Saints go short and gamble on experience
St Kilda loaded up on height last week in Brisbane. But it will be a much shorter line-up that takes on Melbourne in tonight's elimination final. Full report

Saints look to the heavens, and cut a couple of tall men
St Kilda had hoped to stretch its opposition in the finals, but the weather had a big say at the selection table. Full report

Tony Shaw on how he would coach St Kilda
The 1990 Collingwood premiership captain and Collingwood coach from 1996 to 1999, tells how he would coach St Kilda. Full report

Dean Laidley on how he would coach Melbourne
The 1996 Kangaroos premiership player and Kangaroos coach since 2003 tells how he would coach Melbourne. Full report

Hard-tackling Dees will turn up the heat against Saints
Star onballer Cameron Bruce says Melbourne can no longer be disparaged for being soft around the edges. Full report

Brown still in favour of Pagan exit
Former Carlton premiership midfielder Fraser Brown says that Denis Pagan still needs to be sacked. Full report

What's on today
Melbourne holds the record for the highest winning margin in an elimination final. Full report

League signals new rule for mature rookies
AFL clubs will from this year be able to draft one mature-age rookie provided the player has never been on an AFL list. Full report

Don't punt on NFL future
AFL players keen to pursue a US gridiron career should not expect to just land a job in the NFL, Australian-born Dallas Cowboy Mat McBriar has cautioned. Full report

Crouch's tough year
Midfielder Jared Crouch has revealed how he played during the season with a broken collarbone, a chronic ankle injury, and lower-back and hamstring problems. Full report

Demon wildcard ready to play with fire
Byron Pickett is an essential part of Melbourne's arsenal as it prepares for its September assault. Full report

FINALS FLASHBACKS
Tiger ruckman leaves rivals in his wake
Late in the 1969 season, Richmond teammates Michael Green and Barry Richardson would meet at a pizza parlour in Carlton for a feed and talk about football. Full report

THE MONGREL PUNTER
You can win from eighth, but don't bet on it
There are many laws about the finals and finals betting and the main one is you have to finish in the top four if you are going to take the premiership. Full report

SPORTING LIFE
Still a Saints fan? Hell no!
Footy fans who are fair dinkum about allegiances to their clubs stick with them through thick and thin. Full report

Pagan stays but Blues will revamp
Denis Pagan will coach the Carlton Football Club, with Stephen Silvagni now certain to come on board as his No.1 assistant and saviour. Full report

Bumper crowds forecast for AFL finals
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has predicted bumper crowds for the opening weekend of the AFL finals series, with about 240,000 expected to attend the four games. Full report

Ramanauskas shares the trauma of cancer battle
Adam Ramanauskas is not sure he will ever play football again. But the Essendon wingman feels well, if like an unfit athlete, as he continues to fight cancer. Full report

Smith retirement gives Dogs' push more poignancy
Edging closer to the grand final is motivation enough, but if the Western Bulldogs beat Collingwood this weekend, they'll help veteran Rohan Smith notch 300 games. Full report

McGuiness quits Port
Port Adelaide assistant coach Tony McGuiness has quit the club citing business interests and a desire to spend more time with his family as the reasons for his decision. Full report

Injured Saints boost claims to face Demons
St Kilda's walking wounded continued their march to be right to play in tomorrow night's knockout second elimination final against Melbourne. Full report

Hasleby looms as likely selection
Fremantle midfielder Paul Hasleby is almost certain to be named today in the 25-man squad to play in Saturday's qualifying final against Adelaide. Full report

Kellaway out, Gaspar to stay
Courageous defender Andrew Kellaway is seeking a new club after being told this week he would have very few, if any, opportunities to play senior football in 2007. Full report

Lions shed four, ending Keating's career
The disintegration of the great Brisbane Lions teams of this decade continues with triple-premiership ruckman Clark Keating told that his career at the Gabba is over. Full report

Pearce to hold onto a place in AFL's firmament
When Warren Tredrea became Port Adelaide captain, and swapped his No. 16 guernsey for No. 1, Danyle Pearce waited about a month. Full report

Umpires' boss defends his troops
AFL umpires' boss Jeff Gieschen says he will not be giving the officials any special instructions before Saturday night's West Coast-Sydney qualifying final. Full report

Learner Goodes doffs his cap to Judd
Adam Goodes is relishing a rematch with Chris Judd, after losing the points last time around. Full report

Blues fail to support coach
Denis Pagan went to the Carlton Football Club with the famous navy Blues on the brink of disaster but with the promise only a proven premiership coach can deliver. Full report

'Big Unit' fires up the Eagles' forward line
Twelve months ago, much of the talk surrounding West Coast going into the finals concerned the form of its "Big Unit", full-forward Quinten Lynch. Full report

FINALS FLASHBACKS
Man who made Fraser an island
September is known as the month when the best footballers shine. Occasionally, however, finals football throws up unlikely heroes. Full report

Melbourne club in bid for Everitt
A Melbourne-based club in, or close to, premiership contention has made the biggest pitch for Peter Everitt, according to his manager, Ricky Nixon. Full report

Spida and Hawks: it's all about jumping the shark
In TV, it's called "jumping the shark" - the beginning of the end. At Hawthorn, the "jump the shark" moment might have been the recruitment of Peter Everitt. Full report

Saints skipper runs himself back into form
A decision made a fortnight ago to go flat out and risk serious injury has turned Luke Ball's season around on the eve of the AFL finals. Full report

Thompson's tenure at Cattery remains in peril
The future of Geelong coach Mark Thompson remaines insecure despite Thompson holding a meeting with his leadership group to plan the Cats' 2007 pre-season. Full report

No guarantee of a start for Brooks
Barry Brooks may have been the sensation of the night for St Kilda last weekend, but he is not guaranteed to be playing in the elimination final against Melbourne on Friday night. Full report

Ricciuto treads warily in battle against virus
Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto is making a steady recovery from a virus and is extremely hopeful of playing in the finals. Full report

Mackie attracts interest from Port
The departures expected from Skilled Stadium in the coming weeks might begin unexpectedly with Andrew Mackie. Full report

Neitz leaves behind his finals demons
In Melbourne captain David Neitz' mind, the Demons' recent travails with injury and form have made them stronger. Full report