The big talking points and questions out of Round 24

Round 24 taught us plenty about the AFL.  

The final round of the home and away season saw 10 teams play for the final time, while the final day was full of drama and intrigue as the top eight was locked in!

With that in mind, here’s what we learned from the weekend’s footy.

That’s an almighty choke from Fremantle

While the heat looked like it was set to fall on Carlton, the Blues proved how important banking early season wins are after qualifying for finals despite losing six of their last eight.

The team that had the chance to knock them out in the season’s final game was Fremantle, who just couldn’t get the job done at home against Port Adelaide despite having the round set up for them perfectly … they just couldn’t land the final blow.

Like the Blues, the Dockers finished 2024 in some poor form, dropping their last four and five of their last seven to drop all the way to 10th.

In Round 20, the Dockers were two points clear in third and equal with second. It’s been a genuine free fall from a team many had high hopes for.

Sunday’s game showed how poor the Dockers can be with ball in hand with skill areas and a lack of cleanliness at ground level costing them.

While they’re still a young side with plenty of upside, season 2024 should be remembered as an absolute failure at Fremantle given how bad their last month has been.

They’ll hope it doesn’t continue in 2025.

The Bulldogs are maturing and that might be the missing piece to the premiership puzzle

The Bulldogs put in a clinical and professional performance on Sunday against GWS in Ballarat, booking their finals place with a 98-61 win.

The victory came off the back of playing the conditions to perfection while applying pressure at the contest.

It was a victory that proved that the Dogs are a mature side that doesn’t succumb to pressure, and we haven’t been able to say that about them in recent years.

Just in 2023 alone they lost five of their last eight to miss finals by a mere two premiership points. If they had only beaten West Coast - who finished dead last - at home in Round 23, they would have played in September.

The story with this side previously was that they were a team capable of great highs but also dark lows - and that could have been down to a sense of immaturity.

Well, in the back half of 2024, they appear to have turned a corner, winning eight out of their last 10 including the most important one on Sunday without ever truly extending themselves.

It’s a scary sign for opposition clubs heading into September. We always knew the Dogs were capable, and they might finally be matching talent with output and execution at the perfect time.

Just as we were getting excited for the 2024 Brownlow count, the stakes went up again in Round 24

What a round of footy from the competition’s elite.

No one would argue with you if you said that your top five for this year’s Brownlow count included Patrick Cripps, Nick Daicos, Lachie Neale, Marcus Bontempelli and Zach Merrett and all five of those went bang in the final home and away round of the season.

Daicos got things going on Friday with 40 disposals and two goals against Melbourne before Neale (one goal, 40 disposals) and Merrett (one goal, 37 disposals) went head-to-head at the Gabba.

Sunday saw Bontempelli lift in a huge game with 11 clearances, a goal and 22 touches before Cripps did literally everything he could in the tight loss to the Saints with 30 touches, nine tackles and eight clearances despite copping some close attention all day.

In what was already set up to be a tight count, all of the contenders have hit the line brilliantly which will set up some serious intrigue and excitement come Monday, September 23.

Young Pie shows that he’s up to the level

Collingwood fans would have been thrilled by the performance of Ed Allan in his second AFL game on Friday night.

The former first-round pick has been impressing in the VFL after moving into an inside midfield role and in his first game at the top level on ball, Allan collected 21 disposals, six tackles, nine score involvements and a goal.

While it wasn’t against a full-strength Melbourne on-ball unit, it’s a performance that will fill the 20-year-old with some serious confidence that he can be a big player for his club in 2025.

Standing at 194cm with some serious athletic and running traits, perhaps he’ll turn into the big body that can help superstar Nick Daicos around the contest.

It’s only the first step for him, but there’s no doubt that there could be a player there given his physical profile.

It’s a big week for Sydney’s selection committee

Minor premiers Sydney will have a big selection squeeze ahead of them.

With a home Qualifying Final locked in against GWS, the Swans will be bolstered by some impressive names for the big clash including Tom Papley, Isaac Heeney and potentially Justin McInerney as well.

As all of those names are locks for selection, at least two Swans will have to make way - and it probably won’t be Luke Parker who misses out after he kicked three goals to go with 19 disposals in Saturday’s win over Adelaide.

Taylor Adams could be the unlucky one to miss out just one year after cruelly being denied a chance to win a premiership due to injury, while Caiden Cleary, Robbie Fox and Matt Roberts could also be feeling a little nervous.

It’s a great spot for the Swans to find themselves in, but there’s no doubt a couple of hard calls are coming.