Daniel Giansiracusa

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Round 23 saw the curtain come down on eight more players: GWS defenders Josh Hunt and Stephen Gilham, Bulldog Daniel Giansiracusa, Sydney's Ryan O'Keefe, Magpie Luke Ball, Gold Coast rugby convert Karmichael Hunt and St Kilda duo Clint Jones and James Gwilt.

Josh Hunt began his career with Geelong where he played 198 games and was a key to their 2007 and 2011 Premierships. Hunt, 32, played a total of 13 games with the Giants since joining them at the end of 2013 to bring his game tally to 211. Hunt played in the 2008 International Rules series and Geelong's 2006 and 2009 preseason premierships.

The following is the time line for the the Grand Final day events including key times for match and TV related activities. All times are listed first in Australian AEST and then in US EDT. This is based on information from the AFL, AFANA, press reports and past history. This story will be periodically updated with late information. (Revised 9/25/14)

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

This round's major milestones include:

250 games: Andrew Embley (WCE), Daniel Giansiracusa (WB)
200 games: Justin Koschitzke (StK), Adam Schneider (StK)
100 games: Alwyn Davey (ESS)
50 games: Luke Dahlhaus (WB)

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The Selwood brothers will play a combined total of 503 games in Round Nine, putting them in tenth place on the League's all time list of combined games by brothers and ahead of the Shaw brothers. The breakdown is 182 games for Adam (WCE), 75 games for Troy (delisted by Brisbane), 142 games for Joel (GEEL) and 99 games for Scott (WCE).

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Australia

Despite having only the slimmest of mathematical chances of making the Finals, Richmond Coach Damien Hardwick insists that his team will be going all out to win every remaining game of the 2012 season. On the other side of the coin, the Western Bulldogs are doing their best to stay positive in the face of multiple injuries and poor performance. Past match history was in the Bulldogs favor in Round 20 as the Tigers had not registered a win against the Doggies since Round 3 in 2005. The Tigers received a pre-game boost when Bulldog midfield gun Ryan Griffen was ruled out with an injury.

Always a threat when they travel to Perth, the Western Bulldogs suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the West Coast Eagles in front of 37,000 fanatical fans. Prior to this match, the Eagles’ form had been good with four wins while the 2010 Preliminary Finalists had a return to winning form against Richmond last week after a very patchy start to the season. 

The colorful and sometimes controversial career of Jason Akermanis came to an abrupt end last week with the club telling him he was fired. He took part in a training session before being summoned to meet with club officials who asked him to retire.

Following a devastating Round 12 loss to bottom team Richmond, the West Coast Eagles’ players and coaching staff attracted heavy home town scrutiny. John Worsfold’s future was openly debated and senior players spoke publicly of their disappointing recent performances. Sunday’s Round 13 match against the Western Bulldogs needed to be a do or die effort to regain the respect of fans and to inject new belief into the players.