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The Bulldogs shock the ladder-leading Cats, the Eagles humiliate the Dockers in the Western Derby, while the Power celebrate a Showdown win, and the Bombers and Tigers enjoy victories.
Naughton stars as Bulldogs upset Cats
The AFL premiership race has taken another twist, with the resurgent Western Bulldogs stunning ladder leaders Geelong by 16 points at Docklands.
Young gun Aaron Naughton booted two clutch majors in Saturday night's final quarter, as the Bulldogs stormed from behind to prevail 10.11 (71) to 7.13 (55) and keep their finals hopes alive.
Naughton finished with four goals and broke what had been a scrappy encounter wide open, while star midfielder Marcus Bontempelli was sublime with 27 disposals, six inside 50s and a goal.
The Cats remain a win clear at the top of the ladder but have lost two of their past three matches, having also fallen to Port Adelaide in round 14.
They became the latest premiership contender to fall after Collingwood's second-straight loss and Essendon's upset of GWS in round 15.
The result lifts the Bulldogs to 11th on the ladder and they sit just four points shy of the top eight, having built on last week's impressive away win over Port Adelaide.
The Cats led for much of the match but looked a long way off their best and began to lose the midfield battle in the third quarter.
Cats coach Chris Scott sent superstar forward Gary Ablett into the middle at the start of the fourth term, but the Bulldogs won the centre clearance and drew first blood through Naughton.
Bontempelli was pivotal in helping his side snatch the lead, first converting from a mark one-out in the goal square before setting up Naughton's fourth goal.
Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins's late major gave the Cats some hope, but they did not have the legs to match the inspired Bulldogs.
Key defenders Tom Stewart and Harry Taylor were influential for the Cats in a low-scoring clash riddled with errors from both sides.
Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield gathered 23 disposals and two goals, showing no ill effects from the heavy knock to the hip he copped during last week's win over Adelaide.
The Cats went a man down when Jake Kolodjashnij was concussed by an inadvertent knee to the head from teammate Jordan Clark in a first-quarter marking contest.
Geelong host St Kilda next Saturday night at Kardinia Park, while the Bulldogs will prepare for a Sunday clash with Melbourne at Docklands.
Eagles embarrass Dockers in Western Derby
The 50th Western Derby has turned into a dirty night for Fremantle, with Nic Naitanui, Andrew Gaff, Jarrod Cameron and Shannon Hurn running rampant in West Coast's 91-point thrashing in Perth.
Naitanui put on a rucking masterclass to help guide the Eagles to the 19.8 (122) to 2.19 (31) win, with the reigning premiers booting 12 consecutive goals after quarter-time.
Third-gamer Jarrod Cameron booted four goals during the scoring run and crowd enemy Andrew Gaff tallied 34 disposals for the match while being loudly booed for each touch.
But West Coast's dominance could be traced back to Naitanui, whose deft ruck taps and bullocking attacks on the ball proved crucial.
The Eagles scored eight goals to nil during a second-quarter demolition, four of them coming from centre-square clearances.
Naitanui, playing just his second AFL match since recovering from a second knee reconstruction, was just as lethal at ground level as he was in the air.
The 29-year-old produced a sublime one-handed pick-up in the wet before firing off a handball while being tackled by two players to set up a goal for Cameron in the second term.
And Naitanui twice dived on the turf to keep the ball moving forward to help set up Cameron's fourth in the third term.
Naitanui finished with 23 hitouts, 14 disposals, three score assists and six clearances — but the stats did not quite do him justice.
Cameron, Jack Darling and Jamie Cripps booted four goals apiece.
Eagles defender Brad Sheppard (25 disposals, seven marks, 11 rebound 50s) won the Glendinning-Allan medal as best afield.
Amazingly, Fremantle won the inside 50s count 60-50.
The Dockers' poor forays forward were continually picked off by intercept stars Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass, Shannon Hurn and Sheppard.
Fremantle's horrible goalkicking also made for ugly viewing in front of 56,358 spectators.
The win means the Eagles (11-4) leapfrog Collingwood into second spot ahead of Friday's grand final re-match.
Fremantle (7-8) slip to 10th spot, with their three-match losing streak leaving them a win adrift of eighth spot.
West Coast were dealt a blow before the match when star forward Josh Kennedy was ruled out with illness.
But his absence was barely felt as the Eagles booted 10.7 from 25 inside 50s in the first half.
Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe suffered a scare when he came off in the second term nursing a right shoulder injury, but he was able to return.
Power hammer Crows to earn Showdown bragging rights
The Power have beaten cross-town rivals the Crows by 57 points in their Showdown encounter at Adelaide Oval.
A third-term battering of the Crows set up the Power's comprehensive 15.11 (101) to 5.14 (44) win.
The brilliant Robbie Gray engineered a five-goal burst in 11 minutes, as the Power replaced the Crows in seventh spot on the ladder.
Gray collected 35 disposals, including 10 and four clearances in the third-quarter blitz.
The Power led by three points at half-time against a wasteful Adelaide, who kicked 4.11 for the half.
Crows captain Taylor Walker then sank a long two-step snap within 15 seconds of the third quarter — ultimately Adelaide's final goal of the match.
From then, the Power kicked nine consecutive goals in a spree triggered by ruckman Scott Lycett's superb 40-metre goal on the gallop.
Lycett's team-lifter was followed by first-year forward Connor Rozee springing to life with two goals, as the Power piled on five goals in 11 minutes.
The Power's three-time club champion Gray was instrumental, with Tom Rockliff (36 disposals) and co-captain Ollie Wines (33 disposals) forming a dominant midfield.
Riley Bonner (27 touches) and Darcy Byrne-Jones (31 possessions) offered great drive from defence and Justin Westhoff (23 disposals and one goal) was prominent.
The Power's Brad Ebert was superb with three goals in attack, alongside Sam Gray and Dougal Howard who kicked two apiece.
The Crows' surrender before 50,544 spectators came despite the efforts of Matt Crouch (29 disposals), Brodie Smith (25 touches) and Rory Laird (25 possessions).
Walker booted two goals but the Crows succumbed alarmingly easily in their second loss in a row.
Bombers leave it late to beat Swans
Essendon has overcome the late withdrawal of captain Dyson Heppell and a stern challenge by Sydney to score a gritty 10-point win at the MCG.
The Swans led by three points at three-quarter time, but the Bombers sprang to life to boot the first four goals of the final term to set up a 11.10 (76) to 9.12 (66) win in front of 60,199 spectators.
The victory was the resurgent Essendon's fourth in its past five matches and snapped a run of three wins for Sydney, whose last victory against the Bombers at the MCG was in 1923.
Heppell was ruled out with a sore foot before the opening bounce, but Dylan Shiel (29 possessions), Darcy Parish (22) and David Zaharakis (22 touches and three goals) stepped up in his absence.
Josh Kennedy was outstanding for the Swans with 35 disposals, as was Isaac Heeney with 33. But, with Lance Franklin still absent due to a hamstring injury, they struggled to find a focal point in attack.
Both sides were missing their number one ruckmen, with back-ups Zac Clarke and Aliir Aliir shouldering the burden at the stoppages.
Clarke had just one handball to three-quarter time, but redeemed himself to some extent in the final term when he provided a stronger presence.
He finished with five disposals and 25 hitouts, while Aliir had 17 touches and 22 hitouts.
Neither team appeared keen to take the game on early, with the Bombers edging to a five-point lead at the end of a first half that produced only seven goals in perfect conditions.
The Swans lifted the tempo in the third term and dominated the inside-50 count without taking full advantage on the scoreboard.
Sam Reid booted two goals for the quarter, but the Swans only had a three-point three-quarter time lead to show for all their momentum.
Essendon coach John Worsfold played his ace, sending Cale Hooker forward, but it was the Bombers' midfielders who gained the upper hand in the last quarter, with Shaun McKernan's second goal sparking the decisive scoring burst.
Tigers enjoy 92-point romp against Suns
A first-half blitz set up Richmond's 92-point thrashing of Gold Coast in Carrara.
The Tigers clinched a percentage-boosting win over the Suns, icing the result by leading 16.7 (103) to 3.1 (19) in an astonishing first half.
Sixth-placed Richmond then defied the wet conditions to cruise to a 23.12 (150) to 9.4 (58) victory, its second-straight win.
It was the Tigers' third-highest half-time score, just short of their record 17.9 (111) against North Melbourne in 1931.
The 84-point deficit was Richmond's second-biggest half-time lead, lifting its percentage from 95.3 to 102.4 in just two quarters.
It also marked the first time in seven years that an AFL team had racked up 100 points in a half.
In the end Richmond (9-6) boosted its percentage to 103.
Remarkably the Tigers had started the match with a percentage of 95.3, the worst of any team inside the top 13.
For the Tigers, Jason Castagna kicked five goals and had 10 marks and 18 touches. Former Suns skipper Tom Lynch kicked three goals, as did Kane Lambert.
Richmond will now be ideally placed to turn home and make a serious finals run, with its next seven matches at the MCG.
The one-sided result marked Gold Coast's 11th straight loss.
Richmond sounded its intentions when it kicked the first five goals from just six inside-50 entries.
The Tigers cruised to a 9.2 (56) to 2.1 (13) lead at the first break and somehow it got worse for the Suns, losing Will Powell to a right knee injury late in the opening term.
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AAP/ABC
Topics: sport, australian-football-league, melbourne-3000, carrara-4211, adelaide-5000, footscray-3011, essendon-3040, perth-6000
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