🏉 Carlton Crumble At The Finals Hurdle

Good morning, it's Monday, 22 August. Yesterday's AFL match between Carlton and Collingwood was sport at its absolute peak. It had it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Some random guy on social media called it the greatest home and away game ever and without fact-checking old mate's credentials, we're gonna have to agree with him. Footy!

⏱ 1,407 words = 7 minutes

👀 Talk about putting your body on the line... 

THE MAIN GAME

🏉 Collingwood give Carlton the ultimate Blues

Everything was on the line on a very special Sunday of AFL. When we say "everything" we mean a place in the finals, but to footy fans at this time of year, that is everything. 

Golden points: Sunday started in Tasmania where the Western Bulldogs beat Hawthorn by 23 points and sneak into the top 8 on percentage. 

• It meant the Blues had to beat or draw with the Magpies at the MCG in front of 88,287 fans and it didn't look good early.

• Collingwood led by 20 at quarter time and then 19 at halftime to jump into the top 4 momentarily. But Michael's Secret Stuff of the Voss variety worked wonders during the break as the Blues kicked 8 goals to 1 in the 3rd to take a 24-point lead into the 4th quarter.

• But the Pies wouldn't go away. They'd won 10 games by less than 2 goals this season and as the game went longer they got better. They kicked all 5 goals in the 4th quarter and Jamie Elliot's 2nd goal of the day gave the Pies a one-point lead with 1:47 left on the clock.

• Try as they might the Blues couldn't get a shot on goal in the last 107 seconds as the frantic finish ended with the Pies holding on to win 75-74 and Blues fans heartbroken. Sport can be so cruel.

• It means Collingwood finished in the top 4, the Blues slipped out of the top 8 and the Bulldogs crept in by .6 on percentages.

• There was still one match left in the regular season - the Swans beat the Saints by 14 points, but it wasn't enough to move ahead of the Demons (again on percentages. Here's how it works), so they finished 3rd on the ladder.

The stat: Carlton is the first team since 1977 in the AFL/VFL to be in a finals position after every round except the last one. The team that did it in 1977? Carlton. It's now 9 years since the Blues played finals footy. 

They said it: "I don’t know what to say. I really don’t, I'm speechless, I just can’t believe it. I really can’t. We’ve found another way to win. I tried to get a couple of minutes by myself in a bit of a quiet space just to take it all in because it’s hard to realise what we just did," - Collingwood coach Craig McRae after the win. 

What's next: So no footy next week while the players rest up, but here are the finals fixtures for week one:

• Thursday, 1 September, 7:20pm - Elimination Final - Lions v Tigers - The Gabba

• Friday, 2 September - 7:50pm - Qualifying Final - Demons v Swans - MCG

• Saturday, 3 September - 4:35pm - Qualifying Final - Cats v Magpies - MCG

• Saturday, 3 September - 8:10pm - Elimination Final - Dockers v Bulldogs - Optus Stadium

All times AEST

QUICK SINGLES

🏉 AFL: The Roos get their man as the Bombers drop their coach. Back on Friday morning, North Melbourne officially announced that 4-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson would be the Kangaroos' coach for the next 5 years after a month of courting. The Bombers had a late crack at 'Clarko' but it was too late in the game. It didn't stop them from sacking Ben Rutten yesterday, so the hunt is now on for a new senior coach and the Hird is the word at the moment...

🏊‍♂️ Swimming: The USA wins the Duel in the Pool 309 to 283. Australia pushed the Americans all the way over 3 days in Sydney at a swim meet that had an open water swim, random relays, team races, power plays and lots of tactics involved. It was the final event for Ellie Cole and Matt Levy, 2 of Australia's champion Paralympians.  

🏉 NRLW: Remember the name Jesse Southwell. Southwell became the NRLW's youngest debutant yesterday but played like a veteran as she starred in Newcastle's upset win over Brisbane. She says her hobbies are juggling and eating, and she's got a right-foot step that would make Benji Marshall proud. 

⛳️ Cricket: Big-hitter David Warner is back to bat in the Big Bash, baby! It's been 9 years since we've seen Warner play in the BBL but yesterday he signed a 2-year deal to play with the Sydney Thunder. He's going to add a lot of star power to the tournament that's suffered a decline in viewership the last few seasons. He's really excellent at T20 cricket and scored the BBL's 1st century. Worth another watch. 

🏉 Rugby: Laurie Fisher links up with the Wallabies. The veteran Brumbies coach joins the Wallabies as an 'interim assistant' for the 2 matches against world champs South Africa. Fisher comes in for defence coach Matt Taylor, who has left the team for personal reasons. 

🥊 Boxing: It was open mic night for Anthony Joshua after his world title defeat. Joshua lost his world heavyweight title fight to Oleksandr Usyk in Jedda, but the night will be remembered for what happened once the gloves were off. Joshua took the mic and spoke about his life, career, the war in Ukraine, he made the crowd cheer Usyk, it was ... something else. Watch it here. 

LEFT OF FIELD

⚾️ Baseball: Sometimes reporters will do anything to get the story. It could be reporting from a war zone, crossing live in extreme weather conditions or staking out a rare animal hoping to get an interview. For LA Dodgers reporter David Vassegh, he thought he'd take the viewers on a ride down the famous home run slide at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Vassegh completed the slide fine (despite more than a few naughty words) but couldn't quite nail the landing. He broke a wrist and 6 ribs. But being the professional he is, he kept working. The Dodgers won and said they did it for him. 

📽 Highlight reel: Nothing better on the golf course than hitting an ace. Check out Viktor Hovland's hole-in-one at the BMW Championship this morning. 

📸 Photo finish: This is Kamaru Usman after he was KO'd by Leon Edwards at UFC 278 yesterday. Carlton fans can empathise. 

THE POLLING BOOTH

Friday's result: 69.49% said Peter V'Landys' gag didn't quite hit the mark last week.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• ⚾️ 9:00am - MLB - Orioles v Red Sox - BB&T Ballpark, Williamsport - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 10:00am - NFL Pre-Season - Cardinals v Ravens - University of Phoenix Stadium, Phoenix - Foxtel, Kayo

• ⚽️ 5:00am (Tuesday) - EPL - Manchester United v Liverpool - Old Trafford, Manchester - Optus Sport

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