An MCG-less round in a seemingly clear cut weekend of football appears to be in order.
Carlton host North Melbourne Friday, Saturday St Kilda takes on Fremantle, Geelong travels to western Sydney to take on the Giants, Port Adelaide will host Melbourne and Sunday the Bulldogs come up against Essendon.
St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes announced he will retire at season’s end, earlier this week, and the Saints will use that as motivation for the rest of the season. The 291-gamer was instrumental throughout the club’s peak seasons of 2009-10, winning the Norm Smith medal in its drawn grand final against Collingwood in 2010. The Dockers will be looking to ensure they keep their march towards September on track, coming into this one sitting second on the ladder on the back of eight wins on the trot.
Geelong will be taking the same approach as Fremantle to its game against Greater Western Sydney. The Cats snuck into the top-four last weekend following Port Adelaide’s shock loss to Richmond, but a loss will see them bounce straight out (given that Port Adelaide wins this weekend), with the
Power’s percentage much healthier than the Cats’. The Giants on the other hand are coming off some very heavy losses over the past fortnight.
Port Adelaide has provided many shocks this year. Firstly, for its transformation into a 2014 powerhouse, racing to the top of the table for most of the season, but of late it’s shocked the AFL world with some very subpar displays, which has seen it fall from grace. The Power has lost three on the trot, against sides sitting outside of the eight when they clashed (Adelaide, Essendon and Richmond). With news that former captain and Premiership player Dominic Cassisi will feature in his last AFL game this weekend, it should be enough to get it over the line against Melbourne, which is coming into this one on the back of two absolute thumpings at the hands of Fremantle and Geelong.
Finally, Essendon will be looking to cement itself further in the top eight, when it is hosted by the Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium. The Bombers will be boosted by their thrashing of arch-rival Collingwood last weekend, but the Bulldogs will be full of confidence after their against-the-odds win over the Gold Coast Suns last weekend. They will also be boosted by news that veteran Robert Murphy has signed on for a 16th season at ‘the Kennel’. This clash, on paper, seems to be closest one this weekend.