West Coast fans are being forced to do the unthinkable this weekend - barrack for AFL arch-rivals Fremantle. The Dockers' game against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday will play a significant role in West Coast's finals hopes.
As a farewell to two champions it was appropriate the game was played as an exhibition match as the Hawks definitively ended the Bulldogs thin flicker of hope for the finals.
No more than a footballer can choose his family can he choose his team, or for that matter his time.
It would be so easy to declare on the eve of Richmond's last home-and-away game that Dustin Martin would be crazy to leave the Tigers.
Changes to Collingwood's coaching box have begun with Scott Burns laving to join Alastair Clarkson's coaching team at Hawthorn.
Who will get the perfect send off after this Friday night clash? Will it be three time premiership captain Luke Hodge? Or will it be two of the Bulldogs favourite sons in Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd?
Collingwood will hand a debut to exciting forward prospect Kayle Kirby in their AFL season-closer with Melbourne on Saturday.
Gary Rohan and Jed Lamb are best mates off the field, but their friendship will be suspended for just over two hours on Saturday.
Geelong must focus on reversing a trend of slow starts to games in 2017 to beat Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, according to Cats ruckman Zac Smith.
One of Gary Ablett's closest friends and current Geelong ruckman Zac Smith wants the dual Brownlow Medallist to return to the Cats next season, but isn't making an effort to sway the champion midfielder home.
Greater Western Sydney forward Jeremy Cameron has declared he is over the hamstring issues that threatened to jeopardise his preparation for this year's finals.
There has been much debate this year whether the Cats are a "two-man" team. That being their fortunes largely rely heavily on Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield and skipper Joel Selwood. "Dangerwood", as one scribe dubbed the pair.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson isn't fretting about his upcoming maths quiz as his side attempts to snare an unlikely AFL finals berth.
What needs to happen for your team to finish in the top two, top four or top eight heading into the final round of the 2017 AFL home-and-away season?
Typical of their AFL season from hell, Gold Coast's good news about Gary Ablett only lasted a couple of hours.
Rising Adelaide star Mitch McGovern has reduced the chase for his much sought after contract signature to just two contenders after ruling out a move to West Coast to join his All-Australian older brother Jeremy.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick maintains he's relaxed and comfortable about Dustin Martin's future as the Tigers gear up for a finals campaign without the signature of the AFL star.
Coach Brendon Bolton this week said he was hopeful Carlton's rebuild would be completed while captain Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs were still at the club. Murphy, 30, understands the clock is ticking. Gibbs, two years younger, is also reaching an age when footballing mortality catches up.
West Coast playing great Dean Cox could be a casualty in a major overhaul of support staff under Eagles head coach Adam Simpson.
John Worsfold and his West Coast premiership teammates will farewell Subiaco Oval in their own special way when they hold a memorial for the late Chris Mainwaring in October.
While Hawthorn are already out of the finals race and the Western Bulldogs season has only the faintest of pulses, in emotional terms, Friday night's game is a big one for both clubs.
Steve Johnson is back for one last show at the ground he made his own after breaking back into Greater Western Sydney's team for the high stakes clash against Geelong on Saturday.
Enigmatic forward Jack Watts has been given a chance to forge a spot in Melbourne's first finals appearance in more than a decade by returning for Saturday's pivotal clash against Collingwood.
The selected teams for the final home-and-away round of the 2017 AFL season, starting with Friday night's Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs clash.
Sydney have been dealt two injury blows on the eve of the finals with Dan Hannebery and Tom Papley ruled out as the Swans shoot for an unlikely top-four berth against Carlton.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has suggested the only reason to sack a coach is if he has completely lost the faith of his players.
Much as the AFL celebrates a competition in which anyone can win on a given day, the damnable corollary is that anyone can lose. For that reason as much as any other, the Western Bulldogs Cinderella premiership will turn back into a pumpkin at midnight on Friday night, long before the 2017 ball even begins.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has taken aim at the AFL, declaring the integrity of the competition has been called into question because of the pre-finals bye.
Carlton skipper Marc Murphy says Dale Thomas made the "smart" move in removing a contract clause and has been in strong enough form to warrant playing on next season.
Hawthorn great Luke Hodge has declared he will try and keep his farewell match as "normal as possible" in what will be an emotional clash against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge will break with his regular practice and use the looming retirements of Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd to rev up his side for their round 23 clash with Hawthorn.
Essendon veteran Brent Stanton has announced he will retire at the end of the season after 14 years with the Bombers.
West Coast should swing a stunning selection shock and unveil first-year recruit Willie Rioli against premiership fancies Adelaide in Sunday's emotional farewell to Subiaco Oval.
There are friends and admirers of Nathan Buckley who have advised him over recent weeks and even months that he should walk away from Collingwood. More pertinently, that he should tell the club to shove its coaching job.
Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron has a big call to make after Steve Johnson, recovering from a knee concern, trained well on Wednesday.
Brendon Lade is returning to Port Adelaide after seven years as an assistant coach at AFL rivals Richmond.
The Western Bulldogs won't look back at their painful history of preliminary final losses in the lead up to their Saturday night clash with GWS Giants.
Melbourne great David Schwarz says the potential defection of Jesse Hogan would not be "as catastrophic" now as it would have been last year.
There’s two very contrasting narratives developing heading into the penultimate weekend of the AFL season. And sentimentally, they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum.
The thing that AFL fans love about the game is risk and the unknown outcome accompanying it: the risk players take when they commit to a physical contest, when they launch three deep in a pack to stand on someone's shoulders in a marking contest, when they have a shot from the boundary. All are weekly features on highlights reels.
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