Facts and Figures
Average Score: 77.71 points per team, only five of 14 teams scored more than 87 points.
Average Winning Margin: 19.71 points per game, even though there was only one of seven games that was decided by a single figure margin.
Teams with a bye: Adelaide Crows, Essendon, Sydney Swans, West Coast Eagles
Points of Interest
Alex Pearce (Fremantle Dockers) played his 150th game.
Jack Lever (Melbourne Demons) played his 200th game and Daniel Turner played his 50th game.
Lawson Humphries (Geelong Cats) and Shaun Mannagh played their 50th game.
Nick Holman (Gold Coast Suns) played his 150th game.
George Wardlaw (North Melbourne) played his 50th game.
Gold Coast Suns have lost four games in a row.
Mitch Georgiades (Port Adelaide) has kicked at least one goal in 36 consecutive games.
Scoreboard flattered Cats
Fremantle Dockers (99) v Geelong Cats (90)
Nitty Gritty: Jack Martin kicked two goals in the first quarter and Oliver Wiltshire kicked two. Fremantle Dockers should’ve been winning, but trailed by nine points at half time due to poor goal kicking. The Dockers should’ve won be more; they had 29 scoring shots, nine more than the Cats.
Fremantle Dockers Difference Maker: Luke Jackson
Geelong Cats Difference Maker: Connor O’Sullivan
Rollercoaster of a game
Gold Coast Suns (97) v Hawthorn (113)
Nitty Gritty: Gold Coast Suns kicked three of the first four goals of the game. Hawthorn kicked the next seven goals of the game, only for the Suns to respond with five in a row, in a game was full of momentum switches. Hawthorn got the job done when the game was on the line.
Gold Coast Suns Difference Maker: Noah Anderson
Hawthorn Difference Maker: Will Day
Crows show character against Demons
Adelaide Crows (79) v Melbourne Demons (62)
Nitty Gritty: Melbourne Demons kicked five goals in the first quarter, with three kicked by Jacob van Rooyen, while Adelaide Crows kicked just three goals from seven scoring shots, that meant the Demons had an eight-point lead at quarter time. Despite controlling the second quarter, the Demons failed to kick a goal from their six scoring shots, which was probably the difference in the game.
Adelaide Crows Difference Maker: Sam Berry
Melbourne Demons Difference Maker: Max Gawn
Carlton simply too good for Giants
GWS Giants (65) v Carlton (88)
Nitty Gritty: Both teams were inaccurate in front of goal in the first quarter. Carlton controlled the balance of play for the most part in the second quarter, but only led by 11 points at half time, even though they had six more scoring shots than the Giants for the half. The third quarter was an arm wrestle, but in the fourth quarter Carlton were simply too good.
GWS Giants Difference Maker: Conor Stone
Carlton Difference Maker: George Hewett
Pies bank the four points
Collingwood (78) v Port Adelaide (51)
Nitty Gritty: Port Adelaide started the game well, while Collingwood were all at sea until Jordan De Goey kicked two goals in a row when the game was on the line in the second quarter. The game was soured by three injuries to Port Adelaide, that included Esava Ratugolea, who still had the equal most intercept possessions.
Collingwood Difference Maker: Jordan De Goey
Port Adelaide Difference Maker: Esava Ratugolea
North Melbourne grab win in scrappy game
Richmond (48) v North Melbourne (73)
Nitty Gritty: The first quarter was low scoring with both teams only kicking one goal each. It wasn’t the prettiest game of footy. Cooper Trembath kicked more than three goals for the first time in his career and was good when he played in the ruck. Noah Balta kicked two goals in a row in the fourth quarter to give Richmond some hope.
Richmond Difference Maker: Noah Balta
North Melbourne Difference Maker: Cooper Trembath
Western Bulldogs too classy
St Kilda (61) v Western Bulldogs (83)
Nitty Gritty: Will Lewis kicked the first two goals of the game. Western Bulldogs kicked four of the five goals in the second quarter. Unfortunately for St Kilda, they suffered three injuries, including their co-captain Jack Sinclair and ruckman Tom De Koning.
St Kilda Difference Makers: Bradley Hill, Nasiah Wanganeen-MIlera
Western Bulldogs Difference Makers: Marcus Bontempelli, Buku Khamis