Second semi final

HAWTHORN v WESTERN BULLDOGS at the MCG, Friday, 7.50pm

IF THERE is money to be made from making memes, then there were a few instant millionaires out there in cyberspace on Friday night.

It didn't take long for the neutrals to rejoice in the Hawks finally losing a close one and if competitive balance is your thing, then any loss in September by the three-time champs is good for football.

So now we wait to see whether a golden era really will come to an end when the Hawks play the Western Bulldogs in Friday night's cut-throat semi final at the MCG.

The Hawks were in a similar situation last year after losing the qualifying final against West Coast, but it took them all of 10 minutes to grab the ascendancy against Adelaide a week later back on the MCG.

Twelve months on, the meeting with the Dogs would appear to be far more challenging. Whereas the Crows last year were physically and emotionally spent after a traumatic season, the Dogs will have a major spring in their step after doing a job on West Coast in last Thursday's elimination final.

• To-do list: What's next for Eagles, Kangas?

And they know they have some weapons to worry the Hawks. In the round three clash at Etihad Stadium, the Dogs turned the game on its head in the third quarter with their midfield speed and ball movement. They won a staggering 10 more clearances than the Hawks and 31 more contested possessions.

They led by 19 points at the last change ahead of a pulsating final quarter, decided only at the death when Hawk forward James Sicily marked and kicked the match-winner. It was in that same marking contest that Bulldogs skipper Robert Murphy's knee buckled, putting him out for the year.

Caleb Daniel was brilliant for the Dogs that afternoon with 29 disposals, as was Luke Dahlhaus. Both were great against the Eagles in the elimination final and they hold the key to the Dogs this time around, as does Tom Liberatore.

Once the Dogs amped up the pressure midway through the first quarter, the Eagles, for the second final in succession, went to water. But against the Hawks, it will likely be a different story.

Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Shaun Burgoyne will be into it from the start. They turned the qualifying final into a war played with a ball and if stats are kept on such things, it would be interesting to know whether there have been as many blood rule send-offs as there were on Friday night.

That is the key question going into this game. The Dogs have the inside weapons and the outside speed to worry the Hawks. But can they go toe-to-toe with the champs for four quarters?

The Bulldogs will need to find a replacement for Lin Jong, who broke his collarbone in devastating fashion on Thursday. Sicily should return for the Hawks after missing the Geelong game with illness and they'll need him. The Hawks scrounged 12 goals against the Cats, but couldn't take a contested mark in their forward 50 and Sicily, who leads the Hawks in that department, will help them fix that.

There are other storylines to look forward to this week. It will be a long seven days for Hawk wingman Isaac Smith, who could have put the Hawks into the preliminary final with his kick after the siren against the Cats. Smith is as laid-back as they come, but how he rebounds on Friday night will be a talking point.

• WATCH: The thrilling last minutes of Geel v Haw

If the Dogs are to challenge, they'll need a bit more from Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer. Both put in middling performances on Thursday night, but if you ask who the likely match-winners are for the Bulldogs, it is that pair, and what better time and place to do so than the MCG on a Friday night in September.

Alastair Clarkson up against another of his former lieutenants in Luke Beveridge is another one. Beveridge knows the Dogs should have beaten the Hawks earlier year. Heck, he even thinks a couple of injuries prevented the Dogs from winning last year down in Tassie when the final margin was 70 points.

His bona fides as a coach are plain for all to see and he'll have a plan to beat the Hawks. Execute it and he'll have the eternal gratitude not just of the millions of neutrals impatient for a changing of the AFL premiership guard, but a few enterprising meme makers as well. 

First semi final

SYDNEY SWANS v ADELAIDE at the SCG, Saturday, 7.25pm

Their only clash so far this year was one of the best – a 10-point win to the Crows in round four, but that was at Adelaide Oval.

And there is no reason why the Crows shouldn't head to the SCG without a reasonable degree of confidence given the ease with which they disposed of North Melbourne.

The Swan who will have the most restless few days in the lead-up? That would be Nick Smith, the lockdown defender who was kept busy by one All Australian forward, Toby Greene, against the Giants and who must now prepare to face another – Eddie Betts.

The mercurial little man was brilliant on Saturday night with six goals, a personal best in finals and they came from a variety of sources, including three contested marks and how far Smith can go in curbing Betts will go a long way towards determining the outcome here.

At the other end the key will be Lance Franklin. The Bud was easily one of the Swans' best against the Giants, but almost exclusively as a midfielder and link player. It was strange to see him not parked inside Sydney's 50-metre arc in the final term when the Swans needed to hit the scoreboard repeatedly to get back in the again. There was nobody else even remotely dangerous close to goal.

What was unusual on Saturday was the way the Swans were bullied around by the upstart kids from the other part of town. Some of it pushed the boundaries – Steve Johnson should be suspended and Shane Mumford might just have dodged a bullet – but the Swans need to reverse this on Saturday night. They need to go out and hunt the Crows.

It was reminiscent of the 2014 Grand Final, when the Swans were pushed around by the Hawks in the opening quarter without ever fighting back.

The Swans will need to make two forced changes with NAB Rising Star winner Callum Mills and big Kurt Tippett to miss at least one week. Jeremy Laidler and Toby Nankervis, who were held out of the NEAFL Grand Final, shape as the likely replacements, but John Longmire will resist the temptation for any more changes.

• Around the state leagues: Who's pushing for a finals berth?

The Swans finished the home and away season as the best team in the competition. As he said post-match on Saturday, "We get to look at what we didn't do that well tonight and be able to try and remedy it, and that's the advantage of getting in the top four, you get that extra chance and we get another crack at it next week."

You "dance with who brung 'ya" as it is said and the players who took the side to the minor premiership deserve the chance at keeping their season alive. The prediction here is that the Swans will be much more fearsome this time around.

But it should be an intriguing semi final all the same. On the eve of round 23, these two clubs were sitting first and second on the ladder and were the trendy pick to meet in the Grand Final. One stumble later, and they're now playing in a knockout final. Yet more proof why this one of the most even – and enjoyable – seasons in recent memory.