Extraordinary first round of AFL finals one hell of a tough act to follow

It was one of the most compelling finals weekends in decades. It began, naturally, with a leaked video from 2015. “It was a poor look,” the league boss said. It was released, Caroline Wilson wrote, by “some twisted whistle blower.” It was hard to know who overreacted the most – those who defended Dustin Martin, or those who condemned him.

It saw 17 lead changes at the Gabba, and a game decided by a score review. It was probably the correct decision, but entire seasons should not boil down to the word ‘probably’ and to some faceless, bunkered-down boffin. It prompted talk of lasers, triangulation, taller goalposts, and ‘decision by body language’. It was amateur hour.

It saw finals football back at the MCG for the first time in 1,070 days. It was a very different game to the previous night’s, and arguably an even better one. It saw a masterclass in defending from Steven May. It was Sydney’s 22nd finals appearance in 27 years. It highlighted the value of Tom Papley, and his unique blend of antagonism and opportunism. It rendered Lance Franklin goalless for just the sixth time in his career. It reinforced Sydney’s dominance over Melbourne. It was, Mark Robinson wrote in the Herald Sun, “the night Melbourne lost its aura.” It notched up 3.5 million mentions of “Bloods culture”. It secured the first SCG preliminary final in more than a quarter of a century.

It left Saturday’s games with a lot to live up to. It threw up one of those Melbourne spring days when you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It was 15 months since Collingwood and Geelong had played, to empty stands, one of the worst games in the history of football. It was, in every facet, the complete opposite of that. It was, in the first term, Groundhog Day for