SEN Sportsday hosts Kane Cornes and Gerard Healy have named their top eight locks after Round 13 of the AFL season.
With teams having either 10 or 11 games remaining, the ladder is beginning to take shape and as a result, Cornes was willing to lock three teams in that are currently inside the top eight, while Brownlow Medallist Healy went a couple of steps further and locked in five.
Cornes locked in ladder-leaders Sydney, second-placed Carlton and reigning premiers Collingwood while Healy had that trio and also added in third-placed Essendon and seventh-placed Fremantle.
The duo discussed their locks and the teams that they have just outside of that ranking.
Healy: “How many sides are a lock for the top eight? I’m giving you no preparation at all for this.”
Cornes: “Off the top of my head there’s three – Sydney, Carlton and Collingwood.
“Lock them in. Lock those three in.”
Healy: “I’ve got a few more locks than you have, Kane.
“I’ve got the Swans a lock, Carlton is a lock, I like the Bombers – I think they’re a lock.”
Cornes: “The Bombers are a lock?”
Healy: “I don’t think there’s any chance the Bombers are going out of the eight.”
Cornes: “Port Adelaide, are you willing to lock them in?”
Healy: “If Port Adelaide beats the Giants, I’m willing to lock them, but right now I’m not prepared to do that.
“Lock in Collingwood and I’m locking in Freo, that’s five locks.”
Cornes: “Is it risky with Freo?”
Healy: “No, I’m confident that’s where I am with Freo. If they don’t make the eight from here, there’s something wrong.
“They’ve got such a good backline. They’ve got such a good midfield … the connection piece between clearance and the forward line just needs a bit of work.
“But jeez, they’re young and they’re improving, and I think they’re dangerous.”
Cornes: “It goes to show how much our faith in the Giants has slipped … to not have them locked in after we’re all thinking the tsunami was coming and they’d playing off in a Grand Final after five rounds is a big drop.”