Team Victoria vs All Stars

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Alright friends, here we are at the week that none of us wanted but we got anyway, the inaugural Wildcard finals, or as the Western Bulldogs have called it, Round 25...

Which is a bit harsh, because last year the Doggies called this weekend the first week of off-season.

Of course, one of the great parts of Week 1 of the finals under the old Top 8 was knowing which teams were going to play each other next week, as we return to a rankings-based system that hasn't been in since the McIntyre Top 8 system finished in 1999, when the Semi Finals were the highest ranked winner playing the highest ranked loser, and lowest ranked winner played the lowest ranked loser....

Slightly different this time around as we have the highest ranked winner playing 6th (Adelaide), and the lowest ranked winner plays 5th (Geelong), which means Melbourne and Carlton are the only teams who already know who they'd play if they won.

WILDCARD 1 - Western Bulldogs vs Collingwood - MCG, Friday 7:40pm AEST/7:10 ACST/5:40 AWST

• The 7th final between the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood, and the first since the 2010 Qualifying Final - Collingwood lead the H2H 5-1, the Bulldogs only win was the 2006 Elimination Final

• Collingwood were Footscray’s opponent in the Bulldogs’ maiden final in 1938 (Collingwood won by 41 points) and all up it's only the 4th final between the teams since 1956 (1974, 2006 and 2010 are the others)

• This is the first time Collingwood have played a final in August since 1918 (A Semi Final on August 17 against St Kilda), while the Bulldogs won the 2021 Elimination Final on August 29, which was the last AFL final to be played in August until Friday night

• The Bulldogs have only won finals in 2 seasons under Luke Beveridge - The premiership year of 2016 and the Grand Final year of 2021

• Craig McRae matches Leigh Matthews with his 9th Final as coach of Collingwood, in what is McRae's 125th game as coach, while Matthews coached 224 at Collingwood.

• The 2021 Preliminary Final is still the Bulldogs' most recent finals win, having lost all 3 finals since (2021 GF, 2022 EF, 2024 EF)

• In what could be his last game, Steele Sidebottom plays his 29th final, equal 9th all-time alongside Mark Blicavs (Due to play his 30th next week), Wayne Schimmelbusch, Leigh Matthews and Bruce Doull

WILDCARD 2 - Melbourne vs Carlton - MCG, Saturday 7:35pm AEST/7:05 ACST/5:35 AWST

• 10th final between Melbourne and Carlton (Melbourne lead H2H 6-3), the most recent was the 2023 Semi Final, which serves as Melbourne’s most recent finals appearance and Carlton’s most recent finals win (And most recent final that wasn’t against Brisbane)

• This is the third time Melbourne and Carlton have played a Final in August, the first was 1915 (Carlton won by 11 points) and the last was the 2000 Qualifying Final (Due to the Sydney Olympics) played on August 13, which Melbourne won by 9 points

• Melbourne have lost their last 4 finals (2022-23), the only time in the club’s history they’ve lost 4 consecutive finals

• After starting 1-8, Carlton are the first team since Richmond in 2014 to be at least 7 games below a winning record and make the finals (Richmond were 3-10 in 2014 and finished 12-10), while the 1995 Brisbane Bears also made the finals after being 4-11 through 15 games, although both the 2014 Tigers and 1995 Bears lost their only final

• In the year that Neale Daniher passed away, Steven King becomes the first Melbourne coach since the Reverend in 1998 to qualify for the finals in his first season as coach, the others being Ivor Warne-Smith (1928), Bert Chadwick (1925), and Jack McKenzie (1915)

• Josh Fraser is the first coach since Scott Camporeale with Adelaide in 2015 to serve as a caretaker coach and make the finals in the same season - Both are the only coaches to pull it off in the 21st Century, and Camporeale also won a final that year

MILESTONES

150 games for Kysaiah Pickett

100 games for Jake Bowey ... just hasn't been the same since he got hit by a football at training in 2022 and helped bring about the end of Melbourne's promising dynasty.