There were no real turn-ups in the first week of the 2001 finals series, with all matches going according to ladder position. The only unexpected aspect of the weekend’s football was the fact there were no close contests – all four matches being decided by margins of more than five goals. It was a good weekend for Victorian football, with Adelaide and Sydney the first casualties of the finals. Both bid farewell to 2001 with barely a whimper in their cut-throat matches. While the Swans at least put up a fight for a half, the Crows never looked like extending Darren Jarman’s career past 230 games. The qualifying finals were similarly lop-sided. After Essendon made a mockery of any thought that it is a spent force by belting Richmond, Brisbane showed that even Melbourne-like weather couldn’t bring it back to earth. Like the Swans, Port Adelaide made a game of it up until half-time, but the moment the Lions hit the lead after an inaccurate first half it was obvious the top two teams would go straight through to the Preliminaries.