It’s anyone’s flag as the Hawks tumble and the Swans soar to the top – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE
It’s incredible what a few weeks can unravel in football mainly when the purists have decisively penciled in who will win the flag this season but are stumped when the favourites fall by the wayside in the last few rounds, throwing open a myriad of other scenarios.
Hawthorn, three time champions over the past years and strongly tipped to make it a “Fourthorn’ as their diehard fans like to refer to it, have tumbled from top spot to fourth on percentage with a shock loss to last year’s losing Grand Finalist West Coast and suddenly appearing to show chinks in their amour, or are they just fencing before making that decisive final thrust?
Time will tell if the opposition have worked out strategies to nullify the mighty Hawks but one thing that is for sure is that they are no pushovers when challenged.
Sydney Swans have in the past been the biggest underachievers in terms of looking flag favourites then falling away when the pressure of finals is applied to them. They have thus far looked like a team capable of taking that big final step this season but their record this year like many of the top four suggests that anyone can upset them on a bad day.
With a scenario such as this it becomes a journalist’s nightmare to decisively predict who will win this year’s flag so I will hedge my bets and say one of the first half a dozen have an equal chance to take away Football’s biggest prize.
The Swans have soared above the Hawks and Crows to top spot with a round to play out for the minor Premiership and those following have performed exceptionally well to stake a claim for not just the home and away bragging rights but a shot at a prize fiercely guarded by the rampant Hawks over the past three years.
The next three are Geelong, rapidly rising outsiders Greater Western Sydney and last year’s disappointing grand finalists West Coast Eagles who are having another crack at going all the way. All three of them have the potential to go all the way but lack the key element of consistency which has dogged their season.
If things work to plan, Sydney and Hawthorn could be in the fight for their lives if they cross paths with Greater Western Sydney and Adelaide who are two teams that have flown under the radar but now appear poised to spoil the party for the fancied teams.
Greater Western Sydney thrashed the Swans in their last encounter and the Hawks had a lucky escape against the Crows before winning by 3 points at the MCG and these two could well create the upheaval to the Hawks and Swans before the grand final throwing the competition open to anyone.
This season has been most entertaining mainly for its unpredictability as teams outside the eight constantly challenged the top sides sometimes providing the upsets ad the main contributors for it have been the fast improving Greater Western Sydney, Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, St. Kilda and Carlton.
