Franklin’s second goal in the opening quarter of Hawthorn’s 78-point thumping of Carlton was the cue for pandemonium, as the big Hawk’s 100th goal of the season sparked a gleeful crowd invasion.
Order was eventually restored after a 10-minute break in play but security staff looked likely to have the job in front of them again in the last quarter, when Fevola went within a goal of matching Franklin’s feat.
Goalless in the first half, Fevola exploded for seven majors after half time. Despite the Blues looking for him at every opportunity in the closing stages, the enigmatic spearhead was unable to get the one goal he needed for the century.
In other weekend action, St Kilda’s thumping 108-point win over Essendon and North Melbourne’s unexpected 76-point loss to Port Adelaide opened up the way for the Saints to snare fourth spot and a double chance.
The flip side is that Ross Lyon’s side will have face Geelong, which posted yet another seemingly effortless victory, this time by 99 points over West Coast.
Fremantle quashed Collingwood’s dreams of a top-four spot with a 24-point upset in Perth, Richmond handed Melbourne an 80-point hiding, and Adelaide initially appeared destined for fourth position after squeezing out the Western Bulldogs by nine points.
The Lions will look on with interest during week one of the finals, as five of the sides they beat during the season do battle – the Western Bulldogs play Hawthorn in Friday night’s second qualifying final, the Saints take on the Cats in Sunday’s first qualifying final, Adelaide and Collingwood square off in Saturday afternoon’s first elimination final, and North Melbourne travel to Sydney to play the Swans in a Saturday evening second elimination final.
Fremantle 12.8 (80) d Collingwood 8.8 (56)
Fremantle ended its season on a high and snuffed out Collingwood’s chance of a top-four finish with a scrappy four-goal win at Subiaco. The Magpies had everything to play for but looked flat from the outset, with Leon Davis one of the few Collingwood players to stand up and be counted. Rising star candidate Rhys Palmer was outstanding for Freo with 27 possessions, while Jeff Farmer kicked three goals in his 249th game.
Port Adelaide 23.10 (148) d North Melbourne 10.12 (72)
North Melbourne looked the second-best team in the competition a fortnight ago – now it will enter the finals without a double-chance, in seventh spot and having to travel to Sydney. The Roos looked set for a top-four finish when they kicked the first three goals of their round 22 clash with the Power, but Port Adelaide quickly regrouped. With Peter Burgoyne on fire, the visitors outscored Dean Laidley’s side by 23 goals to seven from that point on to record an emphatic win.
Geelong 24.20 (164) d West Coast 10.5 (65)
Geelong surpassed the feats of Essendon’s all-conquering 2000 side, completing the home-and-away season with 21 wins and a percentage of 161.84. West Coast kept pace with the Cats in the first quarter, but it was all one-way traffic from there, as Steve Johnson (six goals) headed a list of 13 Geelong goal-kickers.
Adelaide 10.16 (76) d Western Bulldogs 9.13 (67)
The Bulldogs continue to falter, but for more than a fleeing moment, the Crows looked likely to claim a top-four finish. Even the footballing gods seemed to be shining on Adelaide, with a hotly-disputed ball declared a Crows goal rather than a rushed behind by ex-Lion Jason Akermanis as suggested by television replays. However, the stirring victory was to no avail, with St Kilda's hiding of the Bombers lifting the Saints into fourth on percentage.
Hawthorn 24.15 (159) d Carlton 12.9 (81)
This match was notable for a couple of things rarely seen in football – fans legally jumping the fence onto the playing arena, and an entire side (Carlton) throwing the team rulebook out the window and trying to help a colleague reach a personal milestone. With the match almost a non-event, interest centred on the two men shooting for 100 goals in the season. Hawthorn’s Buddy Franklin did it with two first-quarter goals, but Blue Brendan Fevola fell one goal short after booting all of his seven goals in an entertaining second half.
Richmond 18.13 (121) d Melbourne 6.5 (41)
The end of the season couldn’t come soon enough for the wooden spooners from Melbourne, but Richmond fans probably can’t wait for the 2009 campaign to get underway. The Tigers finished the 2008 season with eight wins in their last 11 games. Against the Demons, Terry Wallace’s charges completely dominated the middle two quarters, reeling off 10 of 11 goals between late in the first term and late in the third.
St Kilda 21.21 (147) d Essendon 5.9 (39)
Essendon’s round 22 side bore scant resemblance to the outfit that was still eyeing the finals a month ago, with St Kilda hammering through a whopping 42 scoring shots. Stephen Milne booted seven goals as a percentage-boosting triumph catapaulted the Saints up the ladder and into fourth. The only bad news for Ross Lyon was the loss of Sean Dempster to a suspected anterior cruciate ligament tear.
