Josh Bruce celebrates his 10th goal for the Western Bulldogs against North Melbourne on Good Friday. Photo: AFL MEDIA

FULL BACKS

Jordan Ridley (Essendon)
Back-to-back appearances in Team Of The Week for the ever-reliable Ridley, who has truly become the lynchpin of a very inexperienced backline. His 35 touches, 10 marks and nine rebound 50s have almost become the standard for the young defender, an impressive expectation so early on in his career.

Liam Jones (Carlton)
Took advantage of a lack of height in the Dockers’ forward line and had a field day picking off their wayward forward 50 entries. His 16 intercept possessions were impressive, but it was his work up the ground with 605 metres gained (easily the most of any Blue) at 94 per cent effectiveness and six inside 50s that made the performance stand out as one of his best.

Jeremy Howe (Collingwood)
Building very nicely back to his outstanding form of last year, when a PCL injury cost him a potential All-Australian debut. Howe added seven tackles to his eight marks and 17 kicks against the Lions, providing a nice balance to the all-out-attack mindset of Collingwood’s half-back line. A hugely important player.

HALF BACKS

Daniel Rich (Brisbane)
It was a scintillating final stanza from the veteran, who racked up 12 of his 28 disposals in the last quarter to help steer the Lions to an incredible victory. Among Rich’s influential moments were a signature goal on the run from 50 to bring Brisbane to within a point, and a laser pass out of the middle and on to the chest of Zac Bailey inside 50 for the winning goal.

Jeremy McGovern (West Coast)
McGovern was at his aerial best on Saturday. The four time All-Australian defender picked up five intercept marks from 11 in total, and had 18 disposals at the centre of a defensive unit that controlled Port Adelaide’s tall forward line, and rendered them relatively harmless for the first time this season.

Tom Stewart (Geelong)
Did what he does best against the Hawks and marked absolutely everything in the back half, constantly getting in the way of opposition entries and picking up huge numbers in marks, metres gained and inside 50s. A star of the competition, whose excellent ball use by foot is perhaps even undersold at times.

CENTRES

Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)
Played his role beautifully on Thursday night, and, along with Rich, was instrumental in getting his side over the line in the last quarter when he was in everything and won several contests on the wing to get the ball forward. Showed last year that he’s more than just an outside player, and looks to have taken that trend even further this season.

Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
A fantastic response from the skipper, who had been under the pump following some tepid performances and news that he was playing hurt. Looked fired up and was aggressive at the contest (and the opposition) all day, gathering 34 touches, 11 clearances and two goals in what was an inspiring display.

Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
Another who responded well after an unusually quiet opening couple of games. Gaff cut the Port Adelaide outside midfield unit to pieces on Saturday night with 36 possessions, 13 marks, and 460 metres gained. West Coast rarely performs poorly when Gaff is allowed to do his thing, so a return to form was a welcome sight for Eagles fans.

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HALF FORWARDS

Toby Greene (GWS)
A sensational game from Greene, who booted two goals early in the first quarter to get the Giants off to a strong start, and then two more in the first minute of the last to give them a chance at pinching it. He’s starting to stand out as his side’s best player by a fairly significant margin now.

Taylor Walker (Adelaide)
Just the customary bag of six for Walker again this week, who now has 17 in three matches to lead the Coleman Medal race. He is kicking them from everywhere at the moment, including long bombs, left foot snaps and tight angle set shots. After a few difficult seasons on the professional front, it feels like the footy world is right behind him.

Sam Wicks (Sydney)
You’d be hard pressed to find a Swan who didn’t win their position on Saturday afternoon, but there were times where it felt like Wicks was single-handedly pulling Richmond apart. He had three goals, two direct assists, 13 marks and looked incredibly dangerous, perhaps exposing the Tigers’ zone defence for not paying him the respect he clearly deserved.

FULL FORWARDS

Harry McKay (Carlton)
Very stiff to kick 7.5 and find yourself pushed into the tall forward pocket position, but it seems that’s the nature of footy in 2021. McKay was dominant against Fremantle, delivering for Blues fans what has slowly been building for a couple of years. At times it seemed like he was the only man in Carlton’s forward line, as he found himself on the end of all of the Blues’ forays.

Josh Bruce (Western Bulldogs)
A great redemptive performance from a guy who had become somewhat of a maligned figure over his first season at the Dogs. Bruce has had big days before, but nothing approaching his 10-goal domination of North Melbourne on Friday – the biggest haul by a Bulldog since Simon Beasley’s 10 in 1987.

Tom Papley (Sydney)
There isn’t a player in the competition who enjoys a goal more than Papley, and he was lucky enough to enjoy four absolute beauties on Saturday afternoon. The Swans are an infinitely better side when he’s up and about, not just for his scoring ability, but also the talismanic effect he has on his young teammates.

FOLLOWERS

Brodie Grundy (Collingwood)
A lot has been made of Nathan Buckley’s post-match comments on the benign nature of hit-outs, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Grundy was still the best player on the ground with 28 disposals (18 contested) and five clearances. Most importantly, Grundy looked like his hard-working and powerful self from 2018-19.

Darcy Parish (Essendon)
Showed the footy world (and the Essendon coaching staff) that he can dominate if given opportunities in his natural position as an on-baller, with a career high 34 disposals, 10 score involvements and 10 clearances. Along with Zach Merrett, ran all over what was again a lacklustre St Kilda midfield.

Cameron Guthrie (Geelong)
Guthrie was absolutely everywhere against Hawthorn, winning contests in the centre and providing run on the outside as well to end up with 43 disposals and 10 clearances. He may not get mentioned among the elite of the elite very often, but Guthrie has become a gun all-round midfielder in the last 12 months and has very few weaknesses in his game.

INTERCHANGE

Adam Treloar (Western Bulldogs)
Dogs fans got to enjoy Adam Treloar at his explosive, damaging best for the first time on Friday night as he notched up 27 touches, nine inside 50s and three goals, including two classics on the run from 50 metres out. The way the Bulldogs are balancing their midfield and having each star play a role suited to his strengths is incredibly impressive.

Luke Shuey (West Coast)
A pretty devastating end to what had been a sensational night for the Eagles’ skipper. Shuey picked up 28 disposals, seven clearances and six inside 50s in a tenacious, best on ground performance before being subbed out midway through the last quarter with another hamstring injury.

Jake Stringer (Essendon)
A late pre-season injury and an absence in the first two rounds overshadowed what had from all reports been an outstanding summer on the track for “The Package”. On Saturday night, he finally returned to the field and made an immediate impact by kicking the first of his four goals within 30 seconds. Looks fit, fiery and energetic.

Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
Sloane is leading a ragtag midfield bunch that is getting it done at the moment. He was at his powerful best against the Suns, demonstrating trademark ferocity at the contest with 34 possessions (19 contested), seven clearances, and 10 score involvements. One of a few veterans across the competition who look to have regained their spark.

STIFF TO MISS

Nic Naitanui (West Coast), Sam Walsh (Carlton), Ed Langdon (Melbourne), Max Gawn (Melbourne), Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne), Tim Taranto (GWS), Zach Merrett (Essendon), Jack Steele (St Kilda), Mark O’Connor (Geelong), Jaeger O’Meara (Hawthorn)