West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly attempts to gather the ball against Melbourne on Sunday. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

FULL BACKS

Dane Rampe (Sydney)
With both McCartin brothers exiting the game with concussion early on, Rampe became hugely important as Sydney’s only remaining key defender. The Swans’ co-captain, who has wound back the clock in 2023, was more than up to the task, winning or halving 75 per cent of his one-on-ones against much bigger opposition.

Sam Collins (Gold Coast)
St Kilda may not currently have a recognised key forward in the ranks, but with the Suns midfield giving up 64 inside 50s, Collins certainly had his work cut out for himself. Despite a disappointing result, the tough full back was indomitable with seven intercept marks and some neat ball use helping retain the ball for the Suns.

Nick Haynes (GWS)
With the Giants’ backline under siege for much of the match against Essendon, Haynes helped restrict the damage with an impressive aerial display. The stalwart Giant reeled in 17 grabs, with 10 intercepts from 26 disposals. After a quieter season in 2022, Haynes has started his year in sharp touch.

HALF-BACKS

Bailey Dale (Western Bulldogs)
With six rebound 50s and five inside 50s, Dale was the cleanest and most effective Dog in transitioning the ball in a soggy affair against Richmond. Where many Tigers continued to attempt clean footy after half-time, Dale led the Bulldogs’ move to a territory game, and he was one of the most important players afield as a result.

Aliir Aliir (Port Adelaide)
The match-winning moment belonged to Aliir on Saturday night, with the rangy defender remaining in the moment and knocking Ollie Florent’s ball back into the field of play when most others had stopped playing. It capped off a fine performance, with an impressive 12 turnovers created from his 16 disposals.

Nick Daicos (Collingwood)
Just as fast as a whiff of criticism emerged, Daicos snuffed it out with a fantastic display that showcased his prodigious range of skills. The star Magpie had 16 contested possessions – the equal most on the ground – among his 38, also hitting the scoreboard twice as he spent minutes at stoppages and forward of centre.

CENTRES

Xavier Duursma (Port Adelaide)
After a red-hot start, the last couple of years have seen a disrupted journey for Duursma. Now fully backed and in a settled role on the wing, the dynamic crowd favourite is back to his hard-running best, as evidenced by his highly-effective, highly-accountable performance in the victory against Sydney.

Chad Warner (Sydney)
He took some time to get going, but the Swans looked dominant when Warner was at his most damaging, brilliant best on Saturday night. An emerging star of the competition, he filled the stat sheet against the Power with 30 disposals, nine clearances and nine inside 50s, as well as two goals.

Nic Martin (Essendon)
Martin has demonstrated that his surprise emergence last year was no flash in the pan, starting his 2023 campaign in excellent touch. The smooth-moving Bomber starred as an attacking wingman against the Giants, booting multiple goals for the sixth time in his 25-game career.

HALF-FORWARDS

Mitch Owens (St Kilda)
Crisis creates opportunity, and Owens is adding his name to the list of players through footy history who have shone among their club’s dire injury crisis. The spritely Saint’s game on Saturday was fairly unique, in that he managed 19 contested possessions despite attending just one centre bounce. Two goals and two assists further highlighted his massive impact.

Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)
Cameron was a standout in the first half against Hawthorn with his exquisite skill coming to the fore in fickle conditions. As Geelong put the foot down in the third term, he was in absolutely everything. This was one of those occasions where footy looks too easy for Cameron, and he has quite a few of those these days.

Cam Rayner (Brisbane)
Rayner has had strong games before, but his contribution against Collingwood was an outstanding one. With the match tight early, Rayner essentially broke it open with some individual brilliance, before booting another two goals as the Lions ran off in the third term. The odd experiment of playing him behind the ball is surely finished.

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FORWARDS

Jack Higgins (St Kilda)
After a fairly even start, Higgins broke the game in St Kilda’s direction with three goals in a 13-minute burst in the second term. Neither the Saints nor their livewire forward looked back from that point on, as the team recorded yet another victory, and Higgins came away with a bag of five on the Suns for the second year running.

Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
Now a consistently dangerous performer every single week, Curnow continues to build his case for being the game’s No.1 player. Taking advantage of an admittedly undermanned North Melbourne defence on Friday, the magnetic forward booted six goals and won plenty of contests.

Charlie Cameron (Brisbane)
If Rayner started the damage against Collingwood on Thursday night, Cameron finished them off with a blistering spell in the second half. Whenever it looked like the Magpies might be mounting a challenge, Charlie quickly snuffed it out with a goal of his own making, ending the night with an equal career-high six majors.

FOLLOWERS

Brodie Grundy (Melbourne)
Clearly thriving with full responsibility in the ruck, Grundy’s last few weeks have resembled the best footy he produced as a barnstorming All-Australian Magpie. He dominated the hitouts against Bailey Williams, with 13 of 33 to advantage, but was influential around the ground too with 22 disposals.

Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
For the second week running, Bontempelli refused to let his side go down. A strong first quarter, with nine touches and five clearances, helped get the Dogs off to a flyer. And whilst it was by no means smooth sailing from there, his five tackles in a soggy last term, and the last, match-determining clearance, meant he ultimately had the final say.

Tim Kelly (West Coast)
Kelly’s excellent start to the season continued on Sunday, as he once again carried the Eagles’ midfield against the might of Melbourne’s on-ball unit. With more than 700 metres gained from his 36 touches, Kelly showed a clear determination to drive the ball forward, also contributing two of West Coast’s nine goals.

INTERCHANGE

Jake Stringer (Essendon)
Bombers fans will differ in their views as to whether Stringer’s display on Sunday was worth the wait, but for the neutral observer, there’s few better to watch when on-song as he was against GWS. Some errant shots prevented this becoming a true monster game, but when the game needed to be settled, it was Stringer who settled it.

Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
Such is Petracca’s standing in the game, a display featuring three goals and 29 disposals can slip under the radar. Returning to the site of his Norm Smith medal-winning performance, Petracca was hard in the contest and classy in front of goal. The opposition was hampered, but not many players are actually capable of producing such an output in any circumstances.

Ollie Florent (Sydney)
Much of the focus will be on Florent’s final act (in itself a pretty decent effort), however the other story is that he has once again produced a prolific and influential game at half-back. The skilful Swan took nearly 900 metres from 33 touches, sent the ball inside 50 eight times and booted a crucial goal midway through the third term.

Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
Having moved up from half-back to a wing, and now from a wing to the guts, Dawson has clearly demonstrated his aptitude and adaptability in appearing to already master the role. Adelaide have lacked polish in the midfield, but Dawson has it in spades, with his 27 touches going at an absurd 96 per cent efficiency against the Dockers.

STIFF TO MISS
Harry McKay (Carlton), Max Michalanney (Adelaide), Noah Anderson (Gold Coast), Clayton Oliver (Melbourne), Tim English (Western Bulldogs), Caleb Serong (Fremantle), Callum Wilkie (St Kilda), Zach Merrett (Essendon), Joe Daniher (Brisbane), Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)