AFL Round 24 kicks off with St Kilda-Gold Coast as season finale looms

The Australian Football League's home-and-away season reaches its final chapter tonight, with St Kilda and Gold Coast squaring off at Docklands in a game that matters only to the teams playing it. Neither side will make the finals. Both are playing for something harder to quantify: the chance to end a disappointing year with a win, to send their supporters home with at least that small dignity intact.

But the real story of round 24 unfolds across the league, in the careful arithmetic of who plays and who doesn't. With the wildcard round looming next week, clubs face a calculation: rest your best players now, or push them through one more game? The answer varies by circumstance, and the team sheets tell the tale.

Sydney's situation is different from everyone else's. Five players—Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, James Jordon, and Riley Bice—have been suspended for the remainder of the season after breaching club behavioural standards. The suspension follows a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault at a Melbourne hotel. No one has been arrested or charged. The club has made clear it is not suggesting these five men are accused of the assault itself. But the breach was serious enough to end their season.

The fallout extends far beyond the men's team. Sydney's AFLW side, which opened their season with a strong win over Adelaide, now finds themselves in an impossible position. They're scheduled to play in a double-header with the men's team on Sunday at the SCG, but the women's players have become unwilling casualties of events they did not create. Chyloe Kurdas, an AFLW pioneer, described the week as "horrendous" for women across the football community. The club's respect for women has been called into question. The hurt and anger among female players and women in football circles is real and justified. The alleged victim remains at the centre of sympathy across the sport.

Elsewhere, the final round brings the usual mix of injury management and strategic resting. Fremantle, the minor premiers, have rested three players—Jye Amiss, Heath Chapman, and Sam Switkowski—after beating Adelaide last week. Collingwood's Nick Daicos, despite speculation he might be managed, has been named to play against Brisbane on Friday night. Geelong brings back Jeremy Cameron, Sam De Koning, and Jack Martin for their clash with Richmond. The Crows recall Taylor Walker, Alex Neal-Bullen, and Wayne Milera. Western Bulldogs add Marcus Bontempelli and Bailey Dale for their match against Melbourne. Hawthorn will be without Jack Ginnivan due to injury.

Two players will mark their final games tonight. Dougal Howard, who has announced his retirement, will play his 100th and final game for St Kilda. Gold Coast's Nick Holman, retiring after 145 games with the Suns, will do the same. For both men, this Thursday night at Docklands is the end of something. For the league, it is simply the beginning of the end—nine games stand between now and the wildcard round, nine games that will sort the final ladder and determine who plays where when September arrives.

Melbourne's Jacob van Rooyen will not be among those nine games. The tribunal upheld his three-match suspension for striking Port Adelaide's Aliir Aliir in the head during a marking contest at Adelaide Oval. Aliir was taken from the ground and failed a head injury assessment. The incident was assessed as careless conduct with high and severe impact. Van Rooyen's appeal failed on Tuesday night. He will miss Melbourne's match against Western Bulldogs on Saturday and potentially up to two finals games if the Demons advance.