Why can't he just hope for his own team to, I don't know, win? If Melbourne wins then they don't have to worry about other results.
His caution was well founded. Looks like the magic number for West Coast to displace them is somewhere in the 18-21 points range, depending on how high-scoring a game it is. Today's result also means that an Essendon win tomorrow guarantees a final spot regardless of the Crows-Eagles result.
Huh? Oh sorry, I was too caught up in the WOC sprint to notice there was football on :P