AFL Preview Finals Week 2

Cats v Dockers. So we have arrived to the unthinkable, Fremantle on the cusp of moving to a prelim. Yep that's right, unthinkable. The Cats should smash them to a new kind of pulpiness. OK, I acknowledge that Freo COULD get up with their resident giant and with the same hard and quick running that defeated the Hawks, but really, is it likely? No. Cats by 73.

Doggies v Swannies. Several weeks ago I was quite confident that the Dogs would bounce back out of their form slump to defeat the Swans who had looked shot other than a recent victory against the Hawks. I was sooooo wrong. Since then the Dogs have essentially dug a deeper hole and the Swans soared like we haven't seen for many a year. So why pick the Dogs? Well its in Melbourne for a start and at the G. All season the Swans have looked far from comfortable away from Sydney. However form points to the Swans. They just keep winning (precisely what you need in the finals), and they've brought back Bradshaw who loves the big stage and McGlynn who was one of the integral parts of the Swans fantastic start and notably an absentee during their darker middle months of the season. Couple that with the Dogs injury concerns and depth that sees them bring in an unknown rookie for his first game I think the Swannies will snatch this one and launch into the prelims, only the third side from outside the 8 to achieve it in the last decade. Swans by 9

So that leaves us with prelims of Saints v Swans, an intriguing match and likely to be a dour unwatchable struggle. And the Pies v Cats in another prelim (I think this is 3 in recent times), which could result in on of the matches of the season.