Round 9 of the 2023 AFL season has come to an end as the ladder begins to take shape as we near the halfway point of the season.

There's been plenty of movement across the ladder over the last few weeks as more storylines begin to emerge, with Round 9 proving no different in delivering some dominant winners and disappointing losers.

WINNERS 

Party Pies

An impressive 65-point win over GWS on Sunday night put Collingwood clear on top spot of the AFL ladder with 32 points. Heading into Round 10, the Pies have lost just one game so far and have matches to come against Carlton and North Melbourne to round out the month.

The Magpie Army have come out in force to support the club's successes so far, eager to go one step further after their tight 2022 preliminary final loss, with 37,631 showing up at the MCG on Mother's Day to support the side.

Consistently drawing big crowds and solidifying their spot on top of the table as we near the halfway mark of the season, it's hard to not be jealous of Collingwood's success so far. If that can be maintained all the way through September is still yet to be seen, but there's no doubt it will be fun to watch them along the way.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 16: Jack Ginnivan of the Magpies celebrates a goal during the 2023 AFL Round 05 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the St Kilda Saints at Adelaide Oval on April 16, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Freo's forwards

The start of the year certainly was far from Fremantle's best, winning two of their opening seven matches, but their last two weeks have shown that the side is still in touch with the top eight.

Round 9's win over Sydney was the club's best of the year so far, with their forward line finally starting to click in the Saturday afternoon clash.

The Dockers kicked 16 goals in the win, with small forward Lachie Schultz booting a match high of four majors, while talls Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy and Luke Jackson combined for seven.

Fremantle have faced plenty of criticism for their ball use and forward woes throughout the season, but things look like they are on the up out west.

Quirky stats for Swans star and Sun

Lance Franklin's career is littered with amazing facts and figures, and with Saturday's performance came a further stat, only this time it wasn't in favour of the 1000-goal great.

'Buddy' was kept goalless against the Dockers, a rare performance that followed his side's defeat to Collingwood, who also kept the veteran sharpshooter to no majors.

So rare were the successive goalless outings that it was only the third time Franklin had gone a fortnight without a major since his career started, and the first time since he traded the brown and gold for the red and white.

Rounds 5 & 6 of the 2013 season signalled the last time Franklin was kept to zero goals in two consecutive games, while the first time a pair of goalless games fell was in the 2005 season - Franklin's debut year.

Perhaps the only statistic from Round 9 to surpass Buddy's phenomenal track record ending was the Suns' first win in front of at least 35,000 fans.

Friday night's win over West Coast came in front of an Eagles-strong 36,219 crowd at Optus Stadium, and would finally see the Suns become the 19th club to record a win in front of an attendance that strong.

The Round 9 victory was Gold Coast's 73rd in their short and unsuccessful history of 268 matches.

Now the infamous University sit as the only club to not have notched up a victory in front of 35,000 fans or greater, while the AFL's youngest club GWS have recorded five wins of the sort.

LOSERS 

The 'runners-up curse'

The Swans are currently sitting in 14th place on the ladder with a 3-6 record after nine rounds, a far cry from where the club was perched in September last year.

Sydney were dealt a whopping 81-point defeat in 2022's grand final and have seemingly failed to come out swinging to make amends for last year's ending. It's not unusual for a side to struggle in the season after a heavy loss in September and it seems the Swans are following the trend.

Their cross-town counterparts, GWS, met a similar fate after their 2019 grand final loss, finishing in tenth the following year. While Adelaide, who lost to the Tigers by 48 points in 2017, are still yet to feature in the finals again since their defeat.

It's not season over for the Swans yet but there is plenty of work to do for John Longmire's side when they face North Melbourne to prevent a fifth consecutive loss.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Callum Mills of the Swans looks dejected after a loss during the 2022 Toyota AFL Grand Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 24, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Going early

Heading into Round 6, St Kilda and Essendon occupied the top two spots on the ladder. Flash forward a few weeks, the Saints have slipped to fifth, while the Bombers now sit outside the eight after four consecutive losses.

Essendon have had a tough run of games and next face Richmond in a big test, with senior coach Brad Scott conceding after Round 9 that things weren't all doom and gloom after a month full of defeat.

The Saints meanwhile have seemingly lost the shine of their opening few weeks of footy under new coach Ross Lyon, flying home to Melbourne after a 52-point loss to Adelaide on Sunday.

St Kilda's much-lauded defence struggled in the loss, conceding 121 points, struggling to contain Adelaide's pressure throughout the match.

While there's still plenty of footy to play out, these two early surprise packets may end up disappointing fans when September rolls around.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 01: Jye Menzie of the Bombers (L) celebrates with Will Setterfield of the Bombers (C) after combining for a goal during the round three AFL match between St Kilda Saints and Essendon Bombers at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on April 01, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Round 9 a nightmare for fans of the close encounter

Any fan, and likely most fans, are often keen to catch a thrilling contest where they can. And for those fans, Round 9 wasn't ideal for the neutral viewer.

The nine matches resulted in an average winning margin of 46 points was a result of a favourable weekend for half of the competition.

The smallest winning margin was 17 points as the Dockers handed Sydney another defeat with some comfort, while the Dogs (20 points) and Tigers (24) were able to keep their opponents in the game for a majority of their respective matches.

Two games ended in 70-point buffers, while three more were decided by 50 or more points.