Essendon’s Darcy Parish continued his scintillating breakout season against West Coast on Saturday. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

FULL BACKS

Jake Lever (Melbourne)
Lever is playing some seriously high-level footy at the moment, having accumulated more intercept possessions to this point of the season than anyone in the history of the game. He was at it again on Friday, picking off the Dogs’ pressured entries 13 times. Emerging before us as the leader and general of the best backline in the competition.

Tom Barrass (West Coast)
It wasn’t a perfect game from Barrass, who found himself embroiled in a few “Tom Barrass” moments that Eagles fans are all too familiar with, but his best work on the last line was incredibly influential, and he looked like the only Eagle with any zest in the last quarter. Kept Cale Hooker to two goals, and also had a round-high 13 spoils.

Jayden Laverde (Essendon)
A superb defensive effort on the in-form Jack Darling, keeping him to just three kicks and one goal (scored five minutes into the game). This is not the first time Laverde has been among his side’s best in his new role this year, which makes you wonder when Rutten identified this positional switch, and how long he’d been wanting to put it into action.

HALF BACKS

Isaac Quaynor (Collingwood)
One of the shining lights in a gloomy season for Collingwood has been the continued emergence of Isaac Quaynor off half back. His time spent playing as a lockdown defender has clearly held him in good stead, as his defensive one-on-one work was just as impressive as his run and rebound against the Cats.

Steven May (Melbourne)
Another complete performance, effectively blanketing Aaron Naughton and picking up 22 touches at 86 per cent disposal efficiency going the other way. Less than two years ago, Lever and May were busts and the Demons were getting smashed for spending big on two sketchy defenders. Now, they are the envy of the competition.

Jack Lukosius (Gold Coast)
Lukosuis has recently copped it for what he isn’t doing, but what he is doing is intercepting the ball, taking bucketloads of marks, and sending it back beyond defensive 50 with long, accurate kicking that clears zones and inevitably hits targets. This was all on show against Hawthorn in his best game of a very consistent season.

CENTRES

Mitch Robinson (Brisbane)
It’s been quite the journey for “Robbo,” who at almost 32 years old finds himself a genuine fan favourite across the competition. This outing against the Giants was one of his best – a career-high four goals, a career-high 12 marks, a career-high nine inside 50s, as well as 30 touches and eight intercepts. This was an electric, full-ground performance.

Dayne Zorko (Brisbane)
Zorko is among a group of star veterans who are enjoying another outstanding season this year. His effort in the midfield, against one of the form inside groups in GWS, was vintage Zorko – speed, tancity, and scoreboard impact. He now leads the league in score involvements across the season.

Zach Merrett (Essendon)
The continued emergence of Essendon’s midfield means that not only is Merrett free to use the footy with efficiency on the outside, but it also lifts a weight with him not having to be the best player every week. His class is such that he’s doing it anyway, and did so again on Saturday with 37 touches and eight inside 50s in a famous win.

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HALF FORWARDS

Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
He has been building nicely since returning from his broken hand, but his effort on Sunday against the Blues was Heeney at his exuberant, skilful best. He proved too much to handle for the Carlton defence, kicking three goals and giving off two, along with 14 marks and 20 kicks in a best-on-ground display.

Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
It was a solid first three quarters from Jack, who played further up the ground and took plenty of marks in more of a distributor role. However in the final term, with the match on the line, Riewoldt put in one of the best quarters of his career. A classic, courageous mark preceded three late goals as he effectively saved the game for the Tigers.

Sam Powell-Pepper (Port Adelaide)
Powell-Pepper’s robust efforts at stoppage and up forward in the first quarter were a big reason why the game was essentially over at the first break on Sunday night. The talismanic half forward continued to contribute throughout the game, and produced his most influential performance for the year with three goals and three goal assists.

FORWARDS

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon)
McDonald-Tipungwuti set the small but lively Essendon crowd alight numerous times at Optus Stadium on Saturday, not least of all when he kicked off the comeback with a brilliant goal late in the first half. Beyond hitting the scoreboard himself, he also gave off four goal assists, a number unbeaten so far in 2021.

Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
Didn’t have everything his own way against the in-form Jordan Roughead, but Hawkins fought hard and had a significant impact with two of his three goals coming in the last quarter after Collingwood had got within striking distance. He also continues to find more of the footy, collecting 21 touches along with his usual swag of score involvements.

Izak Rankine (Gold Coast)
It felt like we were about to witness a performance for the ages when Rankine kicked his third goal just 10 minutes into the game against Hawthorn. What followed instead was a decisive, four-quarter effort that was as influential and defensively sound as it was mercurial. Looks to be building form and consistency week-by-week.

FOLLOWERS

Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
West Coast’s heart-and-soul ruckman gave everything once again on Saturday, but was ultimately let down by a side unable to match his vigour and determination. Naitanui was a beast in the contest, winning more contested possessions than any other Eagle, dominating the ruck, and winning seven clearances of his own.

Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
Cripps has been more involved in Carlton’s ball movement over the past few weeks, and on Sunday he ramped that up again with easily his most productive match of 2021. His 27 touches and three goals were important, but it was the fact that he looked like “Crippa” again – weaving through traffic and brushing tackles aside – that was most pleasing.

Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
In 2021 Wines is playing to, and even exceeding, the level he promised to attain when he burst onto the scene nine years ago. His performance against Fremantle had all the hallmarks of an elite midfield game, with 35 touches, 14 score involvements, eight inside 50s, eight clearances, seven tackles, and three goal assists.

INTERCHANGE

Touk Miller (Gold Coast)
Miller has always been a good player, and somewhat immune to the form troughs that many Gold Coast youngsters have succumbed to, but he has clearly gone to another level this season. He continued to win the footy and drive it forward against the Hawks, with his reliability across four quarters crucial to the Suns’ success as always.

Darcy Parish (Essendon)
The emerging midfield star continued on his merry way with another prolific game in the guts. This time it was 36 disposals, 11 clearances and again a magnificent balance between contested and uncontested possession. A further positional move that has worked out beautifully for the Bombers this year.

Zach Tuohy (Geelong)
In a ghastly game in which it seemed that no one was interested in moving the ball forward, Tuohy’s determination to run, kick long and drive the Cats into attack stood out like Quinton Narkle’s hairdo. Tuohy had easily the most metres gained on the ground with 616, and chose to kick often and accurately from defence with 10 rebound 50s.

James Harmes (Melbourne)
If shutting down Tom “The Liberator” Liberatore is the key to beating the Bulldogs, then the Demons can thank James Harmes for getting it done on Friday night. Harmes’ pressure in the contest helped completely stifle the Bulldogs’ match-winning ball movement, while he also picked up 23 touches and got the Dees rolling with a fantastic opening goal.

STIFF TO MISS
Clayton Oliver (Melbourne), Max Gawn (Melbourne), Dyson Heppell (Essendon), Jake Stringer (Essendon), Luke Dunstan (St Kilda), Taylor Walker (Adelaide), Brandon Parfitt (Geelong), Trent Cotchin (Richmond), Harry Cunningham (Sydney), Aaron Hall (North Melbourne)