If ever a coach wants to emphasise the importance of his players going as hard as possible for every second of every game, he now simply needs to wheel out the video of the last 25 seconds at the SCG on Friday night , and Essendon veteran Brendon Goddard's ill-fated attempt to play-on from a kick-in with the Dons leading by five points. Really, all Goddard had to do for the game to be won was clear the defensive 50. It was little Swan Tom Papley who made sure that didn't happen, flying at the man with the ball, forcing the boundary throw-in from which Sydney score the post-siren winner to Gary Rohan. The one-percenters all add up. But this one alone was worth what could be four crucial match points.

Superficially, Geelong's two-point thriller against Fremantle looks like a lucky escape at home against a lesser opponent. Given context, it might actually prove one of the Cats' best this season. It's rare for a team to be left with just one fit player on an interchange bench, but with Joel Selwood knocked out in the first minute, Tom Stewart suffering a facial fracture and Darcy Lang unable to run, Geelong was. Out on their feet, the Cats still somehow managed 3.5 to two behinds in the final term, finishing the game having made only 61 of a potential 90 interchange rotations. It was gutsy stuff, and while it's unlikely to happen again, surviving it may just be the making of Chris Scott's team.

Charades: An umpire calls for a score review during round 14. Credit:Daniel Kalisz

Another weekend, another round of debatable video score reviews. The system seems no more effective than it ever was, still plenty of room for human error upstairs in the control room, and still not sufficient or even uniform technology across all AFL venues. I've had doubts about several rulings of balls being touched off boots or on goal lines this season. But most might have been clearer both for officials and viewers had we not only cameras in the right places at all grounds, but of sufficiently high definition to make potential touches on shots a bit easier on which to adjudicate. It's been nearly eight years since Tom Hawkins "poster" in the 2009 grand final was ruled a goal. Isn't that long enough to have worked all this out?

THE FAREWELL

Final siren: Age football writer Rohan Connolly signs off. Credit:Simon Schluter SMS

And pardon the self-indulgence, but this is my final Monday column for The Age. I would have liked to complete this AFL season, but unfortunately, that's the way the bean counters crumble. So please allow me to thank you (or as Mark Thompson might have said), "ALL of you", for your interest and generally kind comments over the years. This really is shaping up as one of the greatest seasons we've ever had, and I will continue to write about it on other platforms (which I'll be telling people about shortly via social media). But as far as this space goes, this is it. I've loved being able to wrap up the weekend's action for you. Farewell, may your football be good football, and good night!