The initially maligned Wildcard Round has all of a sudden gathered tremendous interest as the AFL enters the final stretch of the 2026 season.

Increasing post-season games from a top eight to top 10 had plenty of detractors, but to the AFL's credit, it has kept more teams alive in the season, going down to Port Adelaide in 15th position.

Every week, there's many consequential games, like Gold Coast and Collingwood, with the winner, being the latter on Saturday, entrenching themselves firmly inside the Wildcard Round placings (7th to 10th). As for the Suns, they slipped to 14th.

It begs the question, of the 63 games remaining in the season, which will have the greatest impact?

Going through the final seven weeks of the fixture, 17 matches have been donned the proverbial 'eight-point' game, exciting the AFL for what is to come.

Round 20

Carlton (10th) vs Gold Coast (14th), Marvel Stadium

There'll always be a watch on the Blues given the intrigue around how far caretaker coach Josh Fraser can take the club.

The same goes for Gold Coast, who need to find ways to sing the song after the game.

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 25: Ben King of the Suns and Jacob Weitering of the Blues compete for a mark during the round 11 AFL match between Carlton Blues and Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium, on May 25, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

North Melbourne (11th) vs St Kilda (12th), Marvel Stadium

A huge consequential clash between two Wildcard Round aspirants.

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