The big winners of Round 16 were...
There were so many to choose from given that all but one of the ladder's current top-ten won their most recent match, but we've singled out Fremantle Dockers for registering a sixth consecutive victory and their fifth in a row as favourites at Optus Stadium.
They're the big winners of the week not because they were the best performers of the round - far from it, in fact, for their midfield was flooded by big numbers from Ross Lyon's St Kilda and they were dominated in the clearances for three quarters.
But when the going got tough and Justin Longmuir demanded at three-quarter time that they lift, they found a way. They won the clearance count 17-15 in the final quarter despite the pressure and they came from behind to continue their fine home record for 2025.
That followed wins against North Melbourne and Gold Coast Suns in which things didn't go smoothly all the way through, and their ability to come good during the clutch moments may serve them even better in September than a soft run would.
Now just two points behind second-placed Brisbane, they could be a Premiership smokey if they can earn themselves one or two home finals via a top-four finish.
The big losers of Round 16 were...
Both Carlton Blues and Sydney Swans, who are stuck with Essendon on 24 points and are now a seemingly unassailable 12 points away from the finals contenders with both Port Adelaide and GWS Giants both in much better short and medium term form.
The frustration amongst Carlton's fan base boiled over on Thursday night when one supporter resorted to criminal action to get their message across and talkback radio was flooded with all kinds of spiteful rhetoric, some in favour of beleaguered head coach Michael Voss and some against.
Sydney were not expected at the start of the season to make the finals because of their youthful rebuild and crippling early season injury list that saw key players such as Callum Mills, Tom Papley, Joel Amartey and Errol Gulden out for significant portions of the first half of the campaign.
But Carlton were expected to build upon last year's eighth-placed finish and have too often been guilty of unacceptably poor effort and attitude on the field.
Neither side look anywhere near capable of winning at least seven of their final eight matches, so it's probably time to put the pen through them both.
Unfortunately that could mean the AFL ends up with more late season dead rubbers than desired, which this week has sparked the annual discussion of a 'wildcard round' or something similar to give those teams ranked ninth to 12th more of a chance of postseason action.
Hawthorn might as well move to Launceston
Hawthorn have now been selling home games to Launceston's UTAS Stadium for 24 years (except for 2020) and their win rate at the venue over that time is creeping towards a mesmerising 80%.
It's little wonder then that they extended that deal even further through to the end of 2027, following which the Tasmanian Devils are expected to enter the competition (though that is still tied to a stadium whose future is not yet confirmed).
"We have such a competitive advantage there," head coach Sam Mitchell stated at the time of the deal renewal.
"On-field as the current head coach and I would say over my playing time, we probably averaged an extra win per season because of the four games.
"We love going there, we love spending time there, but we also love winning there and we seem to have been able to do that on a pretty consistent basis."
It might even be two extra wins per season now based on the way they've been going. Following their enormous thrashing of North Melbourne at the weekend, Hawthorn boasts a 10-1 record in Launceston since the start of 2023, and they should fancy their chances of making it 11-1 when they return in July to face Port Adelaide.
AFL Coleman Medal leaderboard
What a weekend for big bags of goals!
Jack Gunston filled his boots and continued his love affair with the city of Launceston, racking up the first seven-goal haul of his 272-game AFL career in Hawthorn's devastating demolition of North Melbourne.
Behind him were Isaac Heeney, Jake Melksham, Nick Larkey, Mabior Chol, Riley Thilthorpe and Mitch Georgiades with five goals each, the latter of whom moved up to equal-third in the Coleman Medal standings.
AFL Coaches' MVP leaderboard
Zak Butters (Port Adelaide), Joel Freijah (Western Bulldogs), Dan Curtin (Adelaide) and Jordan Clark (Fremantle) were the four men to earn the maximum ten possible votes from the coaches this weekend.
With his six, Adelaide's Jordan Dawson joined Noah Anderson in equal second on the leaderboard, whilst Brownlow Medal favourite Nick Daicos also polled six to join Ed Richards on 59.
Mark of the Year Nominations: Round 16
It was a quiet weekend in terms of speccies and Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson might be unchallenged for the nomination this week.
Goal of the Year Nominations: Round 16
Sam Darcy (Western Bulldogs):
Rowan Marshall (St Kilda):
Nick Watson (Hawthorn):