What a day of footy. The two elimination finals delivered in spades with Hawthorn and Gold Coast progressing at the expense of GWS and Fremantle.
Recap all the action below and check out 7plus Sport for post-match interviews, replays and more.
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The countdown is on to the semi-finals now.
We’ll be back to bring you all the action from Adelaide Oval on Friday night and the Gabba on Saturday night alongside live-and-free coverage on Seven and 7plus Sport.
Until next time!
Caleb Serong has congratulated Gold Coast on the win after conceding it was a quiet post-match for the heartbroken Dockers.
“Wasn’t too many words spoken in the rooms and hasn’t been too many words spoken since the siren went,” he told Channel 7.
Josh Treacy was in tears and he surely wasn’t the only one.
“Lot of family in there, lot of consoling. It means a lot to these guys because they put their heart and soul into every piece of it and fall just short,” Channel 7’s Ryan Daniels said after spending time in the Fremantle rooms.
“That’s a heartbreaking way to lose a game of footy, to hit the front and have the crowd going absolutely mad and then to lose it like that, that’s a tough way to lose.”
Serong shared the same sentiment but said it was a “great game” of footy to be involved in.
“It was played in the right way, it was heavily contest, there were some great moments and they just had the last one,” he said.
“We kind of went into our finish-the-game structure and I thought we’d set it up well. They just took a couple of really good marks.
“Sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the other team when they play good footy or do something really special.
“A couple of good moments from them, and credit to them they finished it off. It was a fine line tonight.”
Serong paid tribute to Nat Fyfe and Sonny Walters, who retired earlier in the year.
“There were some pretty emotional guys in the room after the game,” he said.
“(Fyfe’s) had such an incredible impact on not only individuals but the whole club. His loyalty to the club, he’s given absolutely everything. He’s given his body, his soul, he’s given everything to this club.
“Justin Longmuir made the point, I don’t know how he’s going to be walking in his 50s, he’s put his body through the absolute wringer and that’s all for this club.
“Sonny as well, obviously he called it a bit earlier in the season but his impact on the club’s been just as great and those two are going to leave a big hole at this football club. Just want to give a shoutout to those two and their families. They’re going to be missed.”
While Damien Hardwick’s finals experience has no doubt been a positive since taking charge of the Suns, he has just pointed out he’s never been in this situation either.
He never led the Tigers to victory in an elimination final but has done so now at the first time of asking with Gold Coast.
“I got a little bit emotional about that,” he says.
Hardwick famously avoided the sack after losing in the first week in 2013, 2014 and 2015 before missing the finals altogether in 2016.
Over the next four years Richmond finished third, first, third and third on the ladder, winning three flags in the process.
The Suns have made their way over to their travelling fans to celebrate the win.
Collingwood and Geelong have earned the week off.
Adelaide and Brisbane must shape up, but at least they’ll get to do it at home.
Hawthorn will be seriously dangerous against the Crows, and Gold Coast don’t need to look far to know they can beat Brisbane.
Only six weeks ago they smacked the Lions by 66 points, albeit at home and not the Gabba.
A win would send the Suns into the most daunting task they will have faced - a preliminary final against Collingwood at the MCG.
While Swallow rightly celebrated his moment, he quickly paused for a moment to celebrate a champion.
Nat Fyfe’s legendary AFL career is over after 248 games.
“What a nice moment that is,” Hamish McLachlan said as Swallow and Fyfe embrace.
The dual Brownlow medallist had a couple of key moments in his final quarter but it wasn’t to be.
Plenty of fans stuck around to witness Fyfe’s final moments.
“He sort of changed the game, what he was able to do on the field. He was so different, so unique,” Joel Selwood said.
“He was the first big midfielder along with Patrick Dangerfield coming through at the same time, we remember that game over in Adelaide. It’s jumping at the ball, it’s kicking important goals. He’s a star.”
Kane Cornes added: “He was an absolute beast. Sometimes you just don’t get that fairytale. He deserved a premiership as much as anyone, unfortunately sometimes it doesn’t play out that way.”
Fyfe later attended the post-match press conference with his coach Justin Longmuir and said he was “a bit numb”.
But there was a sense of satisfaction having given himself every chance to win a flag.
“The game’s been very generous and I’m grateful for that,” he said.
“To be able to get back and actually be involved in this game ... I’m really grateful.
“I finish disappointed in some ways with how this season went but those memories will eventually turn into fond ones for what’s been an amazing experience.”
Asked if he is content or feels there is something missing without the team success, Fyfe said he didn’t need to win a grand final.
“We all want to win premierships. I do have some contentness that I tried everything, gave absolutely everything to the club and evolved myself along the way.
“In some ways my journey was more important for me not to win than to win.”
In an extraordinary revelation, Fyfe said he rolled his ankle on Tuesday and “hardly got up” for tonight’s final.
“It was just at the end of training. It wasn’t too bad but at my age and with scar tissue, a small ankle can turn into a major thing. But it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
It was, though, the latest - and last - in a slew of injury troubles this year.
“The game tried many different times to tell me that the end of the road was near and so I walk away knowing this is definitely the right time,” Fyfe said.
Nat Fyfe in purple
Games: 248
Goals: 178
All Australian 2014, 2015, 2019
Brownlow medallist 2015, 2019
Best and fairest 2013, 2014, 2019
AFLPA MVP 2014, 2015
Gold Coast are into the semi-finals!
It’s 15 years in the making and what a moment.
The heroic goal wasn’t to be for Swallow but his kick still went the distance and his point has won it.
“I thought I lost us the game a couple of minutes earlier when I turned it over and they kicked a goal,” Swallow tells Channel 7.
“What a game.”
“It’s been an extraordinary week. The boys played unbelievable tonight. I got a bit lucky but it’s pretty cool.”
“This club’s been my whole adult life, trying to make a go of it. I know how hard this group works and everyone involved deserves it.”
Swallow says he actually learned he was playing this week when, while putting his kids to bed, Damien Hardwick showed up at his house.
“He actually came over to my house on Monday night and told me. It was a bit weird but a pretty special moment,” he says.
The Suns will now head home to Queensland to face the injury-hit Lions at the Gabba.
Fremantle’s season is over despite sitting in the top four just weeks before the finals.
Q4 0:09 - Fremantle 12.7 (79) Gold Coast 11.13 (80)
Andrew Swallow earns a free kick on the 50 - and he’s smacked it through for a goal!
But no! It’s touched on review!
Still, the Suns are nine seconds away from a finals win!
Q4 1:12 - Fremantle 12.7 (79) Gold Coast 11.13 (79)
Josh Treacy could do nothing about it in defence and Mac Andrew flies!
We’re back level with just 72 seconds remaining.
Q4 3:30 - Fremantle 12.7 (79) Gold Coast 10.13 (73)
He has had a very quiet night but since Amiss was substituted Jackson has had a few bites at the cherry inside 50.
Finally he’s clunked one... and it’s a goal!
Dockers are IN FRONT.
This would be an absolutely devastating way for the Suns to lose, but this is finals footy.
