2018 is almost at an end and it has been an action-packed year for the AFL. We have gone back to determine our 10 most clicked stories to see what the biggest news stories of the past season were.
Early in the year, Mark Robinson revealed his belief that Tom Lynch was being heavily pursued by Richmond.
“Richmond are up to their eyeballs,” Robinson began.
“Could you imagine adding Tommy Lynch to [Richmond]?”
Of course, now we don’t need to imagine a world with Lynch in a Tigers jersey, as the former Sun signed with the 2017 premiers during free agency.
Whether the Tigers will find success with Lynch remains to be seen, but it would take a bold person to bet against more Richmond success in the near future.
In July, North Melbourne defender Majak Daw revealed that he almost made a move to Collingwood while he was sat on the Kangaroos rookie list.
“Thinking back now I was probably young and foolish,” Daw said.
Daw had a breakout year in 2018 and became a high quality intercept defender.
Unfortunately, his growth as a player is set to be stunted following his fall from the Bolte Bridge on December 17.
The AFL world has rallied around Daw and the hope is that he will return to an AFL field in due course.
April saw a sexual harassment claim emerge at Fremantle, with coach Ross Lyon at the centre of it.
Lyon was alleged to have made inappropriate comments about the female staff members clothing at a Christmas function.
The matter was settled and Lyon, who had reported the matter to the club after it happened, received no sanction.
In June, former St Kilda and North Melbourne player Nick Dal Santo predicted what the ladder would look like come season’s end.
His predictions had mixed levels of success, as he correctly predicted five of the eight finalists, but missed on grand finalist Collingwood, who he placed in tenth.
He put both North Melbourne and both South Australian teams in the top eight, missing out on Collingwood, GWS and Hawthorn.
Dal Santo correctly put Carlton last and St Kilda in 16th, getting Brisbane and Gold Coast the wrong way around.
Ultimately, Dal Santo could have done better considering the stage of the season that he was predicting at.
Mid-way through the year a rumour emerged that said that Jeremy McGovern was set for a move to Fremantle.
While this move never occurred, the mere thought of it was enough to scare the life out of West Coast fans.
The rumour came from Sam Landsberger of the Herald Sun.
“Right now, I think McGovern will play for Fremantle next year. I think they are that well advanced with him, that would be my gut call right now,” Landsberger told The SuperFooty Podcast.
The move never came to be, with McGovern signing a five-year deal with the Eagles in July.
Jeremy’s brother Mitch did end up on the move, leaving Adelaide for Carlton during free agency.
Footage emerged of Brownlow medallist Dane Swan in bed with a woman.
The leaked video had Swan and the woman kissing and naked, with Swan attempting to hide his face from the recording.
The police issued a statement concerning the video.
“Prahran police are investigating after a video was distributed electronically and online. The video was posted without consent. As the investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Swan later said that the video had been spread illegally and worked with police to investigate the distribution.
Kane Cornes has never been short of an opinion in his media career.
Before the start of the season he shared his belief that the term ‘superstar’ was overused and that there was only four such players in the competition.
Naturally, this created some debate, with his choices being Gary Ablett Junior, Lance Franklin, Patrick Dangerfield and Alex Rance.
His omission of Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin was duly noted, but Cornes believed he needed to maintain a standard of excellence to be considered a superstar.
Cornes also believed that players such as Marcus Bontempelli, Josh Kelly and Ben Brown had the chance to become superstars in the future.
The 2018 Grand Final was one for the ages. A back-and-forth contest where no side ever really got on top.
Despite this, it may only ever be remembered for one moment. Dom Sheed’s mark and goal with under two minutes remaining.
Collingwood fans felt that Brayden Maynard was prevented from impacting on Sheed by Liam Ryan.
This, along with two other decisions in the match, was the reason for the creation of the petition.
The petition was signed by almost 7,500 people, although it failed to make any sort of impact at AFL House.
Carlton legend Chris Judd was refused entry to the Blues’ JLT clash with St Kilda on Wednesday night, after failing to bring a ticket with him to the game.
Judd believed that he had earned the right not to need a ticket.
“Nor should I have to [bring a ticket],” Judd said on Triple M in a jovial tone.
“After what I did for the competition for 14 years. And my community work.”
Judd eventually made it into the ground for the game, but had to walk around to another gate, away from the young security guard who refused him entry initially.
Barry Hall has always been one for controversy.
His playing career is littered with infamous moments including his knockout punch of Brent Staker and his headlock applied to a young Scott Thompson.
On this occasion it was comments made before a game between Geelong and the Bulldogs that saw him immediately sacked by Triple M.
Triple M‘s Head of Content Mike Fitzpatrick made the following statement following the on-air gaff.
“Tonight on Triple M Football there were unacceptable and inappropriate comments made by a member of the commentary team,” the statement began.
“The commentator was removed immediately from the broadcast and an apology was issued on air afterwards.”