Young gun Keidean Coleman was one of Brisbane’s best in their big win over GWS on the weekend. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

FULL BACKS

Keidean Coleman (Brisbane)
The man now being commonly referred to as “the architect” of Brisbane’s ball movement put his protractor and t-square to good use in the Lions’ comfortable win on Saturday. Coleman transitioned the ball from the last line of defence to half-forward repeatedly against the Giants, getting involved in scoring chains and even nailing a fantastic long goal himself.

Tom Barrass (West Coast)
A resolute game from the Eagles full back, who has held things together brilliantly in a tough season at West Coast. Despite the Hawks’ inside-50 dominance, their tall forwards were all held goalless as Barrass dominated in the air, taking an enormous 18 marks and spoiling effectively when required as well.

Callum Wilkie (St Kilda)
One of few among St Kilda’s line-up to stand up on Friday night footy, Wilkie again showed why he is one of the best medium defenders in the AFL. The unflappable Saint covered for an uninspired midfield by chopping off countless opposition entries, ultimately marking from the boot of a Bulldog no less than eight times. A fan favourite, and with good reason.

HALF-BACKS

Nick Daicos (Collingwood)
Often when talented midfielders start out in the AFL, they spend a year or two at half-back to ease into the speed of the game and have the opportunity to see play in front of them. They don’t often, however, completely master the role in just three months. Daicos is one of the best players in his position league-wide, and as he showed on Saturday, ready and able to impact the game in a multitude of other ways. A delight for footy fans of all persuasions.

Griffin Logue (Fremantle)
Logue has performed well despite being thrown into a number of different roles this season, including as a drop-off defender and even a second key forward. On Saturday night he excelled in a lockdown job on Lance Franklin, who despite the Swans’ territory advantage, could only manage one goal and seven disposals as Logue outpointed him in all bar one direct contest.

Mason Redman (Essendon)
The dynamic Bomber’s outstanding season continued on Sunday as he put up career-best numbers in Essendon’s comprehensive win over the Suns. With a strong running mate in Nick Hind, Redman set the tone with a rapid and nimble game style that looked like the Bombers at their dangerous best. Is he making a late charge for All-Australian contention?

CENTRES

Josh Ward (Hawthorn)
In somewhat of a breakout game, Ward showed why he was rated so highly in the 2021 national draft with a relentless running display. Stationed primarily on the wing and pushing in to claim numerous secondary clearances, the young midfielder’s ability to work his way from contest to contest was a real highlight of what was a fairly inconsequential game.

Jy Simpkin (North Melbourne)
Simpkin has not had the season that many thought he might have had coming off a brilliant end to 2021, but he capped off a good month of footy by leading the Kangaroos to an emotional win over Richmond on Saturday. The reigning Syd Barker medallist ripped through a timid Richmond midfield, winning eight clearances, and slotting an important third-quarter goal.

Errol Gulden (Sydney)
One of Sydney’s budding superstars, Gulden demonstrated his value as a versatile running player on Saturday night with some important touches behind the ball as well as in the forward half. The diminutive Swan was classy all game, with a strong first half contribution, and a brilliant second goal to give his side a handy break late in the match.

HALF-FORWARDS

Toby Greene (GWS)
With Jesse Hogan well held and Harry Himmelberg continuing his good work in defence, Greene played a lone hand up forward for GWS against the Brisbane Lions. Though he faded out somewhat after half-time, his four first-half goals, from very limited opportunities, made a contest of the game and had the Lions working for their victory.

Taylor Walker (Adelaide)
Featuring goals in each quarter and five in total, Walker was clearly the standout key position forward of Round 18. As he often does, the Adelaide lynchpin handed off multiple goals to teammates, and his two goals in the last quarter each gave the Crows an unlikely sniff at times that the Magpies looked to have taken control.

Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)
Playing in one of modern footy’s most important and damaging roles, McCluggage was Brisbane’s most influential player in their win over GWS on Saturday. For the second time this season, the fluid on-baller kicked a bag of four goals by working hard into forward 50 from centre bounces, and finished with polish.

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FORWARDS

Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
This was a simply outstanding display from Kozzie Pickett. Not only was his haul of six goals a clear career high, but many of them were manufactured out of sheer individual brilliance. In a match in which the Demons failed to assert their dominance in the midfield or on turnover, Pickett’s performance was the difference.

Cameron Zurhaar (North Melbourne)
A crafty roving goal to claim victory for North Melbourne capped off a wonderful afternoon at Docklands for Zurhaar. Matched up against the difficult-to-beat Dylan Grimes for much of the match, the Kangaroos’ pulsating forward comprehensively outplayed him, marking strongly and going in harder at ground level to boot five first-half goals, before flushing the winner with his sixth.

Luke Breust (Hawthorn)
The evergreen Hawthorn champion was at his precise best around goals against the Eagles. Six majors equalled his career best, and he also sent it inside 50 on five occasions to clock up 11 score involvements for the match. Hawthorn people understand his value, but for someone who’s sat near the top of the pile in his position for over a decade now, Breust is perhaps undersold externally.

FOLLOWERS

Sam Draper (Essendon)
The enigmatic Essendon ruckman’s athleticism was on show on Sunday afternoon, with a fantastic clearance and goal on the run sitting among the contenders for goal of the year. Draper’s game was more than a one-play-wonder however, with another goal, five clearances, and a strong effort against Jarrod Witts in the ruck making it one of his better games of 2022.

Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
Just when much of the footy world thought the Bulldogs were toast, and their captain too hampered to produce the match-winning performances we’ve grown to expect, Bontempelli offered up one of the best individual displays of the year. He was in everything against the Saints, combining brilliance, power and creativity, and filled the stats sheet with 34 disposals, two goals and three assists.

Chad Warner (Sydney)
The Chad Warner bandwagon is filling up, and rightly so, as the 21-year-old Swan seems to add layers to his game almost every week. With speed, strength, contested ability, and a significant element of spunk, Warner had it over the strong Fremantle midfield at Optus Stadium, winning clearances and bursting forward with the footy in what was a pretty complete game.

INTERCHANGE

Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
It’s always great when champions of the game play well in their milestone matches, but it’s hard to think of many who could still produce this kind of match in game number 350. Pendlebury treated fans to a greatest hits performance against Adelaide – creative in traffic, tough in the clinches, and masterful with time and space.

Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
The Power midfield took it right up to Melbourne in Darwin on Sunday, with Travis Boak leading the charge. The Port Adelaide great extracted maximum impact from his 29 disposals, with nine of them going inside 50, and two sailing through the sticks – including one outstanding goal from a near-on impossible angle.

Mark Blicavs (Geelong)
Playing in a sort of hybrid role combining traditional ruck rover, tagger, and first receiver off clearance, Blicavs managed to significantly negate the influence of Patrick Cripps whilst also playing a key role in Geelong’s ball movement from the middle. He’s been a good player for a long time, but right now Blicavs is having as strong an impact as any other Geelong player.

Zach Merrett (Essendon)
Merrett was brilliant once again, with his performance against the Suns continuing a strong run of form that more closely resembles his consistently high levels of 2021. With 36 disposals, nine clearances and 14 score involvements, his efforts in moving the ball quick and direct were a big reason why the Bombers had 33 shots on goal.

STIFF TO MISS
Christian Petracca (Melbourne), Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs), Ryan Gardner (Western Bulldogs), Sam De Koning (Geelong), Rory Laird (Adelaide), Sam Taylor (GWS), Paul Curtis (North Melbourne), Luke Shuey (West Coast), Daniel McStay (Brisbane), Joel Selwood (Geelong).