AFL Predictions WILDCARD ROUND

Something genuinely historic this weekend — the inaugural AFL Wildcard Finals Round: two knockout matches at the MCG, and the injury picture has made one of them significantly more readable than the other. Collingwood losing both Pendlebury and Maynard on the eve of finals is a brutal blow the Bulldogs should capitalise on, while Melbourne–Carlton is the more fascinating puzzle — Carlton's extraordinary run under Josh Fraser against a Melbourne side that stumbled into seventh and is now sweating on key defenders. Two strong reads — and one of them leans deliberately contrarian.