The opening week of the 2024 AFL Finals saw the Sydney Swans produce an all-time classic comeback to defeat the GWS Giants, Geelong reach another Preliminary Final and Carlton and the Western Bulldogs find themselves knocked out.
Swans come back from 28 points to defeat GWS Giants
The Sydney Swans have produced an all-time classic, defeating their inter-state rivals, the GWS Giants, by six points after trailing for most of the match and finding themselves behind by 28 points at one stage. Coming from behind, a late surge from the Swans saw them break the hearts of Giants fans and book themselves a place in the Preliminary Final—one match away from making the Grand Final for the first time since 2022.
Entering the clash with a 0-3 record against the Giants, the victory marked the first time they defeated their rivals in the finals. Isaac Heeney – who took the season’s best mark – headlined the comeback from the Swans along with All-Australians Errol Gulden, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey. The reliable Heeney kicked three goals, including a 50m bomb to make it scores level and racked up 30 possessions and seven clearances.
“I sort of pride myself on being the ultimate competitor,” Heeney told AFL.com.au after the match.
“I’ll put my head over it and be as hard as I can, as clean as I can, and run as hard as I can. I back myself in a lot.
“‘Horse’ (coach John Longmire) has also just given me the licence throughout my whole career, but especially this year, to really just hunt the footy, and do what I do, and have fun while doing it. When it comes off, it’s nice.”
ISAAC HEENEY STOP THAT 🤯#AFLFinals #AFLSwansGiants pic.twitter.com/MCcRg3g6vZ
— AFL (@AFL) September 7, 2024
Carlton and Bulldogs eliminated from AFL Finals
The Carlton Blues created history last weekend for all the wrong reasons in their match against the Brisbane Lions. Scrapping into the top-eight, the Blues failed to score in the opening quarter and only managed two goals in the opening half – it was the first time since North Melbourne in 1974 for a team to have 0 points at the end of the first-term. Hitting a 50-year low, the Lions swamped their opponents, kicking 14 goals and 15 behinds, winning by 28 points at the end of the match.
“The reality is that probably tonight was a really small sample size of what our season’s been. It hasn’t been consistent enough, and when you’re not consistent enough it compounds over time,” Blues coach Michael Voss said.
“You come to finals and it’s put up against the best sides in the competition under the most extreme pressure in an away venue, and you find out a bit about yourselves.
“We just weren’t able to play with any real consistent execution across the night and we didn’t have our pressure at anywhere near the levels that it needed to be.
“If you don’t build those habits for long enough over the course of the season, you find out when you come to these sorts of games. So that’s our challenge moving forward as a footy club.”
QT @brisbanelions 5.5 (35) lead @CarltonFC 0.0 (0)
The Blues hit a 50-year low with their HORROR start.
📺 Watch #AFLLionsBlues LIVE on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/vFth7ZwZpp
✍️ BLOG https://t.co/YEWPzzszXz
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/I6bmiy9PHB pic.twitter.com/r5l9jJxzXG— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) September 7, 2024
The Western Bulldogs will join the Blues as the second team knocked out of the 2024 AFL Finals. Heading into their clash against the Hawks as favourites, the Bulldogs were unable to live up to the hype and were convincingly defeated by 37 points.
However, the Hawks have been dealt a significant blow, with defender Sam Frost being ruled out of the remainder of the season due to a bone stress injury. This could potentially see Jai Serong return to the fold or Ethan Phillips.
Sam Frost is out for the rest of the season due to a foot injury. Scans have revealed bone stress. Huge blow for Hawthorn @AFLcomau
— Josh Gabelich (@JoshGabelich) September 8, 2024
Geelong sit one win away from Grand Final
The Geelong Cats now sit one win away from reaching the Grand Final after annihilating their opposition (Port Adelaide Power) by a thumping 84 points which saw them kick 20 goals and 18 behinds compared to the Power’s seven goals and 12 behinds.
Aiming to win their second Grand Final in three years, the Cats took full control of the match and even did it without six players from their 2022 Premiership team including Tom Stewart, Cameron Guthrie, Gary Rohan and Tom Hawkins..
Tyson Stengle and Jeremy Cameron both kicked four goals each, while Gryan Miers and Shaun Mannagh added three more each to the scoreboard. In the midfield, the highlights were Max Holmes, Zach Guthrie and veteran Patrick Dangerfield as they limited the Power’s touches in their back half of the field.
“We just have so much respect for what they can do when they’re hot, and last time we played them down in Geelong they were hot early,” Chris Scott said after the match.
“If anything, that made us think hard about how we were playing at the time.
“We were confident we were going into a finals series in good shape, but better for the lessons we learned during a lean patch we had, and the Port game down in Geelong was probably in the middle of that.”
Standing their ground in hostile territory 👊 #WeAreGeelong pic.twitter.com/2D7dIesUU1
— Geelong Cats (@GeelongCats) September 8, 2024