Historic finals series kickstarts with finals in Launceston and Adelaide
Melbourne and Essendon, which bookend the eight, have an opportunity to end frustrating finals droughts over the next month in what is shaping as an intriguing series
With the siren about to sound in Geelong on Saturday night, Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn reached high to pluck what might prove to be the most important mark of the 2021 season.
The Demons had overcome what seemed an impossible 44-point deficit to challenge the Cats on their home soil in a match where the minor premiership — and regular season bragging rights — were at stake.
The siren sounded with the ball in the Melbourne captain’s hands. He had missed before in similar circumstances. Despite immense pressure, Gawn’s kick proved as sure as his hands.
The Demons’ thrilling four-point win came in the midst of a superlative finish to an unorthodox home-and-away season and has set the tone for an intriguing and historic finals series.
With Victoria and New South Wales locked down by Covid-19 outbreaks, Launceston will host two elimination finals and Adelaide two qualifying finals next weekend.
If a week is a long time in football, a month feels like an eternity during the pandemic, but it will surprise if the grand final is not held in Perth on September 25.
Week one of the 2021 Toyota AFL Finals Series is locked in ðŸ†https://t.co/jTzVGxUqKl
— AFL (@AFL) August 22, 2021
Melbourne and Essendon, who defeated Collingwood 16.6 (102) to 9.10 (64), are carrying droughts into the finals that have driven their fans to distraction.
The Demons are seeking their first premiership since 1964, which coincides with the last time the Olympics were hosted by Tokyo before this year’s delayed edition.
History suggests that when Melbourne wins the minor premiership, they go on to win the flag. They have won eight flags from the last nine times they have topped the table.
But no-one could have predicted at the end of the Norm Smith-era at Melbourne that the Demons would be cursed by a drought that has extended through to the turgid year 2021 has become courtesy of coronavirus.
The Covid-19 variant Delta is dashing dreams. The Demons might win the flag. But it will not occur at their spiritual home at the MCG, with Melbourne now forced on to the road in their bid for footy’s Holy Grail.
They will travel to Adelaide to host Brisbane in a qualifying final on Saturday night, with the clubs flying in and out on the day after an extended stint in isolation before the match.
The Lions won a battle with the calculator, as much as a spirited fight from West Coast, in the final minute on Saturday in Brisbane to secure a double chance.
After Port Adelaide edged the Western Bulldogs in a thriller on Friday night, the equation facing the Lions was to win by a margin big enough to seize fourth spot.
It came down to the final 30 seconds, with Lincoln McCarthy just sneaking a point to put them over the edge before Charlie Cameron booted a long-range goal after the siren.
The Bombers have not won a final since 2004 but they will approach an elimination final against the Western Bulldogs next weekend with great confidence given their form.
It is just three weeks since the two clubs clashed at Marvel Stadium but their change in fortunes heading into the cutthroat match has been extraordinary.
The Bulldogs were atop the table. Essendon sat outside the eight. The Bombers won by 14 points. Next Sunday, in Launceston, they start on equal terms.
With Gold Coast discard Peter Wright delivering on the promise that saw him drafted as a top 10 pick, Essendon is a legitimate threat to the Western Bulldogs.
“It has been awesome. I have really enjoyed the season as a whole,” Essendon captain Dyson Heppell said.
“The culture we are building … it is really starting to show with a bit of momentum in the second half of the year.”
The other elimination final pits the Swans against the Giants in Launceston on Saturday in what is the third finals clash in a decade between the two New South Wales clubs.
As testing as 2021 has been for all clubs, none have done it tougher than Sydney and the Giants, which have both been on the road for the last two months.
The season is already a triumph for both clubs but that does not satisfy their hunger for more success.
The other qualifying final pits two established combatants who enter the match with contrasting emotions after their thrillers on Friday and Saturday night.
Geelong has an extraordinary success rate under Chris Scott but they have not won a premiership since his first year at the Cats in 2011.
The first year of the pandemic scuppered Port Adelaide’s 150th year celebrations, but the Power secured a vital home qualifying final when reeling in the Bulldogs on Friday.
Only Port Adelaide and Brisbane will host home finals next month. The home ground advantage did not work for the Power or the Lions last year. The question remains as to whether it will prove decisive in 2021.
Melbourne Demons VFL/AFL Minor Premierships (ðŸ†= Premiers):
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) August 21, 2021
1939 ðŸ†
1940 ðŸ†
1955 ðŸ†
1956 ðŸ†
1957 ðŸ†
1958 Lost GF
1959 ðŸ†
1960 ðŸ†
1964 ðŸ†
2021 ??
Last Premiers after finishing 1st - Hawthorn in 2013#AFL#AFLCatsDees#AFLFinals
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