Mitch Robinson

Just days after the Preliminary Finals concluded, there were a number of retirements and delistings. Players from several clubs including Adelaide, Brisbane, Collingwood, Fremantle, and Geelong were released or had veterans choose to retire. The exodus including three players surnamed Brown but only two of them were related.

Adelaide defender Luke Brown, 29, has retired after 189 games in 11 seasons. Brown was prelisted by GWS from his SANFL club Norwood ahead of the 2011 draft before being traded to Adelaide. He established himself as a very reliable defender, often lining up against the opposition's most dangerous forwards.

Thursday night saw Geelong continue its early season dominance with a stirring win over Adelaide, the upstart Brisbane Lions stormed home to defeat the vastly improved Port Adelaide and the Grand Final replay saw the Eagles once again victorious over a disappointing Collingwood.

Highly fancied Melbourne are yet to register a win after faltering against Essendon, the much maligned Gold Coast Suns won again, and Richmond added a couple more players to its ever increasing injury list in a big loss to an impressive Greater Western Sydney Giants at Spotless Stadium.

The Brisbane Lions earned a morale boosting victory when they jumped a lethargic Fremantle Dockers team to end the Dockers’ slim hopes of making the finals. The Lions never looked back, as they outran and outplayed the home team which appeared half-hearted and disorganized. The Dockers lost their ruckman, Aaron Sandilands, with pulled a calf muscle in the pre-match warm-up.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

One day before the Eagles played their match against the Indigenous All-Stars, Beau Waters announced his immediate retirement due to his inability to overcome the shoulder problems which have kept him sidelined for the past 18 months. An innocuous bump to his bad shoulder convinced him it was time to give it up. Waters suffered the knock the week before and said "I just went to grab a ball and got hit in a certain direction that jeopardized the integrity of the shoulder ... From them on, it got progressively worse ... I was struggling to get through skills sessions. After being so bullish during the preseason, I was probably a little bit deluded by the fact I hadn't received any contact over that period. I was wrapped in cotton wool. The rest of my body feels great."

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

All clubs submitted their second list lodgements in mid-November indicating changes made since the first list.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

At the beginning of November, seven delisted players signed with new clubs as free agents. Each club notified the AFL of the signings.

Melbourne - Ben Newton
Newton, a midfielder, debuted for Port Adelaide in 2014 but played only four games in total.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

With the national draft just a few weeks away, several clubs have made further changes to their lists. At the end of October, each club was required to submit "first list lodgement" documentation with the AFL.

CARLTON
The Blues have delisted Mitch Robinson, Brock McLean and Kane Lucas. This makes a total of 12 players the club has cut since the end of the 2014 season. Robinson played 100 games with Carlton since being drafted in 2008. Robinson has joined Brisbane as a delisted free agent. Lucas was drafted in 2010 and played 42 games. Although he won the club's Best First Year Player award, he was unable to cement a spot in the team. McLean played 94 games with Melbourne 2004-09 before joining Carlton where he played a further 63 games.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA

This is what footy is all about. An Elimination Final between traditional rivals Carlton and Richmond on a beautiful sunny day in front of over 95,000 rabid footy fans. For the Tigers, it was about being back where they so desperately wanted to be after 12 years in the football wilderness. For Carlton, it was a chance - due to an unprecedented slice of luck when Essendon were stripped of their premiership points to vacate a spot in the Finals for the Blues - to restore lost faith under a new regime.