BY RIGHTS West Coast should have been in a buoyant mood on Friday night after a win over Hawthorn at Domain Stadium that was far more convincing than the 25-point margin suggested.
 
But the jubilation of a ripping night at the footy was pretty much crushed by the season-ending ACL tear suffered by star ruckman Nic Naitanui.
 
Naitanui had come back from a heel injury in great touch. He won the hugely important GWS game a week before that with his last-gasp goal and his return to form was the missing piece in the puzzle for the Eagles as they re-entered the premiership race.
 
But now Adam Simpson needs to recast his side ahead of the massive Friday night clash in Adelaide and whichever finals lie ahead thereafter.
 
It's not all doom and gloom for the Eagles, 7-1 since the bye and 5-1 without Naitanui while he recovered from the heel injury. They're in their best form of the season.
 
But the whiteboard in Simpson's office will get a solid working over this week as he determines how to move forward from here.

If he wants to stick with the same structure that has worked the past few weeks, either Fraser McInnes or Jonathan Giles will step in as the second ruckman. Of course, neither is a patch on Naitanui, but it would ensure the Eagles don't need to tamper with their backline by moving Jeremy McGovern up the ground, or potentially weaken the forward line by giving Jack Darling some time in the ruck to give Lycett a breather.
 
If Simpson doesn't believe McInnes or Giles are up to the task, then options include bringing in Mitch Brown or Eric McKenzie to stiffen the backline and using various combinations of Lycett, Darling and McGovern through the ruck.

Both McKenzie and Brown have struggled for touch this year and McGovern's defensive marking has been a real feature for the Eagles and on Friday night, he had the better of Hawthorn's Jack Gunston.
 
Simpson might be guided on a weekly basis from here as to what the forthcoming opponent offers. Adelaide on Friday night presents the Sam Jacobs and Josh Jenkins combination. Jacobs is a true ruckman, Jenkins a very good ruck-forward.
 
Simpson will earn his pay packet this week working this one out, but given McGovern's form of late, it is hard to see him leaving the backline any time soon.

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Clarko's conundrum

Alastair Clarkson has earned his salary many times over at Hawthorn, but the mastercoach must now dig deeper than ever into his bag of tricks in order to keep alive Hawthorn's bid for the four-peat.
 
The Hawks were dealt their own savage blow when ruckman Jon Ceglar ruptured his ACL and was ruled out for the season.
 
That the Hawks have been so competitive for so long this year is a fair achievement when you consider that Jarryd Roughead, their starting full-forward last year hasn't played at all, and their premiership centre half-forward, Ryan Schoenmakers, has not played senior footy since round three. Add the retirements of David Hale and Brian Lake, and there were some big holes to fill.
 
Ceglar was dropped from the 2014 Grand Final for match-up reasons (Ben McEvoy was a better match-up for the Swans’ Mike Pyke) while he got injured in round 19 last year and wasn't able to force his way back into the side. This year he was a clear best 22 player and this latest setback is heartbreaking.

So what does Clarkson do? Schoenmakers got through his second VFL game on Saturday and kicked a goal, but it would be a gamble to play him and expect him to be able to give Ben McEvoy a chop-out in the ruck.
 
In the absence of Roughead this year the Hawks have been playing McEvoy and Ceglar as marking targets deep in the forward line.
 
Former Demon Jack Fitzpatrick shapes as the most likely Hawthorn big man to play that sort of role. He is a true ruck/forward but hasn't been banging down the door at Box Hill for selection. The Hawks also like second-year ruckman Marc Pittonet and he has shown glimpses in two AFL games this year, but whether he can clunk a few in the forward line is the great unknown.
 
Like his one-time assistant Simpson, Clarkson will be burning the midnight oil this week determining what combination he needs to beat Collingwood this week to confirm a top-four berth and then into the finals.
 
It would be foolish to entirely dismiss the Hawks from premiership calculations, but the odds of the record-breaking four-peat are growing longer by the week. Who would have thought that Ceglar's crumbling knee might prove the crippling blow?

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Plenty to Crow about

What is it about the Showdowns that continue to make them such compelling viewing?
 
The build-up to this one was low-key as it gets given Port's mediocre form, yet Saturday night's game was as pulsating as any in recent memory.
 
It took some Eddie Betts brilliance in the final minute to finally put the result away at the end of a clash where the Power finally brought the passion that has been missing all too frequently this year.

Betts booted five goals in a sublime performance, while Ollie Wines was huge in the contests all night for Port.
 
The context of the win belies the margin for the Crows, because they're now second on the ladder and if they keep winning, they may not leave Adelaide again until the Grand Final.
 
The Crows have been super-impressive since round nine, losing just once, and while their supporters were probably frustrated at the final margin, coach Don Pyke would have been delighted by the challenge presented by Port and the manner with which his players responded.
 
It was precisely the sort of tune-up they needed on the eve of the finals.

Other observations

1. Nobody at St Kilda would be more pleased to put a line through 2016 than Paddy McCartin. The emerging forward succumbed twice to concussion and on Saturday broke his collarbone. McCartin has been a bit of a slow burn, but the Saints are delighted at his progress nonetheless, now they will be hoping a bit more luck comes his way in 2016.
 
2. Any hard drive with a replay of the Richmond-St Kilda game should be permanently wiped. That's how bad Saturday's affair was, but the Saints emerge from 2016 with a 3-0 record at the MCG and with the clubs about to lodge their 2017 fixture requests with the AFL, expect the Saints to request a few more games in Jolimont and a few less at the Docklands.

• Forecast the road to the flag with the AFL Ladder and Finals Predictor 
 
3. Great see the warm applause from West Coast supporters for Hawk ruckman Ceglar when he limped from the ground in the third quarter. Things must have changed over 25 years because the same fans, 25 years ago when Dermott Brereton was carried from the ground during a final against the Eagles, let fly with all sorts of invective and even some spittle as well. They would appear to have grown up, unlike a certain Port Adelaide supporter who we hope never to see at the footy ever again.

4. What to do if you're Nathan Buckley? Darcy Moore is likely to miss the season finale against Hawthorn on Sunday with a hamstring strain. Bringing Travis Cloke back into the side probably gives the Pies their best chance of springing the upset, but one more game in the AFL for Cloke will rule him out of eligibility for the VFL finals. Big Trav looks to be enjoying himself at the lower level – at least this year – so let's hope 'Bucks' does the right thing and brings back Mason Cox, so that Cloke can press on in the VFL and try to become a dual Collingwood premiership player.

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5. So North Melbourne plays finals after all. It is a deserved finals spot, all things considered, given how the Kangas played in starting the season 9-0 and the bad luck they have had with injuries since. Saturday night against the Giants represents an opportunity to get game time into players such as Ben Jacobs, Luke McDonald, Sam Wright and Shaun Higgins, who have missed most of the second half of the season, but who need to be playing if North is to move past the elimination final. Given the realistic chance of back-to-back games against GWS, don't expect much tactically from North, but as an exercise in match-conditioning for the finals, it could prove invaluable.

6. Melbourne won't feature this September and what the 20-point loss to Carlton on Sunday shows is that Dees don't have the maturity to play finals football just yet. They were well beaten in the various contested stats by the Blues, which was puzzling since they were the ones with more to play for. The hardness of a Michael Hibberd would have been welcome against Carlton and the former Bomber will be a welcome addition to a side that still has some pieces of the puzzle to fill. Paul Roos has done a wonderful job in making the Dees competitive again in just three years, so let's hope they at least try to send him off in style next week against Geelong.

7. Carlton's win was another feather in the coaching cap of Brendon Bolton. As the losses mounted in the second half of the year, the Blues could have fallen away, but the fighting second half at the Gabba last week was followed up by a gritty four-quarter effort against Melbourne, in which it was clear from the start which was the better and more determined side. The Blues should get over Essendon next week to make it eight wins for the season, which is double and perhaps four times as many as some were predicting back in March.

8. Carlton's win also put paid to hopes of a Super Saturday, in which Melbourne and North might have been playing for a finals berth. But six of the nine games across all three days will determine the shape of the final eight, so there will be plenty going on.

9. Luke Beveridge didn't need to wait for the news from the club doctor. Burying his face in his hands was all we needed to see from the Western Bulldogs coach as he watched All Australian half-back Easton Wood land awkwardly and be helped from the ground on Sunday evening. If you are a running defender at the Dogs, then 2016 is not for you. This was Wood's second injury of the year and follows those to Jason Johannisen, Matt Suckling and of course, skipper Bob Murphy. The Dogs are unlikely to win the flag this year in any event, but their finals hopes are diminished even further when they are missing so much drive from their back half. Here's hoping the bye week helps Wood's bid to be fit for the finals.