GEELONG and Hawthorn earned a weekend off, the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda have a week to turn around their form and Collingwood and the Sydney Swans live to fight another day, following an entertaining first round of finals action.

There were no nailbiters on the first weekend of September, but there were plenty of highlights – notably the performances of premiership favourite Geelong and the challenger most likely, Hawthorn.

The Cats made it 22 wins from 23 outings in 2008, with a 58-point thumping of St Kilda in Sunday’s first qualifying final at the MCG.

The Saints kicked the first goal of the match but it was pretty much one-way traffic from then on, with Geelong having 11 goalkickers.

Geelong’s only concerns would have been injuries to Brent Prismall (knee), Paul Chapman, Steven Johnson (both hamstrings) and Darren Milburn (thumb) – with the unlucky Prismall suspected to have ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.

Geelong’s dominance was almost matched by the Hawks in their impressive 51-point second qualifying final win over the Western Bulldogs on Friday night.

Once again Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin was the star of the Hawthorn show, with the Coleman Medallist booting eight goals – five in the first half – to take his season tally to 110.

Aside from a narrow Bulldogs lead early in the opening term, the Hawks were in control throughout and now have a fortnight to get Trent Croad (ankle), Grant Birchall (corked thigh), Rick Ladson (AC joint), Cameron Stokes (corked thigh), and Stephen Gilham (virus) right for a preliminary final.

Meeting the Saints in a first semi-final for the right to play the Hawks will be Collingwood, after ending Adelaide’s season with a 31-point win on Saturday afternoon.

The Pies showed vast improvement in the aftermath of a disappointing round 22 loss to Fremantle, coming from two goals down at half-time to remain alive in their chase for a second straight preliminary final berth.

On the other side of the draw, the out-of-form Bulldogs will square off against the suddenly in-form Sydney Swans at the MCG.

The Swans, who defeated the Lions in round 22, defied a fast North Melbourne start to emerge 35-point winners in Saturday night’s second elimination final.

With Brett Kirk on fire in the midfield and Ryan O’Keefe and Barry Hall prominent up forward, the Swans made a mockery of coach Paul Roos’ claim two weeks ago that his side probably couldn’t “do much damage” in September.

The Dogs and Swans will do battle on Friday night, while the Saints meet Collingwood on Saturday night. Both games will be played at the MCG.

Hawthorn 18.19 (127) d Western Bulldogs 11.10 (76)
Franklin produced a little bit of everything as Hawthorn advanced easily to its first preliminary final since 2001. Franklin, opposed initially by Dale Morris and then by Brian Lake, booted five goals and gave away two 50m penalties – and that was just in the first half, en route to eight goals for the match. Although the Bulldogs started enterprisingly enough, the match always seemed firmly in the grasp of the Hawks, who again showed they are the side most likely to challenge Geelong.

Collingwood 19.11 (125) d Adelaide 14.10 (94)
Once more Collingwood showed it plays its best football with its backs to the wall, travelling to Adelaide to upset the Crows by 31 points. Adelaide, minus star forward Jason Porplyzia, got a much-needed six-goal injection from surprise spearhead Scott Stevens. But every time the Crows asked a serious question – the home side led by two goals at half-time – Collingwood dug deep for an answer. The Pies were best served by rugged midfielder Dane Swan, with youngster Chris Dawes chiming in with three goals.

Sydney Swans 17.8 (110) d North Melbourne 11.9 (75)
North Melbourne suffered another disappointing finals exit, while the Sydney Swans can legitimately eye off a third preliminary final berth in four years. Things looked bright for the Kangaroos when they kicked four goals to one in the first term. However, the Swans kicked 16 goals to seven from there on and set up an ultimately match-winning break with an eight-goal burst in the third quarter. Brett Kirk was best afield and Barry Hall looked menacing up forward with three goals, but it was a sad way to end for retiring Roos star Shannon Grant.

Geelong 17.17 (119) d St Kilda 8.13 (61)
Geelong remains on track for a second successive premiership, following a characteristically dominant 58-point win over St Kilda. The Saints kicked the first goal of the game through Adam Schneider, yet by the end of the opening term the Cats had already had 10 scoring shots. The reigning premiers led by 32 points at half-time and pressed down on the pedal in the decisive third stanza, booting nine goals to two. Geelong had no shortage of contributors, with Jimmy Bartel best afield, Brad Ottens a huge presence in the ruck and up forward and Gary Ablett providing another reminder of his Brownlow Medal credentials. The only real downside for the Cats was the loss of young midfielder Brent Prismall with what looked to be a serious knee injury.