THE NAB League Boys threw up the most unbelievable weekend of Wildcard Round results as the bottom four teams all stunned higher-ranked opposition to qualify for the finals.

Calder Cannons, Western Jets, Bendigo Pioneers and Northern Knights were all underdogs to play finals, but their amazing feats at the weekend mean they have all qualified at the expense of the GWV Rebels, Oakleigh Chargers, Geelong Falcons and Eastern Ranges.

The only higher ranked team to win was eighth-placed Sandringham Dragons, which secured the fourth seeding with a tough victory over the Murray Bushrangers, leaving Gippsland Power, Tasmania Devils and Dandenong Stingrays relieved they secured the top three spots and avoided the Wildcard Round carnage.

1^ST WILDCARD PLAYOFF

4) GWV REBELS 2.1, 3.4, 8.5, 11.8 (74)
13) NORTHERN KNIGHTS 2.1, 6.3, 7.6, 11.12 (78)

THE difference between being a wooden spooner and playing finals may have only ever been so minute once before – when Fitzroy finished last in the 1916 VFL home-and-away season and went on to win the premiership.

The Wildcard Round couldn’t have proven that any better after the bottom team in the home-and-away season, Northern Knights, stunned the fourth-placed GWV Rebels by four points on their home ground at Mars Stadium on Saturday to book their place in the quarter-finals.

The Knights made their move in the second quarter when they kicked four goals to one to lead by 17 at the main break, but the Rebels hit back with five to one of their own to hit the front by five points at the final change.

GWV then booted the first two goals of the last term through Connor Byrne and Felix Fogaty and looked home with a 20-point gap after six minutes, but they didn’t bank on the Knights refusing to concede.

Jack Chubb’s second goal and one to Jesse Dattoli put the visitors within striking distance and they had the lead when Chubb snagged his third in the 19^th minute before Anthony Caminiti, kicked truly to make it four in a row.

Williamstown VFL player Charlie Molan goalled for the Rebels in the 23^rd minute to set up a grandstand finish but the Knights held firm to book a date with minor premier Gippsland in the quarter-finals.

Captain Patrick Dozzi used all his experience from playing half the VFL season for Carlton to dominate for the Knights with 24 disposals, seven tackles and a goal, son-of-a-legend Cooper Harvey (23, six marks, five entries, one goal) and Jonathan Tomasiello (23, six entries, five tackles) also starred, Chubb took his opportunities to kick his three goals from just three kicks and Nate Caddy (19 disposals, 0.4) performed well but didn’t take his chances and Aleksandr D’Arro (19) also contributed.

GWV extractor Hugh Bond was easily his team’s most prolific, racking up 25 touches and 10 tackles in a valiant bid to keep the Rebels’ season alive, with league leading goalkicker Aaron Cadman booting two majors from 18 disposals, six marks and six tackles.

Lachlan Charleson doubled his season’s tally in kicking three goals from 15 disposals for GWV, while Jamieson Ballantyne (17, five marks), William White (16, one goal) and Ethan McKercher (17) also held up their end of the bargain.

2^ND WILDCARD PLAYOFF

5) OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 1.5, 3.6, 4.9, 8.11 (59)
12) BENDIGO PIONEERS 1.3, 3.6, 7.8, 10.11 (71)

OAKLEIGH was widely considered to be the most dangerous team outside the top three, but the Chargers’ season is over after losing by 12 points to an inspired Bendigo at Mars Stadium on Sunday.

The Pioneers gained confidence from holding the Chargers to a level scoreline at half-time in their first meeting of the season and put the foot down with 4.2 to 1.3 in the third quarter – including the last three in a row to Charlie Hillier, Noah Long and Tait Poyser – to set up a match-winning lead.

Kynan Brown kicked the first goal of the last quarter to give the Chargers hope, but VFL 23^rd player debutants Solly McKay, Jason Gillbee and Bode Stevens sealed the deal before Oakleigh kicked the last two goals to put some respectability on the scoreboard.

Carlton VFL-listed player Harvey Gallagher produced a statement game for Bendigo, piling up a telephone number of 42 disposals, six marks, five tackles and a scarcely believable 13 rebound-50s to drag his team into the quarter-finals, with Harley Reid (23, eight tackles, one goal), Gillbee (19, eight marks, one goal) and Long (18, five entries, five rebounds, one goal) providing wonderful support.

NAB AFL Draft No.1 pick contender Elijah Tsatas racked up the number again with 34 possessions, eight marks, five entries and a goal in his efforts to keep the Chargers alive, while Blake Drury (31, nine marks, eight entries) wasn’t not far behind but missed a crucial goal in the last quarter.

Nathan Philactides (20, five marks), Sandringham Zebras’ Scott Beilby (18, eight marks), Angus Curry (17, five tackles, five entries), Max Gruzewski (17, seven marks) and Matthew Jefferson (five marks, three goals) also put their hands up for Oakleigh.

3^RD WILDCARD PLAYOFF

6) GEELONG FALCONS 1.2, 2.5, 3.6, 4.9 (33)
11) WESTERN JETS 3.1, 4.5, 8.6, 10.8 (68)

ON PAPER, Western produced the most amazing performance of the Wildcard Weekend, downing the highly-fancied Geelong by 35 points at Mars Stadium on Saturday.

But the result was on the cards given the Jets had the confidence of having beaten the Falcons by two points as recently as Round 14, and they were never seriously challenged in the rematch, kicking three goals to one in the first quarter and winning every term, including a 4.1 to 1.1 third term featuring three goals in five minutes to Matt Payne, Jovan Petric and Logan Morris that put paid to Geelong’s chances.

GWS VFL-listed midfielder Jaelen Pavlidis led the way for Western with 24 disposals and five marks, Ned Conway was outstanding in defence with 22, nine marks and six rebounds, Jake Smith stepped up with 20 and five marks and tall forwards Petric (15 touches, five marks, nine hitouts, four goals) and Morris (seven marks, three goals) proved more than a handful for the Geelong defence.

Likely top 10 NAB AFL Draft pick Jhye Clark did everything in his power to keep the Falcons’ season alive with 27 possessions, eight marks, six tackles, six inside-50s and two goals, but he didn’t receive enough support apart from the efforts of Patrick Hughes (19, five tackles, five entries), Joe Pike (16, five marks, 29 hitouts), Ted Clohesy (20, six tackles) and Liam Kershaw (20).

4^TH WILDCARD PLAYOFF

7) EASTERN RANGES 3.3, 3.5, 5.13, 8.15 (63)
10) CALDER CANNONS 1.1, 4.3, 6.4, 10.7 (67)

A STUNNING six-goal breakout performance from small forward Carlos Egan catapulted Calder into the quarter-finals as Eastern Ranges kicked their premiership hopes away in a thrilling four-point result at Mars Stadium on Sunday.

Eastern booted three goals to one as the first term went to script, but the Cannons reprised last week’s terrific victory over the same opposition to take a four-point lead at half-time.

The Ranges dominated the third term but sprayed 2.8 (none rushed) to 2.1 to blow their chances to build a match-winning lead as the Cannons hung on for dear life before making their move with the last two goals of the third term and three in a row – three of the five to Egan – after conceding the first of the last term.

Riley Weatherill got Eastern back within five points in the 15^th minute, but Egan’s sixth goal less than a minute later put paid to the challenge and sealed the Cannons a trip back to Ballarat to face Sandringham in a quarter-final.

The 167cm Egan, 18, had kicked 11 goals in six games before Sunday, but slammed on two in the second quarter, one in the third and three in the last to finish with 6.1 from 11 disposals in a match-winning shift.

Late-season Giants Academy recruit Harry Rowston led Calder’s stats sheet for the second straight week with 22 touches, eight marks, six tackles and five inside-50s, with defender Reuben Rode (21, nine rebounds) repelling strongly, Matt Foley (19, one goal) setting up some good attacking chains and Tom O’Sullivan (19, nine marks), Jayden Nguyen (17, five marks) and Caleb Burquest (18, five tackles) providing strong support.

Hayden Smith (27, eight marks) produced the best game of his NAB League career in his bid to keep Eastern’s season alive, with Josh Bennetts (23, five entries, one goal), Cam Nyko (21, five marks, eight inside-50s) doing some nice things, Kai Windsor (22, five marks, five entries) and Lachlan Reidy (21, seven inside-50s) running the wings well and Josh Davies (19, one goal) and Harry Flynn (26) also putting their best feet forward.

5^TH WILDCARD PLAYOFF

8) SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 2.3, 6.4, 10.8, 11.11 (77)
9) MURRAY BUSHRANGERS 2.2, 4.7, 5.7, 10.7 (67)

SANDRINGHAM held off a rollicking finish from Murray to be the only higher-seeded team to win its Wildcard Round match, winning by 10 points at Williamstown Oval on Saturday in a clash where the big story was a devastating suspected ACL injury to the Bushrangers’ star forward and possible top 10 draft pick Brayden George.

George only returned from 10 weeks out with a knee injury last week but his knee buckled in a seemingly innocuous incident in the first quarter, with scans expected to confirm the worst.

The injury rattled the Bushrangers as the Dragons got on top in general play in the second quarter before appearing to put the game to bed with 4.4 to 1.0 in the third to lead by 31 points turning for home.

But Sandringham went into preservation mode and Murray roared into action, slamming on four goals in seven minutes to get within nine points with 15 minutes still to play.

But Levi Ashcroft, the second son of Brisbane Lions legend Marcus and the younger brother of possible No.1 NAB AFL Draft selection Will, announced himself to the competition in just his third game at the age of only 15, booting a steadier in the 16th minute to go with a remarkable snap from the boundary line midway through the third as he finished with two goals from 17 disposals.

Key defender Jakob Anderson was close to the Dragons, despite only picking up 10 disposals, taking five intercept marks, making several spoils and conceding only one goal from an intercept mark on a kick-in.

Will Ashcroft starred with 31 disposals, nine inside-50s and a goal, his sidekick Cam McKenzie again showed his credentials in close with 24 and six entries and Olli Hotton (25, five marks), Nathan Scollo (17, nine marks) and Charlie Clarke (14, five tackles, four goals) were also crucial.

Jedd Longmire, the nephew of Sydney coach John, starred for Murray with 16 disposals and four goals, while Ollie Hollands, the son of former Richmond player Ben and brother of Gold Coast top 10 pick Elijah, dominated with 27 possessions, seven tackles and five rebounds.

The Bushrangers also had strong contributors in Wangaratta defender Tyler Norton (25, six marks, eight rebounds), a career-best effort from Foster Gardiner (21), Ryan Eyers (17, nine marks), Noah Bradshaw (19, five entries) and ruckman Toby Murray (13, five marks, 27 hitouts).

Bye: 1) Gippsland Power, 2) Tasmania Devils, 3) Dandenong Stingrays

THIS WEEK

NEXT WEEK: Saturday, September 10: Preliminary Finals: Winner QF1 v Winner QF4; Winner QF2 v Winner QF3 (ETU Stadium)

THEN: Friday, September 16: Grand Final, PF1 Winner v PF2 Winner (Ikon Park, 5.10pm)

(All games are streamed live on the NAB League app except for the Herald Sun games, which are on that website).

NAB LEAGUE LEADING GOALKICKERS

34: Aaron Cadman (GWV) 2 (winner)
31: Logan Morris (Western) 3
29: Zane Duursma (Gippsland) bye
29: Brandon Leary (Tasmania) bye
27: Harry Sheezel (Sandringham) 1
27: Will Splann (Tasmania) bye
25: Jovan Petric (Western) 4
23: Charlie Clarke (Sandringham) 4
23: Brady Wright (GWV) dnp
21: Ingo Dammersmith (Oakleigh) dnp
20: Euriah Hollard (Geelong) 0
20: Bailey Humphrey (Gippsland) bye
20: Jason McCormick (Northern) 1
19: Fletcher Hart (Murray) 2
19: Beau Tedcastle (GWV) 0
18: Brayden George (Murray) 0
18: Tom Gillet (Geelong) dnp
18: Nick Watson (Eastern) 1
17: Nate Caddy (Northern) 0
17: Carlos Egan (Calder) 6
17: Harry Miller (Western) 0
16: Joeve Cooper (Murray) 1
16: Jacob Konstanty (Gippsland) bye
16: Toby Murray (Murray) 0
16: Riley Weatherill (Eastern) 1
15: Seth Campbell (Tasmania) bye
15: Jerome Lawrence (Oakleigh) 0

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL