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Carlton reasserts itself as a premiership contender, Hawthorn continues an incredible run of form, and alarm bells continue ringing for Melbourne.
Here are the talking points from Round 13 in the AFL.
1. A few returning Tigers make a massive difference
It's easy to talk about injuries at Richmond without fully grasping the tangible impact they have on the team. Thursday night certainly helped with that.
In a game that was to be decided first by little bits of class and quality and then by pressure and physicality around the ball, the Tigers had the three perfect incomings in Dion Prestia, Shai Bolton and Tim Taranto.
The Crows find their season over at round 13 for a number of reasons, among them their lack of pure ball winners in midfield and their lack of creativity outside of the also-absent Izak Rankine. It was in those areas that the Tigers got on top and eventually won the game.
Bolton and Liam Baker proved to be the livewires the game needed and the Crows couldn't match, and when it became tough and tight in the last quarter, Taranto was particularly good.
This is just a taste of what Richmond could be with something closer to a full complement available. Judging them fairly in Adem Yze's first season is going to be near enough to impossible, but seeing wins like this and a few young players excelling — among them Tom Brown and Seth Campbell — is enough to offer some hope for the rebuilding years ahead.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Noah Balta (Richmond)
2. Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
1. Shai Bolton (Richmond)
(Votes are compiled by the ABC Sport radio commentary team after each match)
2. Lions make a midfield statement
Lachie Neale said himself after the game — Brisbane's midfield has a happy knack of lifting itself for games against the other dominant midfields in the competition.
Neale called the Bulldogs' on-ball brigade the most talented in the league. It must have felt good doing so immediately after systematically tearing them apart for four straight quarters.
The Bulldogs were clearly aware that things were going wrong during the game but proved powerless to stop them. Jarrod Berry's job on Marcus Bontempelli was crucial and impressive, and that sort of defensive work wasn't matched by the Lions' opponents.
It allowed Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley freedom to dominate and create. And, in stark contrast to too many previous Lions games this year, the Brisbane forward line was willing and able to take the chances presented to them. Eric Hipwood looked revitalised on Friday night and when he is at his athletic, electric best the Lions are an entirely different proposition.
But in addressing the Lions mids' propensity to rise to the occasions this year, Neale also recognised they haven't been able to sustain that level week on week. If they now can, after their second bye of the year, they aren't yet out of the finals picture.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
2. Eric Hipwood (Brisbane)
1. Jarrod Berry (Brisbane)
3. The young Hawks continue taking major steps
A key factor that often brings young teams undone is a simple lack of ability to close out tight games.
Last year, the Hawks played in four matches where the final margin was in single digits and lost three of them, including a two-point nailbiter to the GWS Giants.
This time around, Sam Mitchell's side held its nerve against a team that many consider to be a bona fide premiership contender, to come away with a well-deserved four points. As the minutes dwindled down on the clock, it was telling that the Hawks seemed more clear-headed compared to their experienced opponents.
Every time the Giants looked ready to kick away, there were the Hawks, clawing their way back into the game. Even in a first half where they couldn't kick straight, you couldn't question the effort of Hawthorn's players one bit.
This is a team that has fully bought into what Mitchell is selling them, and it's a sight to behold for the outside fan, and downright exciting if you're a Hawthorn fan.
Hawthorn's efforts against the Giants were led by a 23-year-old Will Day, a 21-year-old Connor MacDonald, who nailed two crucial fourth-quarter goals, and a 20-year-old swingman in Josh Weddle. All three will go from strength to strength in the coming years.
The win over the Giants made it five in six starts for Mitchell's side, with the sole loss that unlikely heist from Port Adelaide where the Hawks copped two goals inside the final minute. The run might not be enough to make the finals this year, but make no mistake about it, Mitchell's Hawks are on their way.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Will Day (Hawthorn)
2. Connor MacDonald (Hawthorn)
1. Xavier O'Halloran (GWS)
4. North maximise their advantages and reap the rewards
Coming into Saturday's game in Perth, North Melbourne would have been acutely aware of three things — they would have a midfield advantage over West Coast, Nick Larkey would need a blinder against the Eagles' defence and this was as good a chance as they would get all year to win.
All three of those came to fruition, and were the biggest reasons why the Kangaroos were singing the song after the game for the first time this year.
For three quarters, North Melbourne's midfield embarrassed West Coast. Without Harley Reid and Tim Kelly, the Eagles were slow, soft and utterly demolished by the Roos, who took full advantage in a blistering third term.
The Eagles enjoyed an advantage in the key positions, aside from the looming threat of Larkey, who took every chance that came his way to put six goals on the otherwise strong Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass.
And even when it was all coming undone and it looked like the moment had passed in the last quarter, the Roos rallied for one final push, perhaps knowing it was now or never. On the brink of disaster, North were dragged over the line by Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke.
They had to do it the hard way, but in a sense, that made it even sweeter for the Kangas.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Jy Simpkin (North Melbourne)
2. Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne)
1. Nick Larkey (North Melbourne)
5. Suns go down as AFL admits to wrong call on free kick
The AFL's admission a late free kick should not have been paid against Gold Coast's Mac Andrew will be cold comfort for the Suns.
The controversial free was given after an off-the-ball incident involving Andrew and St Kilda's Max King in the shadows of full-time.
King was handed a regulation shot on goal that he made no mistake with to clinch a three-point victory for the Saints at Docklands on Saturday night.
After the match, Suns coach Damien Hardwick said the free was "unwarranted", while his Saints counterpart, Ross Lyon, was reluctant to weigh in.
But Lyon made the point the Saints should never have found themselves trailing the Suns late in the match and needing King's goal to get over the line.
"Our inability to cash in was incredibly frustrating and left the door ajar for them," Lyon told his post-match media conference.
"It could have gone either way in the end but I would have been devastated if we had have lost that game because I didn't think we should have been in that position."
The win has the Saints in 14th place on the ladder, six points outside the top eight.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Marcus Windhager (St Kilda)
2. Sam Flanders (Gold Coast)
1. Dan Butler (St Kilda)
6. Sydney's three-headed midfield monster dominates again
It is hard to see just how Sydney will be stopped from winning the premiership this year.
If a hot start is the key to doing it, Geelong had the perfect opportunity on Sunday afternoon.
In scenes that resembled the Cats' 81-point win over the Swans in the 2022 grand final, Geelong stormed out of the gates at the SCG, kicking the first six goals of the contest.
Sydney's response to the early run was downright terrifying.
In the space of 10 minutes, the Swans whittled down virtually Geelong's entire 35-point lead, before eventually running out to a comfortable 30-point win.
The chief destroyers were once again Errol Gulden, Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner.
Teams all around the competition are crying out for goal-kicking midfielders. It is perhaps the position that is the hardest to fill on the ground.
The fact that the Swans have three such players seems downright unfair.
Sydney's midfield triumvirate finished the contest with a combined 89 disposals, 14 clearances, five goals and a whopping 1,761 metres gained.
Off-season acquisition Brodie Grundy was also central to the Swans' dominance, finishing with 24 disposals and 34 hit-outs, most of which were straight down the throats of his midfield running mates. Good luck stopping that.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Errol Gulden (Sydney)
2. Brodie Grundy (Sydney)
1. Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
7. Young Bombers taught a lesson by ruthless Blues
Essendon has been one of the biggest surprise packets so far this season, but on Sunday, Brad Scott's side was taught a lesson by a more experienced and finals-hardened outfit.
In what loomed as a blockbuster match-up, the young Bombers were simply outclassed by a more ruthless and professional Carlton outfit.
The Bombers may have gone down by 26 points, but Scott can't be questioning the effort his men put forward. The execution, on the other hand, left something to be desired.
Essendon easily won the inside 50 count on the night (60-40), but saw little reward for its territorial dominance due to haphazard forward line entries.
In contrast, Carlton was absolutely clinical going forward, finishing the game with an inside 50 percentage of 62.5 compared to Essendon's 45.
After struggling to close out games 12 months ago, Carlton responded extremely well to Essendon's third-quarter challenge, killing the game off in the fourth quarter by kicking four goals in the first 10 minutes of the quarter.
Michael Voss will also be extremely encouraged by the fact that the win came despite Patrick Cripps (19 disposals) and Sam Walsh (22 disposals) being well-held by the Bombers.
With the star duo kept under wraps, the Blues were buoyed by young duo Elijah Hollands (19 disposals, three goals) and Tom De Koning (23 disposals, 11 clearances).
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Tom De Koning (Carlton)
2. Elijah Hollands (Carlton)
1. Nic Martin (Essendon)
8. Undermanned Magpies shine as Demons' slide continues
For a match billed as a clash between premiership contenders, the King's Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne was underwhelming, to say the least.
Collingwood kicked the first four goals of the match and the result was virtually sealed by half-time courtesy of Melbourne's poor kicking at goal.
The Demons did a lot right in the first half and deserved to be closer than the 27-point half-time deficit suggested, but as we've often seen in football, there is no point dominating all the key stats if you can't put the ball through the big sticks.
Time and time again, the Demons sprayed gettable set shot opportunities. The usually-reliable Bayley Fritsch finished the match kicking 1.4, and that output was Melbourne's afternoon in a nutshell.
Often there are things that happen in a game that suggest it's just not your afternoon, and Melbourne players hitting the post on four different occasions is one of those things.
That's not to take away from what a brilliant result this was for a Collingwood side that is still without some of its key pieces, namely Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury, Brody Mihocek and Jamie Elliott, just to name a few.
It is a testament to the system that Craig McRae has built in his two-and-a-half seasons in charge that players such as Nathan Kreuger can come out of the wilderness and take centre stage on occasions such as these.
In a real workmanlike win, it was fitting that the ultimate workhorse, Jack Crisp, won the Neale Daniher Trophy for the best on ground after finishing the match with 27 disposals, six clearances and 576 metres gained.
Collingwood has blown extremely hot and cold this season, perhaps dealing with a bit of a premiership hangover when it started the year 0-3.
However, if there is one team that the ladder-leading Sydney Swans will not want to face in the finals, it is these Magpies.
ABC Sport player of the year votes:
3. Jack Crisp (Collingwood)
2. Josh Daicos (Collingwood)
1. John Noble (Collingwood)