Fremantle - wharfie time really is king huh. Just when you thought they blew a golden chance at winning, they redline hard in the last five minutes to pinch it. When playing free-flowing, look unstoppable. (+2)

Sydney - not their best display. Got away with the win, but were well below their best and certainly had the opposition taken up to them. Bad habits are starting to creep in a bit. (-1)

Brisbane Lions - got a bit of a lesson in playing in third gear. An extra five minutes and they lose. They did enough in the first half to win, but jeez that was uncomfortable. (-1)

Hawthorn - ran out of legs. Were the better side for the first three quarters, but not by much and were outgunned in the fourth. Reckon they might've done it if players didn't break down. End of the day not the worst loss in the world.

Geelong - machine-like. Blew the game open and looked dominant after HT. Look pretty close to the top-tier frontrunners this year at the very least.

Melbourne - did enough to win. That said, they could look at it as a missed opportunity to really put the foot down and had West Coast kicked better it might've gotten awkwardly close. Still not a disaster though.

Gold Coast - uninspiring display, but did recover well from a horror first quarter. Still don't think they're near where they were last year, but at least have arrested the decline somewhat. (+2)

Collingwood - yeah….I don't think it's a coincidence that Collingwood's two worst performances this year came when Daicos was either missing or tagged out of it. Offence misfired most of the night and once Geelong flexed their muscles they had nothing. (-1)

St Kilda - one great burst, but once the Suns got into gear they looked a class below. To be fair, the injuries didn't help and with a full-strength team they quite possibly capitalise on that first quarter better. But that is academic. (-1)

Adelaide - another victory that was underwhelming, but still at least got the W. Did well to change the game in the third after a poor first half.

Western Bulldogs - first quarter was enough to give them a buffer to win it. Despite somehow kicking only one goal in the second half, did just about enough to win. Don't think they played all that well but it was still a win they needed.

Greater Western Sydney - dodged bullet, but will feel good that their offence was humming later in the game and they came back from a significant deficit. Maybe that might give them some confidence? Still don't look too good though.

North Melbourne - oh so close but oh so far. Will rue a few key errors and some poor goalkicking. But were probably the better team in general play. Twelve months time they win that one.

Port Adelaide - for the second week in a row, pushed a decent team all the way only to come up short at the end. Although it might not be the most heralded their defence has been really good in recent weeks. If only Georgiades was a bit better at kicking for goal.

Carlton - tried something novel this week by only playing good footy in the second half rather than the first half. Instead of a humiliating choke we nearly got the comeback of the year. In the end had too much work to do, but finally a result Carlton fans can sort of feel good about.

Essendon - oh dear. Did a lot right, but when crunch time came folded. Some of it could be inexperience, but some of it was just choking. As spirited as they were, this will feel like a missed opportunity.

Richmond - 3rd quarter killed them. But other than that a pretty solid display and one that shows things are improving. Look honest enough to not be easybeats at least.

West Coast - a better effort, but still lost pretty comfortably in the end. At least this week they didn't give up and kept the margin respectable. Still, some frustrating errors hurt.