In keeping with a major theme
of this season that teams that look like they are moving ahead will soon put in
a bad performance, Adelaide marked its clear break at the top of the rankings by
losing at home this week to lowly-ranked Hawthorn. The Crows still keep top
spot in these rankings for now, but Port Adelaide and GWS now look about just
as good.
Also showing the even nature
of this season is that it doesn’t take much for the teams in the middle to move
around a few spots in the rankings. Essendon moves up from tenth to eighth
after the narrowest of losses in Sydney, Richmond moves up from twelfth to
tenth, Collingwood drops from ninth to twelfth, and Geelong drops from third to
fifth after squeaking home against Fremantle.
After three narrow wins this
season Fremantle’s luck in close games ran out against the Cats. (As a Richmond
supporter I wish Freo’s
missed shot at goal near the siren had come against us.)
Those narrow wins have been keeping the Dockers much further up on the ladder
than they are rated here.
Melbourne’s rating moves a
little higher still after its exciting win in Perth against the West Coast
Eagles. The Demons are rated as basically as strong as fourth-ranked Sydney and
fifth-ranked Geelong. Can they become an actual top-four ranked team – and actual
top four ladder team – with a win against
the Sydney Swans next week?
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