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Adelaide's thumping at the hands of Melbourne and Geelong's loss to Essendon has muddied the picture at the top of the ladder.
Earlier in the day, preseason premiership favourites GWS came within a whisker of losing to Collingwood, while Hawthorn and St Kilda enjoyed wins.
Look back at all of Saturday's action below.
Hawthorn v Brisbane
Hawthorn recorded its third win of the 2017 AFL season, running away from a briefly threatening Brisbane Lions side to win by 38 points University of Tasmania Stadium.
The Lions were hot on the Hawks' tail for the first half, but could not keep up when some of Hawthorn's guns got going after half-time, eventually losing 17.11 (113) to 11.9 (75).
Ricky Henderson was a surprise star for Hawthorn, kicking three goals to go with 21 disposals, while Tom Mitchell was typically prolific with 36 of his own.
Tom Rockliff found plenty of the ball, as always, but the Lions were often powerless to stop the Hawks slick movement of the ball, with Ryan Burton and Billy Hartung impressive with their outside play.
The Hawks have now won two in a row and next face Collingwood at the MCG.
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St Kilda v Carlton
A career-best haul of five goals from Jack Billings helped St Kilda edge Carlton by 19 points, consolidating its place in the AFL's top eight.
The Saints led for most of Saturday afternoon but only kicked clear of the young and dogged Blues in the fourth term, winning 12.13 (85) to 10.6 (66).
Powered by in-form midfielders Jack Steven and Seb Ross, St Kilda produced the match's best football.
The determination of Carlton, led by Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps, made the game a genuine contest.
The Blues hit the lead early in the fourth quarter when Cripps took a towering mark and kicked truly.
From that point, it was all Alan Richardson's side.
The Saints regained the lead with Ross's long bomb from 55 metres, before making the game safe with set shots from Josh Bruce and Jack Steele.
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GWS v Collingwood
Greater Western Sydney has overcome a slow start and two early concussions to defeat Collingwood by three points in a thriller
Steve Johnson crumbed a goal in the final minute of the game as the Giants triumphed 15.12 (102) to 15.9 (99).
The Magpies kicked six consecutive goals to boast a 26-point lead at quarter-time; they outplayed and led GWS for much of a scrappy final term, before Johnson read a marking contest magically to snatch victory.
Despite his side's improved effort, the pressure on Magpies coach Nathan Buckley is unlikely to wane. Collingwood managed only 16 tackles in the first half and sit 16th on the ladder.
GWS key forward Jeremy Cameron booted six goals in his club's first win over Collingwood, which came after a see-sawing third quarter that featured seven lead changes.
The Giants' sixth win of the season was all the more impressive because Aidan Corr and Sam Reid were both knocked out early in the round-eight contest.
Stephen Coniglio limped off with an ankle injury in the final quarter, leaving GWS with just one fit man on the bench in a frantic finish.
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Essendon v Geelong
Essendon withstood a withering final-quarter comeback from Geelong to claim a clutch 17-point victory at the MCG.
The Bombers dominated the tackle-shy Cats for the opening three quarters and held a deserved 40-point advantage at the final change.
But the Cats sprung to life with six of the first seven goals of a thrilling final quarter to get the margin back to 10 points.
That was the cue for Joe Daniher to step up again and cap a spectacular night with his fifth goal of the match, on the run from the 50-metre arc.
Daniher claimed best afield honours, just as he did in Essendon's previous victory, against Collingwood, on Anzac Day.
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Adelaide v Melbourne
Melbourne came from five goals down to steamroll AFL ladder leaders Adelaide by 41 points in a Saturday night boilover.
The Demons trailed by 28 points in the second quarter but produced a spirited comeback to win 17.5 (107) to 9.12 (66) at Adelaide Oval.
Cam Pedersen kicked three goals and Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald, Jeff Garlett, Dean Kent and Thomas Bugg two each in Melbourne's fourth win of the season.
Demons defender Jayden Hunt was knocked out in an accidental collision with Adelaide's Sam Jacobs, who recorded 74 hit outs for the game, just six shy of Todd Goldstein's record.
Jacobs' dominance helped Adelaide create a 28-point lead 18 minutes into the second term, but Melbourne climbed from the canvas with a scoring spree of nine consecutive goals, and 13 of the next 14 in the game.
Co-captains Jones (25 disposals) and Jack Viney (30 touches), emerging stars Christian Petracca (24 possessions) and Christian Salem (31 disposals) and backman Michael Hibberd (34 possessions) were superb for the Demons.
Their feats helped teammate Bernie Vince celebrate his 200th AFL game with a win over his old club.
Vince was tasked with minding Adelaide's prime mover Rory Sloane and curtailed the star Crow to just 11 disposals.
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Topics: australian-football-league, sport, australia
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