IT IS a week for bunkering down at AFL headquarters as tanking, Greater Western Sydney signings and one-sided games all get placed under the microscope.

The euphoria of the massive TV rights windfall would seem an eternity ago for the AFL, with all the screaming back page headlines and all sorts of opinion shapers weighing in about the suddenly-parlous state of the game.

Some of the commentary is merely designed to fill airtime and consume column centimetres. There is no news cycle more voracious than that of football, and events of the last week has offered much to pontificate on.

Scorelines such as Port Adelaide's 3.3 against Collingwood do little for the AFL brand. Margins of 186, 158 and 150 points, as we have seen in the past fortnight, are the type you usually find only after searching the agate type in the Sunday newspapers, not splashed across every TV sports bulletin in the land.

But West Coast kicked one goal in 1989 against Essendon at Windy Hill in 1989 and was playing finals football one year later. Essendon won the premiership barely 14 months after a 160-point loss to Hawthorn in 1992.

So much of football is cyclical. With up to three more coaches in the building next year thanks to $3 million worth of assistance from the AFL, and the fourth selection of what is a really good draft (at least at the top end), Port can paint an optimistic picture and could start turning things around quickly.

What also should not be forgotten is that we are in for what should be a cracking finals series. Collingwood and Geelong are monstering teams and would appear to be head and shoulders above the rest, but Carlton could win 16 and a half games and not get the double chance. The Sydney Swans finished top in 1996 with the same return, so there is some seriously good football being played at the top half of the ladder. And that should be celebrated.

With St Kilda riding into the finals on the back of a magnificent second half of the season, there is a team in the lower reaches of the eight that no side would want to be drawn to play in the finals. The hard heads of Hawthorn have been fantastic all season, while West Coast's resurgence has been a joy to watch.

So while there is no denying there are worrying gaps between the upper and lower reaches of the ladder, there is real silk at the top. The finals will reflect that and should be spectacular.

Just in the nick of time
THE AFL did well to sign the TV deal when it did and not just because the stockmarket is threatening to take a dive. Imagine if the rights were still in play now and some Sydney-based bean counter from one of the TV networks looked at the results and decided he wasn't going to fork out a record sum for prime-time fare such as Collingwood's thrashing of Port Adelaide.

But the fixture for next year looms large and it will require careful thinking before it throws the requirements into the computer and waits for the result to be spat out. For as long as Geelong is as powerful as it is, it serves no great purpose for anyone other than the reserved seat holders at Skilled Stadium, to make expansion teams make the trip down the highway to be beaten by 25 goals. Those sorts of match-ups aren't exactly ‘must-see TV' and won't sell many Foxtel subscriptions.

Promotion and relegation won't work in the AFL, nor will redrawing the fixture two thirds of the way through the season. And there won't be any move towards the NRL system in which the schedule for each round is finalized only five weeks ahead in order to ensure the broadcasters get the best match-ups.

Indeed, NRL fans are crying out for the same certainty as the AFL, where the fixture and the match times are locked in stone at the start of the season.

The other variable, of course, is form. West Coast won the wooden spoon last year and is a likely top four finisher this season. Nobody saw that coming, which explains just the one Friday night appearance in 2011. Expect more in 2012.

Pulling up
AS FOR 'tanking', we agree with Gerard Whateley who said on Offsiders on the ABC on Sunday that the terminology is wrong. It's not tanking as such, but rather a derivative of the racing term of not allowing a runner to achieve the best possible outcome.

This column can't understand the hang-wringing over events that are now several seasons old. What is done is done. Players do try when they cross the white line and there is just enough legitimacy in the coaches' line about using players in different positions in order to aid their development, to cloud any suggestion that they were trying not to win matches.

It is not a great discussion to be having and the obvious answer is to remove priority draft selections once and for all. The AFL player rules will be overhauled at the end of next season in preparation for the introduction of free agency, and what the AFL determines to do with priority draft selections will be front and centre of those deliberations.

Excitement still reigns
AND SO to the footy. An awful start to the round was salvaged on Saturday night and then Sunday, by three tremendous games.

Essendon-Sydney is being hailed as the game of the season, what with courage, excitement and brilliance on display in equal measures. Dan Hannebery typified the courage as he stood his ground in a marking contest, while Adam Goodes added the brilliance with a trademark goal on the run and the drama with the miss at the end.

The Brisbane Lions-Adelaide clash counted for nought in the scheme of things, but the four late goals to the Crows handed them a dramatic win. Graham Johncock to the forward line was a great move by Mark Bickley.

And Hawthorn and North Melbourne in Tasmania was as close to a tough, suburban game of yesteryear as you could wish to see. Twenty-eight net goals wasn't a bad result given the awful weather and the Hawks did well to win the game twice in the last quarter just as it seemed North - not for the first time - had its measure.

CLUB BY CLUB   
COLLINGWOOD: The Pies march on without a worry in the world, at least until the clash with Geelong in round 24. Mick Malthouse would be starting to think about his approach to that game, as would Geelong's Chris Scott. Full-strength side or rest a few? Hold back on a few match-ups or put the best forward? Yes, the Saints are still to come, as is a trip to Fremantle, but Saturday night's belting of Port Adelaide would indicate that the Pies are now in finals mode.

GEELONG: Sign of the times that as soon as Steve Johnson kicked his first few goals on Saturday, that he became a trending topic on Twitter. So too did Fred Fanning, whose League record of 18 goals in match, from way back in 1947, looked briefly under threat as Johnson raced to five goals. Geelong's average winning margin in six games at Skilled Stadium this year is 99 points. We hope and expect that Sydney will run the Cats a bit closer in round 23, the last game there for the year.

HAWTHORN: You had to love Rick Ladson's frantic run and desperate spoil in the last few minutes against North which effected a spill that Lance Franklin ran on to and goaled from in the last few minutes on Sunday. Deservedly, it earned him a hug from coach Alastair Clarkson on the boundary line in the moments afterwards, because it helped turn the game Hawthorn's way for good. Ladson is fighting hard to stay in the side and this act has surely bought him another week.

CARLTON: The Blues are destroying inferior opponents in a similarly imperious fashion to Collingwood and Geelong. On form, they might be the third best team in it, but chances are they will have only a fifth-place finish to show for it. The chances are growing by the week of an elimination final against Essendon. Not since 2000 have they squared off in a final. How huge would that be?

WEST COAST: Even the local media are admitting that the Eagles have had a charmed run with injury. A secret to West Coast's success this year has been how settled the side has been, but with Josh Kennedy out, Matt Rosa nursing a suspected PCL and both Dean Cox and Nick Naitanui pulling up sore after the Richmond game, the Eagles have a bit to think about getting towards the pointy end of the season.

ST KILDA: Just putting it out there that Justin Koschitzke is running into a vein of form not seen since his all-conquering 2005. That's what makes the Saints the most dangerous finals floater for many years.

SYDNEY: Adam Goodes is polarizing people. Lauded by some for his brilliance against the Bombers, yet singled out by others such as Fox Sports' Danny Frawley for a series of dropped marks, missed shots for goals and other errors that may have cost the Swans the game.

ESSENDON: Great fighting win by a side with an injury list as long as Dustin Fletcher's arms. The finals start this week for the Bombers. Beat the Bulldogs, and they're in.

FREMANTLE: Ditto for the Dockers. Massive game against the Blues at Patersons Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This team needs a lift from somewhere. Aaron Sandilands perhaps?

NORTH MELBOURNE: Matty Campbell nearly entered the pantheon of North greats with a final quarter burst that almost won the game. Small consolation for the Kangas, as they seek that elusive top four scalp, but in 12 months' time, they win that game. Liked the different jumper, too.

MELBOURNE: Still in the finals hunt, silly as it sounds. Beat West Coast this week - as unlikely as it is - and things get interesting. Dean Bailey never coached a win at Etihad Stadium. Imagine if Todd Viney does so at his first attempt.

WESTERN BULLDOGS: Interesting player management exercise for the Bulldogs over their bye weekend with several players - Jordan Roughead, Ed Barlow, Andrew Hooper and James Mulligan among them - playing for Williamstown in the Foxtel Cup Grand Final in Perth. All played for the Dogs the week before the bye, so no rest for them.

ADELAIDE: Two wins and the 'Mark Bickley for coach' cries will start. Surely they will fall on deaf ears as those involved in the selection process, which includes Leigh Matthews, start to go about their work.

RICHMOND: Good to see Dustin Martin back among the best for the Tigers.

BRISBANE LIONS: 0-8 without Jonathan Brown in the side. Shouldn't blow a three-goal lead at home with only a few minutes to play.

GOLD COAST: Played with spirit and verve, at least for a while. Campbell Brown looked in great touch until he busted his hip. It has been a mixed year for the former Hawk in his new incarnation as a Sun.

PORT ADELAIDE: Poor Chad Cornes could not get off the ground quickly enough. And who could blame him?

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chris Judd (Carlton): The bookies are already paying out on a third Judd Brownlow and he will get the three votes against Melbourne purely on the basis of his second quarter - 12 disposals, eight contested possessions, 100 per cent kicking efficiency, four inside 50s, two tackles, two goals and five scoring involvements.

NEXT WEEK'S GAME NOT TO BE MISSED: Plenty to choose from this weekend. St Kilda-Collingwood at Etihad on Friday will gauge St Kilda's improvement, while Fremantle-Carlton at Patersons on Saturday is massive for both teams. But Essendon needs to win two from three to make the finals. Port Adelaide in round 23 is a gimme, while West Coast away the week before will be tough. So it boils down to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night. Win and they're just about in.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.

You can follow Ashley Browne on Twitter at twitter.com/hashbrowne