So, round 20 has come and gone, and the finals are now upon us, but before I get into the review proper, theres a few points I wanted to talk about.

Last weeks 7th place, what the heck happened to them? Anyone got a copy of last weeks Herald Sun so we can see who it was. (Or yanno, anyone out there want to share the hardluck story of how they got themselves busted?)

Lings Bandits have moved up to 13th- while they are still out of contention I reckon, you gotta give some mad props to a bloke who can put in such solid performances year after year.

Impromptu has extended his lead by 21- go son, were all living vicariously!

Youll notice when you go and have a look at the stats that since its round 20, the Next Years Salary column prediction is back! So we can start taking a look to see what people are going to be worth next year!

Anyways, the full review is over the break and the stats are about 10 minutes away.

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St Kilda vs Fremantle
Result: St Kilda by 41, 16.17.113 to 10.12.72

Wow, did anyone see Freos odds before this game, $6.25 or something, seemed almost too good, so I had to take a nibble, put into a multi with the Bombers, Hawthorn and West Coast, you can understand why Im so disappointed with that 4th term, it was a fantastic game up until that point, but it just felt that Freo was suffering the same syndrome that the Bomber have in years gone by- working way too hard for their goals, dominating the play for little reward, only for the opposition to kill them with an end to end goal on the rebound- it happened so often Friday night. Top scoring for the game and continueing his rich vein of good form was Nick Dal Santo. 25 touches and 2 goals were enough to see him score a 133SC, followed by Jason Blake with 27 touches, scoring himself a 123SC. Ben McEvoy did well, 29 hitouts and a 122SC will put a smile on his coaches faces, particularly with the missing rumours that were going round before the game. Fisher scored a very tidy 115SC off 24 touches while Mzungu top scored for the Dockers with a 113SC off 30 disposals. What hurts the most about that is that I had him on the bench!! All week Id been planning to bench Smith in the ruck, but for some strange reason, decided Id need the coverage in the forward line. Ah well, guess my own decision making is the villian here, well, than and Montagna, 77 son is not what a Premium mid does my boy! Meanwhile, Broughton crashed down to earth with a 58SC off just 14 disposals.

Heroes: Dal Santo, McEvoy, Mzungu
Villians: Broughton, Montagna, Duffield

Carlton vs Melbourne
Result: Carlton by 76, 21.8.134 to 7.16.58

A hugely wasteful first quarter by the Demons saw them go into the first quarter 2 goals down, despite having more scoring shots, however after that it was all Carlton. Now, before I run through the top5 performances in the game, I want to give a shout out the James Strauss- dear god man, that footage is remarkable, I sincerely hope that you can recover from that horrendous injury and get back to playing mate, good luck. To the top5 though, Chris Judd 3 votes, with 31 disposals and a 163SC. Scotland did well, 32 touches and a 133SC while Ellard had one of his better performances, with 18 disposals and 3 goals for a 114SC. Eddie Betts knocked out a DE of 100%, turning his 16 disposals into a 113SC while arc Murphy rounded out the top5 with a 110SC off 30 disposals. Jack Watts top scored for the Demons with 21 touches and 2 goals for a 106SC. Brad Green is back in the Villians column again with a 48SC along with Martin whos 48 sucked but its hard to frown at the bloke for his awesome performances throughout the year.

Heroes: Judd, Scotland, Murphy.
Villians: Green, Martin, Sylvia

Geelong vs Gold Coast
Result: Geelong by 150, 29.14.188 to 6.2.38

Well, it was always going to be a thumping, but I didnt expect it to be quite so large a thumping. As with last time, Stevie J led the charge once again kicking 6 goals with 31 disposals for a 155SC, Selwood a 145SC from 33 touches and 3 goals and the Chapinator with 30 disposals, 2 goals and a DE of 90% for a 142SC. Podsiadly did well, kicking 5 goals for a 128SC while Mooney put in a good game, kicking 3 goals and 22 disposals. Bock top scored for the Suns with 27 touches and a 115SC and as I said last week, is putting forward a very strong case for selection next year! On the villians front, Bartel and his 86 is going on the list- cmon lad, its the GC, the other 3 Geelong guns went large! In fact, any of the Gold Coast main stays underperformed, but I spose, when youre beaten by 150 points- thats how it happens!

Heroes: SJ, Selwood, Chapman
Villians: Bartel, Z. Smith, Swallow, Harris, Iles

Essendon vs Sydney
Result: Essendon by 1, 15.10.100 to 14.15.99

Wowzer! What a game! I simply cant review the game without well, bias shining through, but here goes. It was a tight struggle the whole way through, with the lead changing hands several times throughout. Sydney got the best of it early, going into the main break with a 13 point lead. A big second quarter to both teams saw Sydney put on 6 goals to Essendons 7, to allow them to hold a slim 5 point lead at the main change. It was more of the same in the third, with the Bombers outscoring Sydney 5.2 to 3.2 to lead by 7 into the final break. Strangely, it was all Sydney in the final quarter, however, for all their dominance, they could only kick 2.9. That combined with 2 very late goals for the Bombers saw the final play of the day with Goodes, taking a set shot, slightly more than 50 meters out. Sadly (well, happily from where I sit!), he couldnt convert and the Bomber held out by the narrowest of margins. Top scoring for the game was Adam Goodes, 29 touches and 3 goals for a 139SC- just imagine if hed nailed that goal! Watson put in another solid performance, 131SC off 31 disposals, while Paddy Ryder did well with 20 touches and 31 hitouts for a 123SC. David Hille also contributed in the ruck with 19 touches, 3 goals and 12 hitouts for a 114SC. Hannebery rounds out the top5 with a 24 touch 113SC performance. For the Villians, how can I not have a crack at on of these:

Hey Jude, dont make it bad.
Take my sad score, and make it better.
Just remember, I gave you the captains armband.
But it didnt work, it just made it worse.

Heroes: Goodes, Watson, Ryder
Villians: Jude Bolton, Grundy, Ross (-2, heh)

Port Adelaide vs Collingwood
Result: Collingwood by 138, 23.21.159 to 3.3.21

Wow, the word insipid gets thrown around a lot these days, and because of that- I tend to try to avoid it. But really, what else can you say about the Powers performance? True, it was against the reigning all dominant Pies, but just 3 goals? Leading the way for the Pies though was the other Dayne, Mr. Beams- a massive 179SC off 32 touches and 3 goals while J. Blair kicked 4 of his own while collecting 25 touches for a very nice 152SC. Next up were Swan and Pendles scoring 136SC and 133SC off 37 and 31 touches respectively. Rounding out the top5 was Neon Leon whos 23 touches were enough for a 117SC. Travis Boak top scored for the Power, with 31 touches for a 109SC.

Heroes: Beams, Swan, Pendlebury
Villians: Didak, Kornes (Sorry mate, last game and all).

Brisbane vs Adelaide
Result: Adelaide by 5, 16.14.110 to 16.9.105

For mine, this was easily the upset of the round for mine and prevented my perfect 8 tips from working out. Leading the charge was the RockLobster who has been absolutely phenominal for someone who in essence is playing in their second year- 34 disposals and a 132SC. Scott Thompson bounced back after last weeks disaster, 38 touches for a very nice 127SC while Van Berlo scored himself a 123SC from 28 touches and 2 goals. Leuenberger did pretty well, 13 touches and 31 hitouts for a 115SC while Jacobs rounded out the top5 with 19 disposals and 30 hitouts for a 112SC. For the villians, its all going to Chris Knights- sure, there was a subbing and an injury, but cmon lad! 24SC!!?

Heroes: Rockliff, Thompson, Van Berlo
Villians: Knights, Vince, Dangerfield

Hawthorn vs North Melbourne
Result: Hawthorn by 17, 15.13.103 to 13.8.86

I gotta say here, the Roos showed a lot of heart in this game, much like the Dockers, they were extremely competitive all the way to the final quarter! Scott McMahon was an absolute machine however, 29 disposals at 86%DE for a mighty 183SC. He was followed a long way behind by Sam Mitchell with 31 touches and a 137SC. Hodges 117SC off 24 touches, Shielss 115SC off 20 disposals and Goldsteins 14 touch, 37 hitout 114SC rounded out the top5 in a games that was pretty low possession. lolRicho once again made the villains list, as did Cam Pedersen who only made a 22SC- however the king of all villians this game was Andrew Swallow, a 66SC with just 13 disposals and a 52DT just to hurt as one of my DreamTeam PODS. He doesnt even have next week to make it up to me!!

Heroes: McMahon, Mitchell, Hodge
Villians: Swallow, Pederson.

West Coast vs Richmond
Result: West Coast by 57, 22.15.147 to 14.6.90

Richmond were a lot more competitive than I expected, really going with West Coast in the first quarter, and that period at the end of the third where they got the margin back in to 4 goals, it was god to see. But it wasnt to be- heading out West to play a top5 team on their home turf is a tough ask for any team, and when youre already struggling, its near on impossible. Leading the way for the Eagles was Luke Shuey, 30 disposals and a goal for a 130SC. Reckon hell be a chance for the Rising Star if he knocks out a few more games like that? Or perhaps his time in the system will count against him. Naitanui stole all of Coxs points, with 14 disposals and 16 hitouts for a 127SC while Brad Ebert kicked 4 goals for a 124SC. Nicoski did very nicely this week- 6 goals for a 119SC, while Deledio top scored for the Tigers with a 115SC. Shannon Hurn finds himself on the Villians list with a miserly 57SC, while Im also going to put LeCras on there. Seriously, I traded out Darling two weeks ago into LeCras- only to find that Darling has outscored him both weeks! Very disappointing! Finally, Dean Cox- why do you struggle against the Tigers so much? Thankfully Jasmine warned us all away from selecting you as captain, but boy- I bet you would have hurt quite a few!

Heroes: Shuey, NitNat, Deledio
Villians: Conca, Hurn, Cox


So, thats the review- Im just gunna close out with a hard luck story. Take a look at this DreamTeam league.
<img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Missed_the_8_DT.png">

Seriously, highest For score by a mile, highest percentage- missed the finals!! How does that happen! Im sitting in 18th overall for goodness sakes!

Anyone else cop some luck like that?