The twenty-second round of the 2024 AFL season saw the Swans produce an exhilarating comeback, Gold Coast win on the siren and Port Adelaide rise to second place.
Swans produce a thrilling comeback against reigning premiers
The Sydney Swans have produced a victory for the ages, coming back from a 27-point deficit in the final quarter to defeat the reigning AFL premiers and subsequently putting an end to their hopes of winning back-to-back titles.
For the last twenty minutes, Isaac Heeney showed everyone why he is one of the best players in the competition. He completely outplayed the Magpies and helped guide the Swans to a win despite receiving extra attention from the opposition. Racking up 14 possessions in the final quarter, Heeney was in career-best form and was complimented by Chad Warner, who was nowhere to be seen for the opening three quarters.
“He was pretty special, wasn’t he?” Magpies coach Craig McRae said.
“He was amazing, I don’t think I’ve seen a player impact a game like that in a quarter. Unbelievable.”
However, the result wouldn’t be without controversy as Collingwood’s Daniel McStay missed out on a late 50-metre penalty, and the Magpies were pulled up several times by the umpires for deliberately taking the ball out – rewarding the Swans a number of free-kicks in the process.
Was Dan McStay unlucky to miss out on a late 50m penalty here?
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✍️ WRAP https://t.co/hniOZMyL1F pic.twitter.com/9Ql0jnsGH7— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 9, 2024
Mac Andrew. The unlikely hero of Gold Coast
In only his 39th match in the AFL, Egyptian-born Mac Andrew emerged as the unlikely hero for the Gold Coast Suns, kicking the match-winner against the Essendon Bombers to send them out of finals contention. Andrew was able to stay composed as the No.5 pick in the 2021 AFL Draft as the siren rang across Marvel Stadium, gifting the Suns a one-point victory and likely ending the Bombers finals hopes.
To make matters worse for the Bombers, Andrew’s after-the-siren kick marked the third time in three seasons that the club have lost that way, following Dan Houston (Port Adelaide Power) in Round 16, 2023, and Jamie Elliott (Collingwood Magpies) in Round 19, 2022.
“It was pretty special,” Hardwick said after the match.
“We didn’t have anything going our way. We sort of went away from how we meant to play and, you know, I lost my mind in the coaches box and the players sort of lost their minds a little bit on the ground as well … then to finish the way we did.
“Mac was enormous, obviously, but you know, ‘Collo’ (Sam Collins) had a couple of incredible patches there late which were really, really important.”
MAC ANDREW THE MATCHWINNER 🤯#AFLDonsSuns pic.twitter.com/NFQKdyntvP
— AFL (@AFL) August 10, 2024
Power rise as Demons miss out on finals
Ken Hinkley and his Port Adelaide have been on an interesting whirlwind journey this season and now surprisingly sit in second place on the AFL ladder behind the Sydney Swans. In an event that no one could have predicted, it was just months ago, the Power fans were calling for Hinkley to be sacked from his role as coach. Instead, they have been on a remarkable journey to the top and now sit as one of the premiership favourites after defeating Melbourne – the Demons are now set to miss the finals despite being one of the contenders heading into the season.
Zak Butters (30), Travis Boak (29), Connor Rozee (28), Dan Houston (28) and Jason Horne-Francis (28) were the top disposal-getters on the weekend, while a four-goal haul from Kysaiah Pickett wasn’t enough to stop the opposition winning away from Adelaide Oval.
“It’s really important from a resilience point of view, but more importantly for us in the season that’s so tight, that’s going to make the difference between qualifying higher or lower,” Hinkley said post match.
“Maybe once we may have been out of the (top) eight, but I think we’ve actually been pretty consistent through the year.
“It’s been a pretty tough season for every team this year, every team has had times where it hasn’t been perfect.”
Zak Butters you ⭐
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🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/jTAmBDGTJe pic.twitter.com/F9JTDXxMFa— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 10, 2024