2010 AFL Finalists

with another heavy defeat against the Swans. Worse than either of those losses though were the three injuries they picked up in the Sydney game with the season over for Adam Cooney (hamstring) and Dale Morris (back) and Brad Johnson (Achilles) and Shaun Higgins (virus) both also in severe doubt to play again this year, Higgins having been sidelined for a couple of weeks longer. Without all that firepower, and having failed to beat Collingwood (twice), Geelong or St Kilda in four clashes with their top-four rivals this year, it's hard to see the Western Bulldogs mounting a charge from here.

Sydney
One of the two sleepers sitting outside the top four, the Swans have been feeding off a desire to send out retiring captain Brett Kirk and coach Paul Roos - who will move to a role with the club's new youth academy at season's end - on the best possible note. Capable of beating any of their rivals in the bottom half of the eight, the one major concern for Roos would be that he still can't call on bookends Daniel Bradshaw (hamstring) and Craig Bolton (Achilles). Bradshaw is an outside chance of returning but Bolton is almost certainly gone for 2010. Emotion might get them to a semi or perhaps even a preliminary final but without one or both of Bolton and Brawshaw, and with ruckman Shane Mumford also battling injury, the Swans aren't capable of going all the way.

Fremantle
Time will tell whether coach Mark Harvey's decision to rest seven of his front-line players from the Round 21 trip to Tasmania was the right call but the results in the weeks leading up to that game suggested that several members of his team were starting to feel the pinch. After being tipped by many to finish in the bottom four again this year, Harvey has worked wonders with his team, but with a host of youngsters in his side, Michael Barlow (broken leg) gone for the year and Aaron Sandilands (foot) and Chris Tarrant (knee) both battling injury, Harvey knows that 2010 will not be their year. One gets the feeling that they'll be happy to win one final this year and that anything more than that will be a bonus.

Hawthorn
Hawthorn have had a funny season, starting with a win before enduring six losses on end but then they hit form with seven wins in a row and eight from nine games. The draw in Round 17 cost them momentum and it wasn't until they belted a severely undermanned Fremantle in Round 21 that they made sure of their spot in the finals. Not many teams contend after being 1-6 seven rounds in but some of the other teams at the top of the ladder will be hoping that Alastair Clarkson's team doesn't get through the first week or two of the finals, especially Geelong, because having won the flag just two years ago there are plenty still running round in the brown and gold from that triumph. The only team that could threaten the top four but from potentially seventh or eighth with an interstate trip first up it would take everything going right for them to go all the way.

Carlton
Midway through the year Carlton was eyeing off a top-four berth thanks to seven