Sydney looms as genuine Premiership threat and the Fremantle Dockers have cemented a finals’ berth for the first time in the club’s history – that was the big news out of Round 20 action on the weekend. The Swans have done the unthinkable – beating Brisbane twice in a season - the second win coming at the Gabba yesterday. The contrast at opposite ends of the ground told the story – Barry Hall was brilliant kicking five goals while Alastair Lynch had just two possessions and was kept goalless.

Fremantle is certain to play finals’ football after it downed the Western Bulldogs by 56-points at Subiaco. Matthew Carr and Matthew Pavlich were the stars for the winners with Peter Bell and Des Headland also getting plenty of the ball. Scott West tried hard for a Western Bulldogs side that simply ran out of legs late in the game.

Port Adelaide scored an unimpressive 14-point win over Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night. Warren Tredrea was the difference between the two teams – as he has been so many games this season. Peter Burgoyne was the other star while Gavin Wanganeen might have polled Brownlow Medal votes again. Nathan Brown and James McDonald battled hard for the Demons.

Hawthorn got over the top of the Kangaroos in one of the most spiteful games of the season at The Dome. The Hawks won by 14-point but are still unlikely to play finals’ football. Sam Mitchell continued his brilliant form of recent weeks as did Angelo Lekkas. Adam Simpson was the best for the losers. The game was marred by two ugly incidents that could see Anthoyn Stevens and Jess Sinclair face the AFL tribunal.

Geelong and West Coast played out a thrilling draw at Skilled Stadium and both sides would have felt robbed when the final siren sounded. Geelong should have been further in front at the final change while West Coast frittered away countless opportunities in the dying minutes of the match. Ben Cousins and Chad Fletcher were the stars for West Coast, Steven Johnson and James Rahilly were the best for the home side.

St Kilda embarrassed Carlton at Optus Oval winning by a-thumping 91 points. St Kilda kicked 18 goals in the first half of the match against a Carlton outfit that was simply pathetic. Robert Harvey continued his Brownlow Medal-winning form and was again the best player on the ground. Lenny Hayes and Nick Del Santo were excellent contributors. Anthony Koutoufides was the only Blue who could hold his head high.

Collingwood belted a flu-riddled Adelaide by 37-points at The Dome on Friday night. Paul Licuria, Josh Fraser and Nathan Buckley set up the victory. Adelaide’s woes were compounded when Brett Burton suffered a knee injury – the extent of the damage done is still unclear.