Paul Seedsman continued his stellar season for the Crows on Sunday against Melbourne at the MCG. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

FULL BACKS

Luke Ryan (Fremantle)
Ryan was just about impassable in the Fremantle defence against West Coast. The reigning All-Australian controlled the back half, continually picking off the Eagles’ forward ventures to finish with 26 disposals, 10 marks, 11 rebound 50s and 664 metres gained. Another excellent outing from one of Justin Longmuir’s most dependable performers.

Tim O’Brien (Hawthorn)
The sometimes-maligned Tim O’Brien has been thrown around the ground across his career, including within the current season, but the move down back looks to suit his skill set. He was excellent on the weekend, making the most of the Dogs’ odd lack of height up forward to zone off cleverly and take plenty of nice grabs.

Darcy Byrne-Jones (Port Adelaide)
A very solid return to form for the rebounding defender, who was back to his hard-running, impactful best with 27 disposals in Port Adelaide’s annihilation of an undermanned Carlton. Byrne-Jones was too quick for the Blues’ lacklustre defensive running, getting up the ground to deliver the ball inside 50 on six occasions.

HALF BACKS

Jack Sinclair (St Kilda)
Sinclair has been one of the shining lights for St Kilda this season and a big improver in a new role. He continued his consistent form against the Cats on their home deck, contributing well across four quarters. He’s always shown an ability to be clean with the footy, but the tough edge he’s added to his game was very much on show.

Aliir Aliir (Port Adelaide)
This is now back-to-back best-on-ground performances from Aliir, who has thrust his name back into All-Australian contention. Take the jumpers off and you’d think he played for the Blues with the way they were just picking him out with the ball use inside 50, but it’s all due to his elite positioning and reading of the play. Another whopping 14 intercept possessions, from 19 in total.

Nick Hind (Essendon)
The Bombers’ bargain gun recruit was electric against Gold Coast, with his speed, and impressive ability to deliver the ball at extreme pace, proving too much for the Suns to handle. Hind also did good work behind the footy with 12 intercepts, slotted a nice goal that showcased all of his assets, and hit 30 disposals for just the second time in his career.

CENTRES

Karl Amon (Port Adelaide)
An equal-round high 10 inside 50s for Port’s star wingman, who owned the annexes of Adelaide Oval and accumulated the footy with maximum impact. Among his 30 disposals he also added 11 score involvements, and a career-high seven clearances – a very impressive number for an outside midfielder.

Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
What a performance from the second-year midfielder. Serong, who has stepped up and flourished as a permanent midfielder in the absence of Nat Fyfe, was a deserved winner of the Glendinning-Allen Medal after he collected 31 touches in a massive game against West Coast. The second of his two goals was not only a brilliant matchwinner, but may be the clubhouse leader for goal of the year.

Paul Seedsman (Adelaide)
Seedsman just keeps on getting it done as one of the most improved players in the league and one of the Crows’ most consistent. His damaging performance off the wing, with 10 inside 50s and 10 score involvements, was a big reason why the Crows were competitive and stayed in the game as long as they did.

HALF FORWARDS

Tim Taranto (GWS)
Taranto returned to the forward line after a strong game on the ball last week, but had much more impact playing deep than he had in previous attempts. He was devastating in the first half, effectively ending the game by the main break and showing an impressive array of skills to boot four goals with different methods.

Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)
The first game back after a long lay-off for Cameron, and he hit the ground running with a strong effort. He slowed down a bit after half-time as Tom Hawkins became the Cats’ main target, but his goal just before the first break – and then his brilliant second-quarter performance – was absolutely essential when the game looked to be slipping away.

Jake Stringer (Essendon)
The great redemptive third act of Jake Stringer’s career rolls on, with the brilliant forward/clearance machine kicking a bag of five goals for the first time as a Bomber. He started the game off with a huge goal from 50 metres, and then carried on with a best-on-ground performance, popping up as he has done repeatedly with steadying goals in crucial moments.

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FORWARDS

Bayley Fritsch (Melbourne)
A career-best haul for Bayley Fritsch, who booted seven goals without missing against the Crows, including the Demons last five of the match. He can mark on the lead as well as any player his size, but also he laid some big tackles and passed beautifully to teammates when the goals were out of reach.

Joe Daniher (Brisbane)
Daniher has now played two excellent games in a row in two massive wins, something that will be of great comfort to Brisbane fans. He is still capable of a shank or two, but he marked brilliantly against the Magpies, and managed to find the gap between big sticks on three occasions, and gave off two more.

Charlie Cameron (Brisbane)
An equal career-high six goals from Cameron, and his best haul in two years. He hit the scoreboard in all the ways you’d expect – marking well on the lead, crumbing and snapping, and working hard into space. After a tenuous few weeks, the Brisbane forward line is absolutely humming again.

FOLLOWERS

Tom Hickey (Sydney)
The highly-regarded Swans ruckman enjoyed a good battle with Kangaroos champion Todd Goldstein, ultimately going down in the hitouts but outplaying his opponent around the ground and winning three centre clearances to zero. As he has all year, Hickey looked adept getting involved in Sydney’s link-up play, and also ended the game with an impressive five inside 50s.

Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
After what sounded like a pretty nasty throat injury early in the match last week, Dangerfield did well just to make it back for this game, let alone play as well as he did. After a shaky start for the Cats, Dangerfield took over the contest and ended with nine clearances and 24 contested possessions from 31 in total.

Josh Kelly (GWS)
A big week for Kelly, with the news that he had re-signed at GWS for eight years followed by a dominant midfield performance in a must-win match against the reigning premiers. The stand-in skipper had all aspects of the game covered, racking up 32 disposals, laying 11 tackles, and clocking 500 metres gained with stand-out class.

INTERCHANGE

Dayne Zorko (Brisbane)
Yet another monster game from the Brisbane captain, whose footy this season has been just as strong and dynamic as at any point in his career. He bulldozed the Collingwood midfield on Saturday night, finishing with an imposing stat line of 27 touches, 10 inside 50s, nine tackles, and three goal assists.

Will Hayward (Sydney)
With Lance Franklin out and Tom Papley working his way through close attention from Kayne Turner, Hayward became the Swans’ main man up forward against North Melbourne and did a fantastic job. He could have ended up with a bag, but three goals is a good return, and he marked well both in the air and on the lead.

Daniel Howe (Hawthorn)
With so many experienced players missing, particularly in the midfield where the Bulldogs are so strong, this was a wonderfully-timed career-best game from Daniel Howe. Howe, who has been in and out of the side right throughout his career, performed brilliantly on the inside and outside of contests, comfortably outplaying his highly-lauded opponents.

Sam Menegola (Geelong)
Menegola’s best games seem to cover all bases, with his strong balance of skill, toughness and aerobic capacity meaning that he can contribute in a multitude of ways. This was very much the case against St Kilda, where he was just shaded by Dangerfield for best-on-ground honours after a 35-disposal game in which he also hit the scoreboard and provided three goal assists.

STIFF TO MISS
David Mundy (Fremantle), Luke Parker (Sydney), Sam Draper (Essendon), Darcy Parish (Essendon), Chad Wingard (Hawthorn), Charlie Dixon (Port Adelaide), Rory Sloane (Adelaide), Jack Redden (West Coast), Max Gawn (Melbourne), Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs)