Geelong advanced by three points in the season’s game against Richmond and moved up to second place, while Carlton and Sydney’s winnings strengthened their strong positions.
Below you will find scores, statistics and results.
Cats have scratched around tigers in the game for ages
Geelong’s Jack Henry kicked the winner of the match to secure the Cats’ classic three-point victory over Richmond in one of the AFL season’s matches.
Leading by 35 points in the middle of the second quarter, the Cats’ advantage disappeared as Richmond revived at half-time and gained a 17-point bumper at the beginning of the last quarter on the MCG.
But the lead changed a few more times, Maurice Rioli Jr. calmly played a set-shot and there were two minutes left to get the Tigers back in the lead.
However, the Cats then set off from the middle passage with Henry, played their first match since the fifth round and flew high to gain a spectacular mark.
The 23-year-old returned from 15m to nail the 10th Cats victory of the season, with Geelong holding an exciting victory of 13.11 (89) to 13.8 (86) and jumping to second place in the standings.
Richmond bravely returned to the game after Geelong scored seven of the first nine goals, with the Tigers losing star midfielder Dion Prestia in the first quarter due to a concussion.
Prestia was stunned and confused after receiving a strong elbow from All-Australian Geelong defender Tom Stewart.
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The incident will certainly catch the attention of the match control officer and Stewart will face a large suspension for four weeks or more.
The Believers Tigers whistled at him every time he approached the ball, but he still played a key role in the Cats’ victory, including reaching a big feud near Richmond’s goals in the last seconds.
Cats star Jeremy Cameron has scored three goals in his 200th AFL match, as has revived little striker Tyson Stengle.
Behind the Tigers were excellent Shai Bolton and Tom Lynch with three goals.
The Geelong are home in quiet North Melbourne next Saturday night, while the Tigers return to MCG on Sunday to face West Coast wrestlers.
The swans keep in touch with the first four with the whipping of the Saints
Sydney consolidated their lead in first place eighth when they 51-point defeated the second candidate in the St Kilda final at SCG.
It was a powerful demonstration from the Swans, who dominated large parts of the match without bouncing it on the scoreboard, until they scored five unanswered goals in the third term and made a convincing triumph of 12.11 (83) to 4.8 (32).
While the victory raises the Swans to a 9-5 record, the Saints (8-6) have fallen to their third consecutive defeat and for the first time since the third round they have dropped out of the top eight.
Up to 12 teams are now fighting to advance to the finals. The loss of the Saints and their percentage hit draws their attention to them before the three matches that come against other opponents.
Jake Lloyd (39 eliminations), Nick Blakey (31, 560 m gain), Oliver Florent (27, one goal) and Callum Mills (24) added shine to the Swans performance, while Isaac Heeney showed three majors and Tom Papley kicked two.
Fringe midfielder Ryan Clarke played a key role for the Swans in the first minutes of the season after being a twice unused substitute, paying close attention in the form of Saints half-defender Jack Sinclair.
Clarke scored two goals in the first half, but limited Sinclair to just 17 eliminations, well below the 28 he averaged this season, helping to limit the Saints’ run and lead the defense.
Dylan Stephens was another unannounced swan that had an impact, the top of the 2019 draft, which was selected for its first match since the third round and garnered 23 knockouts in its career.
Saints captain Jack Steele fought hard in his first game since a shoulder injury in the ninth round, collecting 27 knockouts, while Sebastian Ross (31) and Rowan Marshall (23 touches, 39 hits) also contributed but had little support.
Max King also had an unusually quiet night, failing to score for the first time since the 11th round of last year because the Saints finished with the lowest score since 1957.
The Saints have now lost their last seven games against the Swans at the SCG, a series dating back to 2009.
Sydney won only four opening dates this season before adding another against the Saints, 3.1 to 1.2 in the first shift.
They were able to stretch this advantage to more than 16 points on the main break, but a wasteful 1.5 to 1.0 in a quarter helped keep the Saints in the competition.
But the Swans were able to make the most of their superiority in the second half and ran away from 31,513 fans in the seventh year of the annual Pride Game between teams.
St Kilda will have to bounce back quickly in a month that could be a defining month for the season, against other rivals for the final, he will face Carlton on Friday night, while Sydney will face Essendon on MCG the next day.
Blues back in business with victory over Freo
Carlton denied his decimated defense, beating Fremantle by 31 points and remaining firmly in the hunt for the top four of the AFL.
The Blues did not have many first-choice defenders and used Lewis Young and young Brodie Kemp in key positions.
But it didn’t matter, because Carlton, led by middle field master class Sam Walsh, overcame and beat Fremantl on the ground to win by 12.9 (81) to 7.8 (50).
Blues coach Michael Voss emphasized the focus on improving the Dockers in the competition, and Carlton did.
Walsh (40 eliminations, 11 inside-50s), Patrick Cripps and George Hewett were a force around the breaks, while Adam Saad (28 touches) was excellent on the half defender.
As a result, Carlton defeated the second Fremantle in controversial possessions, inspections and 50s, sealing one of his best victories of the season.
Charlie Curnow fought around Griffin Logue and scored four goals, while Harry McKay, Matt Cotterill and Lochie O’Brien pushed through with two majors each.
Will Brodie (36 eliminations) and James Aish (23 touches) impressed Fremantle, while Alex Pearce deployed McKay.
The Blues were forced to a late exchange after a warm-up, when deputy Jesse Motlop replaced Matt Owies (calf) and Will Setterfield appointed a medical deputy.
Fremantle jumped in quickly, scoring the opening three goals, and Matt Taberner and Rory Lobb were able to take advantage of the Blues’ stretched defense.
Carlton had the upper hand in most parts of the game, especially around the evacuation, but he was trying to break Fremantle’s organized defense.
McKay missed twice before beating Carlton for the first time at the end of the semester and reducing the quarter-time gap to nine points.
After the break, Carlton took full control and their weight of the inside 50 numbers won when Curnow took a direct kick near the goal and placed them ahead.
When Jack Newnes scored in his 200th match, all his teammates rushed to him and Blues soon increased their half-time lead to 15 points.
After the main break, Fremantle noticeably increased his intensity around the breaks and the forward pressure.
However, they had little to show their dominance in the third quarter and the Blues instead moved their lead to 20.
Curnow stabbed Dagger in Fremantle’s heart as he broke through and raised to 26 points five minutes before the deadline, and the Blues retained control from there.
Jordan Boyd (ankle) of Carlton was replaced by Setterfield late in the match.
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