Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat – Grand Final Preview

So, about the lack of AFL Beat the last two weeks….

The Finals Week Two games were, unfortunately for me, scheduled to start at 3:30 AM on Friday morning and Saturday morning which meant I was only able to watch the second half of the Friday morning game.  The Finals Week Three games were slightly better as they started around 1 AM, so I was actually able to watch some of them.  Work was crazy busy in between, so here we are.  I will try to make this as suspenseful as possible.

Yup, it’s actually the two best teams in the competition facing off against each other in a rematch of the Qualifying Final played in Finals Week 1 in which West Coast rolled over Hawthorn at home by 32.  Will the outcome be the same?  Will Hawthorn pull off the Three-Peat (fuck you Pat Riley!)?  READ ON!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Let’s go back into the wayback machine and go over how we got here.  There were certainly some good games played, even if I was half asleep while trying to watch them.

Finals Week Two – US Friday Morning Semifinal – Hawthorn vs Adelaide

Having lost to West Coast in Finals Week One, Hawthorn took advantage of the second chance and thoroughly beat the Adelaide Crows at home by 74.  The Hawks took command of the game from the start and led throughout.  This is a great example of the pressure and teamwork that Hawthorn used to take over the game:

That’s not to say that there weren’t some great moments from the Crows.   Here, Patrick Dangerfield scores a goal from a ridiculous angle in what many expect was his last game for Adelaide:

Finals Week Two – US Saturday Morning Semifinal – Sydney vs North Melbourne

Sydney were also looking to take advantage of the second chance.  The problem, however, was that they were running thin due to injuries and the absence of Buddy Franklin due to mental illness issues. The Swans started the game off well, taking the early lead. The Kangaroos played well, however, and that, combined with the Swans’ lack of depth, added up to a semifinal loss for the #4 team in the regular season.   Here is reason #820 why the AFL is run better than the NFL.

No penalty called on either player.  Just a beautiful beastly crazy collision.

This was a beautiful goal by the Kangaroos to snuff out any hope the Swans had of catching up:

And so, North Melbourne (yay sunrisesunrise!) and Hawthorn moved on to the Preliminary finals.

Finals Week Three – US Thursday Late Night Preliminary Final – Fremantle vs Hawthorn

Hawthorn traveled to Perth to take on the regular season #1 and came away with a well-deserved 27 point victory.  Fremantle started the game strongly, as has been their pattern all season, but Hawthorn slowly and methodically started to play their game and exerted more and more pressure on the Dockers.  They quickly built the lead they would not relinquish and withstood a couple of challenges to advance to their fourth Grand Final in a row.   This early injury to Nat Fyfe doomed the Dockers as he gamely played on, but was not close to his usual effective form:

Here, Hawthorn cashes in after the siren on a free kick given due to the desperate trip by Fyfe:

Finals Week Three – US Friday Late Night Preliminary Final – West Coast vs North Melbourne

In a game that followed a similar pattern to the other Preliminary Final, North Melbourne got out to a nice lead against the host Eagles, but then West Coast took the momentum and started rolling on their way to a 25 point ticket to the Grand Final.  Here, Josh Kennedy sparks the Eagles’ comeback with a great mark, absorbs the hit, and converts the goal:

Now THAT is fucking football!  As always, fuck you, Goodell!

Here is a nice buildup and goal from West Coast’s Josh Hill:

Grand Final Preview

I really like how West Coast plays.  They beat the Hawks once in the playoffs this year, so they have proven they can do it on the big stage.

On the other hand, Hawthorn is chasing history, hoping to become only the sixth team in AFL history to win three championships in a row.  They have been there and done that.

I am not sure who will win, but I can guarantee you that the two best teams are fighting it out for the championship, which is really all a neutral fan can hope for.  The game will be broadcast in the US on Fox Soccer Plus, which sucks balls, but hopefully you all can find an Australian-friendly bar in your area that will show the game.  Game starts at 9:30 PM Pacific time.  If you only see one Footy game, this should be it.

I’ll be back next week with the last AFL Beat for the season with a recap of the Grand Final, a season review, and an offseason preview/lookahead to next year.  See you next week!