO PLAY A FINAL AT SIMMONDS WHEN IT SHOULD BE AT EITHAD OR MCG

‏@TMacDonald_: Like - close footy. Dislike - Port choking which cost North a finals spot.

@rhiannonwatt:  dislike AFL censorship at #aflbomberstigers when security were instructed to remove a fans sign they disliked

@CStannage:  like that notwithstanding all that is thrown at it, our game is spectacular and wonderful week after week

‏@gagorocks: Likes: Tigers playing finals & have a chance 2 smash the Blues D/likes Hird Going interstate & not staying to support y'day

@aussieblonk: dislke, STILL the throw, 2 or 3 in last quarter Blues v Port. Like Buddy's body language =saying byebye

@MrBradski999:  L: this long painful Demon season is over, and with the glimmer of the new coach ahead D: fans booing woosha

@YeeeeeesHowGood: like Richmond putting Essendon to th sword, Dislike Essendon players being interviewed after game with sympathy #tackle

@equalsmc37:  Like - Tim Rogers Greatness Ads, brilliant! &  @lachhunter 's game. Dislike - Eagles... Lacklustre crowd

@boyce_cvsc:  Lions sack Voss for Roos Don't have Roos miss the finals by a solitary point after a howler umpiring decision.

@marty_legend: dislikes chappy dragging in it and no free, would have been paid normally. Like lions effort. Voss would be proud.

‏@amazz44:  is McBurneys gutless non-decision at the end of Cats vs Lions in the dislikes?

@wildebeestz: L: Brandon Ellis, Tiges best in second half of season. D: West Coast Eagles capitulation over the past month

@tarpman47:  buddy has removed Hawthorn from his bio on twitter. Why?

@jimmycrumbler: LIKE: The wires on top of the G have worked. No seagulls.DISLIKE: That the Roos didn't make 8. Deserved it more than Blues.