The major talking points after Round 23 of AFL action.
Brownlow Favourite
Gary Ablett is now the odds-on favourite to collect the 2013 Brownlow Medal after a stunning round 23 performance against the lowly Giants on Sunday.
Ablett kicked four goals and collected 33 possessions in the 22.14 (146) to 9.9 (63) Gold Coast win and saw his odds to win his second Brownlow slashed from $2.40 to $1.75.
Ablett was the bookies favourite seven weeks ago at $1.30, but suffered through a form slump over the final few weeks of the home and away season.
Joel Selwood was in contention to finish the season as the race leader, but wasn’t as impressive in Geelong’s one-point win over the Lions on Saturday.
The Wrong Team Slides Into The Eight
Carlton’s 15.14 (104) to 15.13 (103) win over the Power in the final game to be played at Adelaide’s AAMI Stadium ensured the team of a spot in the 2013 finals thanks to Essendon’s dismissal, but may go down as one of the least deserving finalists of all-time.
Despite underachieving all season long, the Blues make up the eight with an 11-11 record after the AFL banned the Bombers from this season’s finals for their part in the 2012 supplement scandal. Missing out by one win are the Kangaroos, who upset the Magpies over the weekend, just a month after claiming a Friday night win over Geelong.
Carlton appear certain fodder for the fifth placed Tigers set to play in their first final in 12 years while the Kangaroos may go down as the unluckiest team in AFL history- they lost 10 matches in 2013 by under 16 points or less and five matches by four or less points.
The Dockers Dreadful Weekend
Fremantle made a record 12 changes ahead of Saturday’s match against the Saints, accepting a brutal 71-point loss with a top four spot already locked in the bag.
To compound the team’s rough afternoon, Ross Lyon’s precautionary measures amounted for nothing as returnee Clancee Pearce fell to a leg injury within five minutes.
To cap it off, Freo are none too pleased about the AFL’s decision to schedule their qualifying final against Geelong at Simonds Stadium rather than the accessible MCG or Etihad.
Despite drawing 45,000 to the team’s 2010 semi against the Cats at the MCG or the 44,460 at last year’s elimination final (also at the MCG), the league has dumped the game in Geelong under the belief that no more than 33,000 will attend.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Dockers believed they had secured a charter flight to Geelong.
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