'BUDDY', 'Danger' and 'Dusty' are set to light up the finals after each was outstanding in the final round of the home and away season.
Essendon defenders will be especially nervous about confronting Sydney in an elimination final after Lance Franklin bagged 10 goals against Carlton to win a fourth Coleman Medal.
The Schick AFL Player Ratings considered it his second-best game since 2010, after he notched up 38.4 points.
Perhaps the scariest part about Franklin's performance was his accuracy. One of few chinks in the Swan's armour has been his accuracy, but he took 12 shots at goal and converted at 83 per cent last Saturday. The odds of a player booting at least 10 goals from the shots he took, based on expected accuracy, was under two per cent.
Only his famous 13-goal effort against North Melbourne in 2012 was considered better, when he had 50.5 points.
His third-best match since 2010 came only a fortnight ago against Fremantle, when he scored 32.2 points.
It's been an excellent month for Franklin, who on Monday was nominated in the All Australian squad for the 10th time in his career. His average of 25.7 points in the Player Ratings over the last four weeks was ranked No.1 in the competition.
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Meanwhile, Patrick Dangerfield strengthened the argument to consider him the best player in the competition after averaging 21.2 points per game for the year.
That was an improvement on his stellar 2016, when he averaged 20.4.
It was the fourth-best home and away season recorded since 2010, behind campaigns from Gary Ablett in 2014, 2010 and 2012.
Dangerfield was again integral to helping Geelong pull off a 44-point win against fellow premiership contender Greater Western Sydney last Saturday night at Simonds Stadium.
His Player Ratings score of 28.4 came after the superstar collected 33 disposals, 24 contested possessions and a goal.
Dustin Martin capped off a dominant year with another dominant performance. He racked up 36 disposals, 14 contested possessions, two goals and six broken tackles.
The Tiger is known as the AFL's best exponent of the fend-off and that's backed up by the stats. He finished with 68 broken tackles this season, well ahead of Port Adelaide youngster Sam Powell-Pepper (24) and Western Bulldogs powerhouse Jake Stringer and Dangerfield (both 23).
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