Add Category
Updated
The Western Bulldogs have earned a morale-boosting win over Port Adelaide in horrendous conditions at Adelaide Oval, and Collingwood had a damaging loss to North Melbourne at Docklands on a Saturday night of upsets in the AFL.
Earlier, the Eagles won a thriller over the Hawks and the Swans got the better of the Suns in Sydney.
More to come.
Bad Power loss in the wet hurts top-eight chances
Rejuvenated forward Josh Schache slotted three goals as the unfancied Western Bulldogs upset Port Adelaide by 25 points.
The Bulldogs revived their finals hopes with a tenacious 10.6 (66) to 5.11 (41) triumph on a rain-soaked Adelaide Oval.
Schache defied the slippery conditions to help the Dogs sneak within a win of the top eight.
The 21-year-old also kicked three goals in last week's loss to Collingwood after spending two months in state league ranks.
His scoring return against Port was crucial for the Dogs, who were superbly served by Marcus Bontempelli (27 disposals) and Jack Macrae (35 touches).
Defenders Jason Johannisen (24 possessions) and Caleb Daniel were influential, Tory Dickson booted two goals while Josh Dunkley (30 disposals) and 14-gamer Roarke Smith (25 touches, one goal) impressed.
The Power, a week after downing ladder-leaders Geelong, blew a chance to consolidate their finals claims — they slip from seventh to eighth spot.
Port spearhead Charlie Dixon kicked two goals, ex-captain Travis Boak collected 32 disposals and backmen Darcy Byrne-Jones (28 touches) and Hamish Hartlett (29 possessions) were standouts.
But after Dixon scored the opening goal of the game, the Power soon fell behind and never bridged the gap before 25,623 spectators.
Following Dixon's early strike, the Bulldogs, sparked by Bontempelli, kicked three consecutive goals.
Bontempelli produced a dynamic first term — a dozen disposals, six clearances, four inside 50s and four tackles — and the Bulldogs led 3.2 to 1.2 at quarter-time.
Port's Robbie Gray reduced the deficit to six points early in the second term before the Dogs regained their ascendancy.
Schache booted his second goal after a sticky-fingered overhead mark and Smith added another with a curling 45m snap as the visitors crafted a 15-point half-time lead.
Port rallied to come within two points in the third term before the Dogs responded superbly.
They kicked three consecutive goals in five minutes, including a third major to the influential Schache, and held a 13-point buffer at three quarter-time.
After a tense quarter-hour in the final term when neither side could score a goal, Bulldog Patrick Lipinski soccered a major and teammate Dickson soon booted his second to seal victory.
Collingwood v Nth Melbourne
Luckless Collingwood forward Ben Reid has suffered another leg injury in their horror 44-point loss to North Melbourne.
Reid limped off with a calf injury after just four minutes of Saturday night's 11.15 (81) to 5.7 (37) loss at Docklands.
It is Collingwood's lowest score since they also kicked 37 in round five, 1995.
While the Magpies will stay second on the ladder, they are now two games behind Geelong and the alarm bells are ringing loud.
Coach Nathan Buckley was unimpressed after last week's narrow win over the Western Bulldogs and it was tough to find a Collingwood player who won his position against a Kangaroos' counterpart.
Ominously Reid, 30, is out of contract at the end of this season. He went straight down the race and did not return to the field.
Magpies onballer Brayden Sier was also ruled out for the second half with concussion, leaving them two rotations down on the bench.
North's Kyron Hayden also will long remember his AFL debut, but for the wrong reason.
He left the field late in the second term with an Achilles injury and also did not return.
The upset win means caretaker coach Rhyce Shaw, a former Collingwood player, boasts a 3-1 record since taking over from Brad Scott.
The resurgent Kangaroos improved to 6-8 and as of Saturday night are only one game outside the top eight.
North were outstanding and but for their inaccuracy, the game would have been over in the second term.
The Kangaroos sprayed 2.7 in the opening quarter, with tall forward Ben Brown a key culprit before he finished the game with 0.4.
But their domination meant their inaccuracy did not matter — North won the inside 50s by a whopping 64-35.
Reid, who suffered a quad injury earlier this year, impressed last week in his AFL return.
But he grabbed at his right calf after a marking contest — he did not appear to be kicked or knocked — and Reid knew straight away that he was done.
With midfielder Ben Cunnington continuing his outstanding season and defenders Sam Durdin and Robbie Tarrant rock-solid, North steadily took control.
The lead changed for the fifth and final time halfway through the second term and Collingwood only kicked one more goal for the game.
North ruckman Todd Goldstein split his duel with Brodie Grundy and given the supreme form of the Magpies big man this season, that was as good as a win for the Kangaroos.
One small piece of good news for Collingwood was defender Matthew Scharenberg, who was a late inclusion in his return from a knee reconstruction.
He came in for James Aish, who has hamstring soreness.
Eagles hold their nerve to beat Hawks
West Coast have celebrated Nic Naitanui's long-awaited return with a thrilling six-point win over Hawthorn at a cold and wet MCG.
Brad Sheppard kicked a critical point to level the scores late in on Saturday afternoon's frantic final term and Jamie Cripps booted the winner with just over a minute left to seal a gutsy 11.11 (77) to 9.17 (71) win in front of 31,895 fans.
The Hawks were brave, erasing a game-high 21-point deficit to lead by eight late in the last quarter, but Jack Darling bagged his fifth goal in an eye-catching display to set up the stunning final minutes.
In his first senior game since rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament in round 17 last year, Naitanui moved well and finished with six possessions and 41 hitouts.
Luke Shuey (39 possessions) and Andrew Gaff (34) were typically busy on the ball, with Shannon Hurn important down back.
Jaeger O'Meara starred for the Hawks with 36 touches, Jarman Impey was influential across half-back and James Frawley kept Josh Kennedy goalless.
The slippery ball didn't appear to bother Darling in the opening term, the big Eagles' forward booting all three of his side's goals as they edged to a two-point lead at the first break.
O'Meara was busy from the outset and continued to rack up possessions but West Coast put a gap on the Hawks, kicking the only three goals of the second quarter in a 10-minute burst that extended their advantage to 20 points at half-time.
The Eagles were a player down in the second half after Mark Hutchings injured a hamstring and his exit coincided with a Hawks resurgence.
James Worpel was instrumental with 11 disposals and a goal in a third quarter during which Hawthorn had twice as many inside 50s as the visitors.
Debutant Oliver Hanrahan gave the Hawks the lead with his first AFL goal, his side up by five points heading into the final term.
West Coast snatched back the lead with the first two goals, but Ricky Henderson and Daniel Howe answered before Adam Simpson's men willed themselves to a famous win.
Swans overcome injuries to beat the Suns
Sydney Swans have clambered to 11th spot on the ladder, overcoming a shoulder injury to Callum Sinclair and Lance Franklin's absence to beat Gold Coast by 42 points in a bruising battle at the SCG.
The Swans' first goal in Saturday's low-scoring scrap didn't come until the 15th minute but they showed enough desperation, led by co-captains Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker in the middle, and enough adaptability, via Aliir Aliir, to triumph easily after a slow start.
The hosts busted the turnover-laden contest open with four goals to one in the third term, eventually prevailing 14.9 (93) to 7.9 (51).
Sinclair appeared to dislocate his shoulder in the opening minute of the game while being tackled to the ground by Will Brodie.
The resilient ruckman returned to the field late in the first quarter but trudged off in the arms of trainers at quarter-time, having seemingly dislocated the same shoulder again, and played no further part in the match.
It means mid-year draftee Michael Knoll will likely make his AFL debut next week, when the Swans' push for an unlikely finals spot continues against Essendon at the MCG.
But at the SCG, it meant chaos in the coaches' box, where John Longmire was forced to reshuffle his magnets.
Aliir was shifted from defence into the middle, where he was predictably smashed in ruck contests by Suns skipper Jarrod Witts (55 hitouts) but booted a goal and helped the Swans to shift momentum.
Sam Reid, one of five Swans forwards to boot two goals, also spent a lot of time in the ruck.
Returning young gun Tom McCartin, who Longmire had backed to fill the void left by hamstrung superstar Franklin's enforced omission, was redeployed as a backman and did well to cover Aliir's absence.
Instead, Reid, Nick Blakey, Tom Papley, Ben Ronke and Isaac Heeney combined for 10 goals as a delighted Franklin watched on from the box.
George Hewett, Jordan Dawson and Zak Jones were all influential for the hosts in an at-times spiteful affair.
The head and ribs of Blakey, who last week became the Swans' first Rising Star nominee of 2019, were crunched by Witts in a brutal first-quarter marking contest that the match review officer would be likely scrutinise.
Several Swans remonstrated with Witts after he floored the 19-year-old, who regained composure and kicked the subsequent goal.
Colin O'Riordan copped an accidental elbow to the jaw from David Swallow late in the fourth quarter but the Irishman returned to the park.
AFL ladder
AAP
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, fitzroy-3065, north-melbourne-3051, collingwood-3066, qld, carrara-4211, wa, perth-6000, hawthorn-3122, vic, sydney-2000, nsw, adelaide-5000, alberton-5014, sa, australia
First posted