Melbourne fall and Brisbane rise as Collingwood crash through in AFL finals | Jonathan Horn

Fortune favoured the brave as six teams became four in week two of a thrilling 2022 AFL finals series

At Melbourne, they often speak of learnings. There aren’t many more weasel words than learnings. It’s a word that’s popular with chin strokers, with LinkedIn loiterers, and with football coaches. In the past, there haven’t been many learnings (sorry) to take from the second week of finals. Semi finals are often a reordering of the top four, a reminder not to be seduced by the previous week’s winner.

But this weekend was different. This weekend taught us a lot. We learnt, for instance, that Melbourne simply isn’t good enough. After Round 10, they were the shortest priced premiership favourites in the history of the game. “Be very afraid,” David King said. “Melbourne are going at about 70 per cent of last year, and they’re already proving they are 50 per cent better than the rest of the competition.”