Essendon ruckman Sam Draper made a big splash in his long-awaited return from injury against Hawthorn. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

FULL BACKS

Tom Stewart (Geelong)
A phenomenal effort from Stewart, who started the game in decisive touch and continued to have an impact all night as the momentum ebbed and flowed. His 10 intercept marks, equal to the all-time record, were a fundamental reason why the Cats were within striking distance at the end. One of the best individual performances of the season.

Alex Keath (Western Bulldogs)
Keath’s defensive prowess is sometimes overlooked when the ability of the Dogs’ back seven is decried, but he showed his immense value again on Friday night. Matched up against Tom Hawkins, Keath restricted the damage to just one mark, one goal, and five score involvements before the Cats champ left the field in the last quarter.

Aliir Aliir (Port Adelaide)
Somewhat of a return to form for Aliir, who hit 20 disposals for the first time since round seven on the weekend. His ability to know when to leave his man and intercept the ball in the air and on the ground is as good as anyone, but he also managed to take a number of strong contested marks in what was an impressive game.

HALF BACKS

Nick Hind (Essendon)
Hind’s speed stood out so much in the game on Sunday that there were times that it looked like being the difference. His ability to kick the ball beautifully at great speed, as well as his intercept work, was simply too much for the Hawks, and his goal in the third quarter gave the Bombers tangible scoreboard impact for this significant factor in the game.

Trent McKenzie (Port Adelaide)
Known as “The Cannon” in his Suns days, the Port Adelaide iteration of McKenzie is bigger, stronger, and much more defensively minded, but the fact that he’s retained his kicking ability makes him a valuable player. He easily had Ben King’s measure on the weekend, keeping him to two goals from three kicks, and taking eight marks of his own.

Jarman Impey (Hawthorn)
Impey continued his excellent season on Sunday, shooting the Hawks up the field as part of a defensive unit that looks more impressive by the week. Ten marks and 25 disposals, at 94 per cent kicking efficiency, demonstrates his significance to the Hawthorn ball movement and their retention of the footy.

CENTRES

Sam Menegola (Geelong)
When you look at it, there aren’t too many holes in Menegola’s game; he’s tough, a great long kick, strong overhead, a gut-runner, and handy around goals, and these assets were all on show on Friday. His effort to become an option in scoring chains was outstanding all night, and each of his two goals gave the Cats the lead.

Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs)
Yet another really strong midfield game for Liberatore, who has lifted in big moments all year and did so again against the Cats with a desperate, impactful final term. He had more contested possessions than anyone this week with 20, and also added 11 clearances, eight tackles and a fantastic long goal to open the match.

Lachie Whitfield (GWS)
The Giants midfield brigade conspired to smash Carlton in the guts on the weekend, but Whitfield made sure that the ascendancy was taken advantage of. His damage on the outside, with 21 uncontested possessions, eight score involvements and seven inside 50s, meant he was as influential as any other midfielder on the ground.

HALF FORWARDS

Steven Motlop (Port Adelaide)
The reason why Motlop is sometimes panned for his inconsistency is that his best performances are just so good. His first quarter, with 12 disposals and a goal, was prime Stevie, and he continued to work hard and set teammates up for the rest of the day as Port Adelaide emphasised the significant gap in talent between the two sides.

Nick Larkey (North Melbourne)
Larkey is one of a number of talented North players who have taken a while to build into the season, but his game against Brisbane on Saturday looked like that of the promising young star of 2019-20. Matched up against the stately Harris Andrews, Larkey kicked three goals and kept the Roos in touch with an important third quarter.

Jake Stringer (Essendon)
A rousing, four-quarter performance from Stringer, and easily one of his best ever games. With the two sides relatively evenly matched, and the usually prolific Essendon midfield slightly subdued, Stringer was the difference, with four goals, 29 touches, 10 inside 50s and seven tackles in an outing truly befitting of his moniker.

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FORWARDS

Toby Greene (GWS)
You could not ask for a more classical Toby Greene-esque performance than this – four goals, reported for striking, an odd incident with an umpire, and a torpedo goal as good as we’ve seen in years. Overall, it was yet another match-winning display for the stand-in skipper, who is now being spoken about as one of the game’s very elite.

Jeremy Finlayson (GWS)
A bag of five for Finlayson, who has proven himself an adept goalkicker when on song. He led well all night to get on the end of Whitfield’s razor-like delivery on several occasions, and his important goal late in the third quarter ended a run of five for the Blues, quelling any momentum they would have taken into the last quarter.

Lincoln McCarthy (Brisbane)
It wasn’t a huge game on the stats sheet by McCarthy, but he just has the knack of bobbing up at exactly the right time. His first goal wrested back the momentum after North had slotted four in a row, while his second finally took the margin out beyond two goals in the last quarter. An important player who has barely missed a game in three years.

FOLLOWERS

Sam Draper (Essendon)
A brilliant return from Draper, who looked completely comfortable being back at the top level after nearly three months out. There were shades of Max Gawn about Draper’s game on Sunday, as he took on the experienced duo of Ben McEvoy and Jon Ceglar in the ruck and dropped back to take important marks in defence and on the wings.

Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
Another dominant display from Wines, who may be the most consistently damaging midfielder in the AFL this season. His 43 disposals were only one away from the all-time Port Adelaide record, as he ran rampant against the hapless Suns in winning contested footy and linking up on the outside. He must be firming as a genuine Brownlow chance.

Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne)
Is it displaying gratuitous recency bias to say that Cunnington is in career-best form right now? He’s been a gun for over a decade, but what he’s doing in 2021, coming off a nasty back injury and with limited support, is pretty remarkable. As he has since returning to the side, Cunnington led North with contested footy, pressure and skill.

INTERCHANGE

Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
The deserved Brownlow favourite will be in the mix for votes again after another high-quality outing, this time with 30 disposals, 11 inside 50s, eight clearances, seven tackles, one goal and two assists. His ability to combine the sublime with the bestial, and to accumulate the footy in useful areas of the ground, is what separates him in 2021.

Jarryd Lyons (Brisbane)
Lyons led the resistance for Brisbane in the second quarter as the Roos kicked three goals to one, keeping his side in touch before his teammates switched on and joined him in the second half. He continues to get the job done as a two-way midfielder, adding 12 tackles to his 36 disposals in unfamiliar conditions.

Caleb Daniel (Western Bulldogs)
This was an important performance from Daniel, who assisted in his usual way with clean ball use and savvy decision-making from defence, but also spent significant time on-ball and was able to contribute in that role too. His beautiful long goal, which brought the Dogs back level halfway through the last quarter, was a particular highlight.

Jacob Hopper (GWS)
The Giants’ inside midfield brigade continues to dominate, and with the skipper still out, Hopper is leading the way as his team’s number one clearance and contested possession player. He was far too good for Carlton on the weekend, denying them scoring opportunities by winning 11 clearances and applying pressure through the middle of the ground.

STIFF TO MISS
Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne), Jy Simpkin (North Melbourne), Matt De Boer (GWS), Lachie Neale (Brisbane), Joel Selwood (Geelong), Jaeger O’Meara (Hawthorn), Luke Breust (Hawthorn), Josh Bruce (Western Bulldogs), Bailey Williams (Western Bulldogs), Harry McKay (Carlton).