Adelaide has finished 2021 with a flourish, beating North Melbourne by 44 points to close out the home and away season, after Essendon was handed the last available spot in the finals.

The Crows led for most of the day, with North managing only two goals to half-time before making more of a contest after the break.

Essendon began the day needing to beat Collingwood to secure a top-eight spot, but their final match proved worry-free after the only team that could catch them, Fremantle, was soundly beaten by St Kilda in Hobart.

The Bombers went out and were too strong for Collingwood, winning by 38 points.

Week one of the finals will now begin with Port Adelaide host Geelong in a qualifying final at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

On Saturday, Sydney will face GWS in an elimination final in Launceston in the afternoon, before Melbourne plays Brisbane in a qualifying final in Adelaide that night.

The last of the finals sees Western Bulldogs play Essendon in an elimination final in Launceston on Sunday afternoon.

Crows beat Roos in one-sided clash 

High-flying Adelaide forward Shane McAdam has booted three goals in a 44-point trouncing of wooden-spooners North Melbourne.

The Crows jumped from 17th to 15th with 13.20 (98) to 8.6 (54) victory at Adelaide Oval in the season’s last home-and-away game.

McAdam’s cameos and the midfield mastery of Ben Keays (38 touches, two goals) highlighted Adelaide’s seventh win – three more than last season when they finished bottom of the ladder.

That spot now belongs to the Kangaroos, who finish year one of their David Noble rebuild with four wins and a draw.

The Roos on Sunday kicked the opening goal and then conceded seven of the next eight – they were in strife when 17 points down at quarter-time.

The Crows, with McAdam’s soaring leap on North’s Aiden Bonar in the first term a highlight, stretched their advantage to 24 points at halftime, 5.9 to 2.3.

Adelaide, in the final games of stalwarts David Mackay (retired) and delistee Tom Lynch — whose second-last kick for the Crows was a goal — then opened up a commanding break early in the third term.

McAdam converted again and Chayce Jones scored on the run, creating a 40-point advantage 11 minutes into the quarter.

North spearhead Nick Larkey, with three last-half goals, provided some bright spots for the visitors, with teammates Aaron Hall (37 disposals) and Tarryn Thomas (26 touches, one goal) their standouts.

Adelaide’s Rory Laird led all ball-winners with his 40 possessions including 10 clearances while Keays, captain Rory Sloane (27 disposals), Ned McHenry (24, one goal) and half-back Brodie Smith (26 possessions) were influential.

Bombers set for finals with win over Pies

Peter Wright continued his fine form, kicking four for the Bombers as they tuned up for the finals with a win over Collingwood.(

AAP: James Ross

)

Essendon have stormed into the AFL finals after sealing a third win on the bounce with a 38-point victory over Collingwood.

Fremantle’s loss to St Kilda earlier on Sunday effectively locked up eighth place for Essendon but the Bombers showed no signs of complacency, professionally seeing off the Magpies 16.6 (102) to 9.10 (64) at the MCG.

Essendon’s 11th victory underlined the team’s brilliant turnaround in Ben Rutten’s first season as head coach and sees the Bombers enter their elimination final against the Western Bulldogs, who they beat just two weeks ago, on a high note.

Devon Smith (23 disposals, two goals) was excellent, while revitalised recruit Peter Wright and Alec Waterman combined for eight goals.

Zach Merrett (27 disposals) and Jake Stringer (24 touches) maintained their strong form while Nick Hind and Tom Cutler provided run and carry off half-back.

Taylor Adams (31 disposals, 10 clearances) and Jamie Elliott (four goals) led the way for Collingwood while youngster Jay Rantall put the clamps on Essendon sensation Darcy Parish.

Collingwood had the better of Essendon around the stoppages early but the Bombers were more efficient, booting the game’s opening three goals.

The Magpies hit back, with Waterman left red-faced after giving away back-to-back 50-metre penalties to allow Jordan De Goey to equalise late in the first quarter.

But the Bombers booted the next five goals unanswered to firmly seize control of the match.

Wright booted his fourth after the half-time siren to power Essendon into a 34-point lead and they didn’t look back.

Exciting Collingwood youngster Ollie Henry suffered a first-half shoulder injury and after attempting to play through it, was substituted out for Beau McCreery in the third quarter.

Collingwood fought out the contest but it proved too little, too late in Robert Harvey’s last match as interim coach.

Magpies veteran and former Fremantle utility Chris Mayne retired after 248 AFL games, while defender Jordan Roughead played his 200th match, with both players chaired off the field.

Saints finish with a win, as Freo fade out 

Jack Higgins kicked two goals for St Kilda as the Saints dominated the Dockers in Hobart in their final game of the season.(

AAP: Rob Blakers

)

Fremantle has handed Essendon the last remaining AFL finals spot without a fight, squandering the chance to break into the top-eight in a listless 58-point defeat to St Kilda in Hobart.

With everything to play for, the wasteful Dockers found themselves chasing the game on Sunday as the Saints showed greater intent around the contest and were far more efficient going forward.

Cooper Sharman kicked four goals and co-captain Jack Steele overcame close attention from Dockers tagger Bailey Banfield in an influential display in St Kilda’s 17.5 (107) to 6.13 (49) win at Bellerive Oval.

The result ended Fremantle’s season and saw the Saints leapfrog their opponents into 10th spot on percentage.

Both sides finished with 10-12 records, while Essendon locked in eighth spot before meeting Collingwood in their final home-and-away match.

St Kilda were without injured leading goalkicker Max King but mid-season recruit Sharman stepped up with another impressive showing in his fifth senior game.

His four goals went some way towards justifying the new two-year contract he signed during the week, while Tim Membrey kicked three.

Steele led from the front, tallying game-high tallies of 35 disposals and 16 contested possessions to go with six clearances and seven tackles.

He had help, with Zak Jones (27 disposals) and Brad Crouch (28) busy, while Dan Hannebery (22) got through his second match of the season on return from a long injury lay-off.

Ruckman Rowan Marshall was also influential, finishing with 21 disposals and two goals after primary opponent Sean Darcy left the game with a leg injury during the second half.

Kicking with a breeze at their backs, the inaccurate Dockers managed just one goal from 15 forward entries in the first term.

Skill errors and poor structure ahead of the ball were contributing factors in allowing St Kilda to create a 21-point buffer before the main break.

The Saints kicked four goals to one into the wind in the third quarter to put the result beyond doubt and ran rampant in the final term.

Fremantle lost Sam Switkowski to what appeared to be an abdominal issue after he copped a stray boot in an attempt to tackle Nick Coffield.

Switkoswki was substituted out of the match at half-time.

Caleb Serong (35 disposals and nine clearances) and Andrew Brayshaw (29 and six) were Fremantle’s best.

Ladder

AAP/ABC

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