Michael Barlow

Jamie Kloeden reporting for AFANA from AAMI Stadium, Adelaide

Adelaide got out of jail in Round 9 with a dramatic last gasp win in a memorable game against North Melbourne. Crows' fans were looking forward to a confidence filled team taking on the in form Fremantle outfit at home in their Round 10 clash. The Dockers have a mediocre record at AAMI Stadium with their most recent loss there occurring in the Finals just last season.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

2400 games: Collingwood played their 2400th match for premiership points in Round Four, joining the then-VFL as a founding member of the competition in 1897. Collingwood is the first club to reach this mark, with an overall record of 1463 wins through Round Four, 911 losses and 26 draws

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium, Subiaco

Fremantle coach Ross Lyons’ plan to take his team to a Premiership this year started off on the right foot with a gutsy win in Round One over cross-town rivals the West Coast Eagles. Pundits had the Eagles as flag favorites before the ball was bounced but will be re-evaluating their tip after the Eagles failed to deliver in front of nearly 40,000 people at Patersons Stadium. Although West Coast got off to a cracking start in the first

Jamie Kloeden reporting for AFANA from AAMI Stadium, Adelaide, Australia

With a win, either Adelaide or Fremantle would be heading to the hallowed turf of the MCG to meet the high flying Hawks in a Preliminary Final. A loss would mean a disappointing end to the season where getting so close would be no consolation. With the end of each season come retirements and Crows’ veteran and their oldest listed player Michael Doughty, has already announced that this is his last season. He certainly played this game like a man who wasn’t ready to finish up. The other old hand back in the Adelaide defense, Ben Rutten, has earned his fair share of criticism for not being the player that he was in past seasons and he too looked like he had a point to prove while going head to head with the Dockers’ in form superstar Matthew Pavlich.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium

If the Fremantle Dockers had any aspirations of playing Finals football then a win against the Western Bulldogs at home was a must. The Bulldogs remained a mathematical chance to play in the Finals but this Round 15 game was a must-win game in that campaign. Both sides have been well out of form and languishing well down the ladder, but the Dockers went into the round with a one game lead over their rivals with a huge home crowd in attendance to urge them on.

Jamie Kloeden reporting for AFANA from Australia

With the Fremantle Dockers looking to regroup after a thumping at the hands of the cross town Eagles and Adelaide aiming to get back on track after a final quarter fade out against Collingwood last round, the clash at Patersons Stadium promised to be a battle between two teams trying desperately to set themselves up for a serious crack at the Finals this year. The Crows have been one of the big surprise packets this season and their good form saw them travel over to Perth as the punters favorite for one of the first times in recent history.

Geelong won the 2011 Premiership and despite the loss of some key players to retirement, this is still a formidable side which plays well away. Nevertheless the Cats have had trouble with the Fremantle Dockers. Last year there was one nail-biting finish and the first quarter for 2012 showed that the fans were in for more of the same.

South Australia has the Showdown, Queensland the Clash but the Western Derby is considered one of the most exciting games of the entire season. Unlike other games, it doesn’t matter where the West Coast Eagles or the Fremantle Dockers are on the Ladder. The Derby is guaranteed to be a cracking, hard fought match. For the record, this time the teams were fifth and sixth on the Ladder and 41,000 fans were treated to a classic encounter.

Fremantle kept its Finals' hopes intact with a convincing win over the Brisbane Lions at Patersons Stadium in Round 14. The Dockers were without Michael Barlow who pulled up sore after his comeback game last week, but Alex Silvagni was back to add some muscle in defense. Brisbane had been doing well since the return of bruising full forward and captain Jonathon Brown, but had their worries without classy midfielder Drew Banfield in the team.

Fremantle has been on a downward slide without star ruckman Aaron Sandilands, missing for the last three games with a foot injury. The Dockers have lost their last six games without him in the team. Essendon has also had a topsy-turvy month and were coming off an upset loss to the lowly Melbourne Demons last round.