AFL Begins March Towards 2024 Grand Final

The Australian Football League (AFL or Australian Rules Football) will begin its 2024 eight-team play-offs on September 5.

The regular season rounds for the AFL have concluded and the post-season, known as the finals, begins this week. Here are five things to look out for as the tournament begins, culminating in the grand final.

Tournament Design Is Familiar, But There Are Some Changes

The AFL advances the top eight teams to the playoffs, collectively referred to as the finals. The breakdown is as follows: the first round is called the elimination finals and knockout finals, the second round is called the semi-finals, the third round is called the preliminary finals and the fourth round is called the grand final.

The first round matches are split into two groups. In the elimination finals, the bottom four teams (ranked 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th) play in the matches where the losing teams finish for the year. The winning teams advance to the semi-finals in the second round.

The top four teams (seeds 1, 2, 3 and 4) face each other in the first round of the elimination finals, with the top two seeds hosting the matches. The advantage of playing in this group is that none of the four teams have ended their season with a defeat. The winning teams are given one week off for the second round and advance to the preliminary finals in the third round. The losing teams play the winners of the elimination finals group in the second round.

Starting from the second round, all remaining games are lose-and-go-home, with only the winning teams advancing. The winner of the grand final is the season champion, also known as the premiership team.

The Sydney Swans, Port Adelaide Power, Geelong Cats, Greater Western Sydney Giants, Brisbane Lions, Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn Hawks and Carlton Blues will face off in their bid to win the grand final this season.

Defending champions Collingwood Magpies fail to qualify

The Collingwood Magpies are often described as the New York Yankees of the AFL. They are traditionally one of the strongest teams year after year and are one of the winningest organisations in league history.

A series of events have come together in 2024, not the least of which is the dreaded long-season hangover that affects teams in many sports. After winning the title in 2023, Collingwood lost multiple games at the start of the year and didn’t win until the third round of the regular season. They’ve never really managed to establish more than one dominant win, with a season-ending run between rounds 16 and 19 ending in four consecutive defeats.

Management has made some questionable decisions regarding the squad in recent years, which is unusual considering the club’s long history and successes. They tweaked their squad slightly after last season, but waited to deal with potential retirements and never fully revamped or redesigned their roster. Discussions about the team have erupted in every area from the players to the management, and even extended to marketing. Reports are now shifting to the 2025 campaign, where nine players over the age of thirty are expected to return from an aging squad. While the organization praises the leadership and experience of its older players, fans and spectators are left wondering why the club has apparently failed to develop younger talent to replace them.

Sydney Swans Dominated The League But Might Have Reached Their Peak Too Early

The Sydney Swans have been roaring since the start of the 2024 season, losing just one game and winning the rest in round 15. This dominance seemed almost historic, as they had the best percentage in the league during the run. (Percentage is a statistic that compares points and points. It is often used as a simple way to measure overall team strength and as a tie-breaker.) Then, the truth came out.

Injuries and complacency saw five defeats in six games between rounds sixteen and twenty-one. Observers also noted that players occasionally gravitated towards individual praise rather than a unified team performance. Although their position at the top of the table was never in question and they entered the playoffs as the top seed, the Swans finished the year without a consistent streak of positive shine for weeks on end.

Sydney enter the postseason with a roster effectively intact and healthy for the first time in many months. The gap between the clubs has narrowed, but Sydney still finished the regular season with the best percentage, and the Swans remain the best bet for the title among the eight remaining teams. They lead the league in points per game and average totals of different players scoring goals per game, and seven players have scored twenty-five or more goals for the year.

Greater Western Sydney could be the right opponent for Sydney at the right time. The Giants and Swans are building a formidable rivalry. Despite two wins against first round opponents GWS, both of those encounters came during a period of great play by Sydney. GWS have also won the previous three playoff meetings between the clubs. The focus and intensity from this matchup should serve the Swans well in the opening round. But make no mistake, they are not seen as unstoppable by their rivals.

Carlton Hopes for a Boost as Sam Docherty Returns Just 26 Weeks After ACL Surgery

Sam Docherty is making a stunning return to the pitch for the Carlton Blues. Injured in the opening round, Docherty will be out for just twenty-six weeks when he plays against the Brisbane Lions. (Coincidentally, he tore his ACL about a hundred and eighty days earlier against Brisbane, the team that drafted him in 2011.)

Docherty has been a standout player throughout his career. He is frequently involved in possession during play and is annually considered to be on the edge of elite status for defenders in the league. His arrival in the first round of the knockout stages could be a huge boost for the Blues.

A side note and uplifting part of Docherty’s story involves his two battles with testicular cancer. First diagnosed after the 2020 season, Docherty stepped down as the club’s co-captain during his treatments. Just after the announcement of a 2024 playoff return, Docherty and his wife announced they were expecting their second child.

Can Ken Hinkley Finally Clutch a Title for Port Adelaide?

Power appointed Hinkley as head coach in October 2012. Since then, he has earned respect from many as the club’s most successful coach in the AFL game.

That claim is riddled with controversy. Port Adelaide have never played in a grand final under Hinkley’s watch, and they missed out on playing in the finals altogether in 2015, 2016 and 2022.

Geelong face Port Adelaide in the opening round with the two clubs tied and a quick exit could put Hinkley under fire as he enters the final season of his current contract in 2025.