A round full of blockbusters, rivalries, and coaches on the ropes, Round 8 delivered some memorable battles.
There’s a new ladder leader and seemingly a new premiership favourite at the end of every week. Each week, we put it all together in the five-leg multi of hindsight we like to call AFL Five Lessons Learned.
1. The Pride of South Australia
Similar story for Port Adelaide, unable to stand up in big games, and the Crows walk away the pride of South Australia for the third consecutive game.
5.18 was certainly no help for the Power, and the Crows did what they do best, catch you on turnover and put the jets on in transition.
It was a fitting performance to honour a club legend in Rory Sloane, who retired effective immediately during the week.
All questions were on Connor Rozee and his hamstring niggles leading into the battle, and it was without doubt a bad decision as the star midfielder spent his second half on the bench.
Izak Rankine got going with three goals and it was the tall timber in Darcy Fogarty who set the tone early on with the first two goals.
The Power’s disposal efficiency was poor at 64.6% and even with the dominance in offense, they still struggled to break the game open.
Questions continue to pile on Ken Hinkley, who should be seeing the door with the lack of big-time stature the Power has.
The Crows keep knocking on the door, but they still have a lot of work to do to be considered again.
The Showdown rivalry in primetime is a site to behold, and as the ledger moves to 28-27 in favour of the Crows, hard to see this fixture being shifted off primetime slots anytime soon.
2. Party Pies
Collingwood didn’t like the thought of the Blues becoming the new clutch kings, and took matters into their own hands, at least Nick did.
The Blues looked close to breaking open the game in the second quarter, but no matter how far out they got, inevitably it was going to end up in a thriller.
After the Pies were kept goalless in the third quarter, they came out with two quick ones to start the fourth, before the Blues fired back to level the scores at 79 a-piece.
Harry McKay will be ruing his missed opportunity to find Charlie Curnow one-on-one with three minutes to go, which was the Blues last genuine chance of the game.
Then with a bit of magic, it was a Nick Daicos goal that sent the Magpie Army up for their loudest roar of the night, sealing the game with one minute remaining.
The Blues have continued to get beaten by speed on turnover and it is an issue the Blues need to fix to be considered genuine premiership favourites.
The Pies shared it around and were clinical with some special moments late. Their season is well and truly back on track, and with a date against the Eagles next Sunday, the top four looms.
3. Taking the W out of GWS
In a quick-changing market of premiership favourites, the Swans have certainly put their hands up in the category with a convincing win against the Swans.
The Giants got off to a strong start, heading into quarter time with a 15-point lead, although the concerns were on Tom Green and his ankle, which seem to have been cleared by the Giants.
The contest intensified after Callum Brown’s bump on Tom McCartin, and when the rain started to pour, things turned the way of the Swans.
Amartey and Gulden were slick and composed with some neat snaps to break the game open, and it was the smarts of Will Hayward that helped him soccer in an early one in the third.
The pressure gauge was off the charts for the Swans, who were relentless in their forward half against the Giants.
The Swans at the SCG are near unbeatable, and if they’re eyeing a top-two finish, it’s hard to see who will stop them en route to a Grand Final.
New South Wales bragging rights for the Swans and a quieter for the Giants media team.
4. Dee-feated
The Demons keep hiding under the radar as one of the premiership contenders, and with good reason, as they knocked off the undefeated Cats on Saturday night.
It was one of those nights for Geelong who couldn’t capitalise the simplest of kicks late in the game, but they were due a loss at some point.
The Dees were relentless at the contest and there was a stark contrast in the way both sides wanted to play.
There were 14 consecutive behinds kicked between the two teams which lasted the end of the first, the whole second, and the start of the third before Kade Chandler put an end to it and opened the game up.
The floodgates opened after that point, and the small forwards got to work, as Stengle kicked a stunner, and Geelong local Jhye Clark kicked his first goal for his boyhood club.
Every time the Demons seemed like they broke the game open in the fourth, the Cats kept answering back, and it took a passionate Caleb Windsor to reduce the margin for error significantly for the Cats.
Zach Guthrie was electric for the Cats, and his offensive presence was huge in the second half to keep the Cats in it.
It took some Bailey Frtisch brilliance to shut the door on the Cats with a neatly slotted dribble kick, which sees the Dees move to 6-2 for the season.
5. Time to go, Bevo.
The walls are collapsing on the Western Bulldogs, who yet again have made themselves the laughingstock of the competition with a narrow loss to the rebuilding Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
The cycle of disappointment feels never-ending for the Dogs supporters, who see their side, stacked with talent, beat a decent side, and then fail to build a team rebuilding, and still far off it.
The Dogs have come across the same issues for so long, and whilst certain players don’t look committed to contested footy, the coaching has let this team down for the last few years.
The Hawks brought the physicality and pressure, and it was impactful, draining the Dogs who were inefficient inside 50, relying on their high possession midfielders to make the ball move.
Some poor defensive accountability left the door open on several occasions for the Hawks and they were able to keep separation on the scoreboard.
20 more turnovers for the game and another hard-hit reality check, something needs to change at the Dogs.
Possibly one of the most underwhelming sides over the last three years?