Richmond’s Mabior Chol played the game of his career on Friday night against Brisbane. Photo: AFL MEDIA

FULL BACKS

Kayne Turner (North Melbourne)
Just the four disposals and minimal other statistical highlights for Turner, but he put in an outstanding defensive performance against the barometric Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti. The in-form North backman did not give his opponent an inch, holding him to five disposals and just one score involvement for the day.

Alex Keath (Western Bulldogs)
Keath continues to hold up the Western Bulldogs’ back end. In a tight game, he nullified the influence of Gold Coast’s Ben King, who got one goal from a 50-metre penalty and another as the game drew to a close. His ability to close down an opponent, and to repel the footy from defence, is up there with the best this season.

Trent McKenzie (Port Adelaide)
“The Cannon” had another beauty against the Saints, acquitting himself defensively and combining well with the likes of Ryan Burton and Tom Jonas to extricate the Power from a number of tricky situations on the last line of defence. His 20 kicks, at 95 per cent efficiency, were also valuable and highlight the range of assets he brings to the side.

HALF BACKS

Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
The Essendon skipper has been important this year, providing an assured head for a number of backline teammates who weren’t even training in defence until the beginning of this season. The side looked instantly more composed with him back on deck, and his second quarter goal broke a scoring drought for the Bombers and kept them in touch.

Jacob Weitering (Carlton)
Carlton fans know what they’re going to get from Weitering every single week: defensive intent, intercept marking, shrewd ball use, and classic footballing intelligence. All of this was on display against the Magpies, with the stand-in captain holding up the Blues’ defence, taking nine marks and consistently retaining the footy.

Shannon Hurn (West Coast)
A vintage performance from Shannon Hurn against the Crows. He was highly influential with his ball use across half back and his 24 disposals were almost all to precision. His combination of eight intercept possessions and six inside 50s illustrate his balanced impact in all areas of the ground too.

CENTRES

Sam Menegola (Geelong)
Geelong’s side is so even that it feels like they have a different best and most productive midfielder each week. It was Menegola’s turn against the Dockers, with the hard-working winger gathering 30 disposals, seven clearances, nine marks, one goal and two assists. A damaging and effective display.

Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
Yet another brilliant performance from Port Adelaide’s midfield bull, who is the embodiment of consistency in 2021, and who will likely have chalked up another three votes on Saturday. He was prolific throughout the game, but rose to another level with 13 touches in the last quarter with the game on the line, and ended with a round-high 11 clearances.

Karl Amon (Port Adelaide)
Amon continued his excellent season with a brilliant display against St Kilda, outworking the opposing midfield and getting rewarded with repeated handball receives. His two outstanding goals in the second quarter brought Port Adelaide back into it, and adding a career-high 10 tackles to his stat sheet will have pleased the coach.

HALF FORWARDS

Jamie Cripps (West Coast)
An outstanding game from Cripps, who booted five goals and had 25 touches in a must-win game for the Eagles. He seemed to be involved in absolutely everything that West Coast did against the Crows, and he combined set shot accuracy and brilliant crumbing to hit the scoreboard across the four quarters.

Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
Riewoldt went into his 300th game in questionable-at-best form and with his finals chances looking grim, but by the end of the night he’d dished up one of the best major-milestone performances of recent years, and Richmond were back (albeit temporarily) in the eight. Six goals, seven marks inside 50, and some classic leaping grabs. A fantastic night.

Jake Stringer (Essendon)
A match-winning performance from “The Package,” who slotted his first goal in the shadows of three-quarter time, and then went on to kick three more in the final term. Each of his last two goals came after North Melbourne had pinched one back, responding to the challenges and effectively pulling the Bombers over the line.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

FORWARDS

Mabior Chol (Richmond)
Chol’s traits have been on display in fits and starts since his debut, but on Friday night we got to see all of them en masse. He only had one regulation set-shot among his four goals, with the other three coming about due to his own skill, creativity and ability to rise to the moment. His tap work in the ruck is also vastly improved, and was influential on the night.

Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
The reigning Coleman medalist didn’t have an easy match-up against Fremantle’s Alex Pearce, but comfortably won the battle. With fellow gun forwards Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan missing through injury, Hawkins was double-teamed on a number of occasions and did well to slot four goals and capitalise on the Cats’ dominance.

Tom Papley (Sydney)
Papley kicked the Swans’ first goal two minutes into the game, and then slotted their second 45 minutes later after GWS had kicked seven in a row. He was the only player keeping Sydney in it during the first half, and he continued to contribute strongly when his side got on a powerful roll after the main break.

FOLLOWERS

Toby Nankervis (Richmond)
A powerful display from Nankervis, who demonstrated what Richmond people have long been saying regarding his importance to the side. He took a number of key marks down the line, had 18 contested possessions from his 22 in total, won seven clearances, and instantly made the midfield look more assured.

Sam Walsh (Carlton)
How lucky Carlton are to have this guy on its team. Walsh dominated the experienced Collingwood midfield all day, and went to an even greater level in the final quarter with some incredible efforts, including a sensational goal and follow-up clearance and kick to Harry McKay. One of the performances of the season – a phrase that is becoming synonymous with Walsh.

Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn)
Mitchell’s stats are always impressive, but his impact against the Demons was significant, and bigger than it has been in recent weeks. He laboured hard in the midfield for four quarters, and his performance was highlighted by a classy goal to bring the Hawks back within a point just before three-quarter time.

INTERCHANGE

Zach Merrett (Essendon)
North Melbourne’s midfield has improved rapidly over the past two months, but they could not contain Merrett on Sunday, with the Bombers gun racking up 39 touches, nine clearances and seven inside 50s. He has not dropped below 35 touches in the last four weeks, and must surely be in the Brownlow mix in a very consistent season.

Touk Miller (Gold Coast)
There is only one player running as hard and as long as Sam Walsh at the moment, and it is the massively improved Suns midfielder Touk Miller. A decent performance was turned into yet another outstanding one with a prolific final term, in which he collected 14 touches (eight contested) and five clearances to have 38 and eight for the match, along with two goal assists.

Mitch Georgiades (Port Adelaide)
The very exciting Port Adelaide youngster kicked a career-high four goals – one in each quarter – and took advantage of the strong defensive focus on Charlie Dixon to finish off the Power’s good work upfield. His marking was a particular highlight, with four contested marks for the day, and he just does not seem to miss set shots.

Jack Steele (St Kilda)
The St Kilda skipper’s mondo run of form continued on Saturday, picking up 37 touches along with eight marks, seven tackles and an excellent running goal to kick off proceedings. He couldn’t quite drag his side over the line this week, but played a brilliant last quarter and gave absolutely everything as he always does.

STIFF TO MISS
Sam Collins (Gold Coast), Nick Holman (Gold Coast), Sean Darcy (Fremantle), George Hewett (Sydney), Rowan Marshall (St Kilda), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs), Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs), Peter Wright (Essendon), Luke Breust (Hawthorn)