Two red-hot sides surge into our top four, while other premiership contenders crash out. Where does your side stand after Round 8?
1. Brisbane (+1)
The Lions just scraped home against the Demons, and they were certainly helped by a late-game score review that slowed one of Melbourne’s final rolls of the dice. Still, that’s two in a row away from the Gabba and against two good sides, too. Top four is theirs to lose from here out.
2. West Coast (+4)
It was close, but Josh Kennedy just kicked more goals than the Pies on the weekend. Just a few weeks ago, he and the Eagles were done. Now, Kennedy’s the Coleman favourite and the Eagles are just about premiership favourites after an absolutely ruthless demolition of Collingwood on the weekend. Who are they going to lose to at Optus Stadium? It could very well be no one.
3. Port Adelaide (-2)
They dominated for several periods, but in the end Port were outshone late in the day by a rampaging Saints. This loss will do nothing to throw off the pack of critics that insist they’re pretenders rather than contenders. They’ll have to lick their wounds and front up next week in a very interesting clash with the Demons at the Gabba on Thursday night.
4. St Kilda (+6)
The Saints surged into the top four with an eye-catching takedown of the competition’s top side on Saturday night. They were fast, fierce and above all, clinical, kicking 12.1 for the night. By these standards, the Saints are here to stay in the eight.
5. Geelong (-)
The Cats did what they had to against the lowly Dockers, and they’re now nestled in the top four. Next week against the rampaging Eagles will prove the much tougher test. Ff course, Cats fans should be looking on nervously to what they did to a fellow captain-less side last week.
6. Collingwood (-3)
So much for the Pies’ iron wall in defence. The Eagles piled on an eye-watering 18 goals against Collingwood absences of several big names became glaring. In particular, the loss of midfield general Scott Pendlebury right before the first bounce didn't help, but a premiership contender can’t throw in the towel like that again. All things considered, we’ll give them one shocker before making too many rash calls.
7. Western Bulldogs (-)
The Dogs did just enough in tricky conditions against a spirited Suns outfit. Barring their considerable blip against Carlton, that’s a very impressive six weeks from the Dogs. Although we can’t help not being absolutely sold on them as premiership contenders just yet. As for the finals, they look very well placed for that race.
8. GWS (-)
It wasn’t quite revenge best served cold, but the Giants got the win they desperately needed against their grand final foes – 300 days on, exactly, by the way. Toby Greene essentially won them the match, bagging five goals and three Brownlow votes from 18 possessions. And yes, we’re still counting – remarkably, that’s eight from eight games the Giants have lost the inside 50 count, this time 46-31.
9. Richmond (-5)
That game was there for the taking, and Dustin Martin nearly took it single-handedly in the second half. But in the end, the Tigers slumped to another frustrating loss. Damien Hardwick will want more from his forward line, as Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch and Daniel Rioli were all largely anonymous .
The Tigers won the inside 50 count by 15 but still managed just six majors. Still, they’ve weathered the storm admirably thus far, and are still poised to shake up the finals if their host of missing players return sooner rather than later.
10. Essendon (-1)
There’s winning ugly, then there’s beating the winless Crows by three points. In the end, they were lucky the Crows kicked inaccurately in the final term, or else they might have had egg on their faces. On the plus side, Essendon laid 76 tackles, the most of any team this season, with David King labelling it the Bombers’ best game without the ball all season. Maybe we should give the Crows a bit more credit for taking it right up to a finals contender.
11. Carlton (+1)
Wow. The Blues’ faithful would surely trade this for years past, but their hearts mightn’t agree. That was their fifth game this season decided by seven points or less, and the Blues almost let slip a 30-point lead early in the second quarter. Still, they’re 4-4 and very much in the mix for their first finals campaign in years.
12. Melbourne (+1)
Plenty to like about Melbourne, who just came up short against the high-flying Lions on Sunday night. Again, they’re still playing catch-up on our rankings thanks to their postponed game against the Bombers, but that extra game might prove the ace up their sleeves come late in the season.
13. Gold Coast (-2)
The Suns earned their Thursday night primetime slot, and they fought hard all night in slippery conditions against the Dogs. Once again, prodigy Izak Rankine looked the most dangerous forward on the ground. And if he’d kicked truly after a spectacular grab late in the fourth, they might have taken the four points. In the end, it was an honourable loss for a Suns team on the rise.
14. Sydney (+2)
The Swans' season is supposed to be over, but someone forgot to tell Tom Papley, who pulled out absolutely everything in his bag of tricks to propel the Swans over the line against the Hawks. They looked unlikely until Papley’s double-goal late in the second quarter gave them momentum heading into the second half. And when you’ve still got Dane Rampe and Jake Lloyd doing everything in defence, you’re never going to be out of any game.
15. Fremantle (-)
The season’s surely gone now for Fremantle. They’ve stayed out of the headlines for much of the year, which is probably a good thing for a side still developing under the watch of a first-year coach. Let’s hope Nat Fyfe can come back and stay injury-free – Freo and the competition need him.
16. Hawthorn (-2)
Compared to previous weeks, that was a game the Hawks could and should have won. Even if they had scraped home against the injury-hit Swans, there would have been hardly anything to like from a game where they went at 44 per cent efficiency from foot.
Their poor disposal marked their worst ever effort under a coach whose teams once upon a time were the best kicks in the game. The Hawks won’t be visiting New South Wales for a holiday anytime soon – they leave the state without winning a game.
17. North Melbourne (-)
Things were looking even uglier than last week early on, but the Kangaroos righted the ship to put in their best three quarters for a while now, and they just missed out on the four points. Jasper Pittard will be avoiding his coach this week, we suspect. Next week against Adelaide might be the Spoon Showdown we didn’t know we needed.
18. Adelaide (-)
Finally this isn’t a copy and paste job. The Crows came so, so close to breaking their horror 11-game losing streak. Kicking 1.6 in the final term, they really should have won. And with North Melbourne and Hawthorn doing everything possible, the spoon mightn’t be guaranteed just yet either.
