The big winners of Round 20 were...
GWS Giants. Was their third quarter in the Sydney derby against the Swans the best quarter of football by any team in 2025?
Perhaps it was at least until St Kilda upstaged them the following day with their nine goals to nil to overhaul the biggest three-quarter time deficit in a victory ever seen in the VFL or AFL, but GWS' own nine-goal third quarter effort against Sydney produced some of the slickest and most ruthless football following a poor first half showing in which they were at one stage trailing by 35 points.
"We were real ordinary in the first half," Toby Greene told the post-game broadcast an hour after his cheeky and headline-making barb at Swans opponent Tom Papley.
"Our contest and work rate, which we felt the Swans beat us the last five times on (referring to Sydney's five consecutive H2H wins), was super disappointing in the first half.
“We were right up for this game. And then Kingers (Giants coach Adam Kingsley) obviously acknowledged it, and it was mostly on myself and the leaders.”
Insiders reported that Kingsley delivered one of the all-time sprays at half-time, and rightfully so. There's no doubting that the playing group is right behind him, seeing how they responded, and for their efforts they retain a two-win gap to ninth placed Western Bulldogs.
The big losers of Round 20 were...
Brisbane Lions. What on earth happened to them on the weekend?
It's not even close to the first time they've grossly underperformed in a game they were widely expected to win, which is why Geelong and Adelaide have now moved ahead of them in Premiership betting.
That was the fifth time from 16 games this season that Chris Fagan's men failed to win as favourites and they were torn apart by the star-studded Suns' midfield from start to finish, with Gold Coast recording an impressive 78 points from stoppages - just two shy of a club record.
Lions head coach Chris Fagan said his side were "really poor in every aspect of the game", and rival bosses will be closely studying the tapes of how the Suns were not only able to win 12 more clearances but make far more efficient use of their advantage gained at the stoppages.
Brisbane are averaging just 7.5 goals per game from centre bounces, the third-worst in the league ahead of just Richmond and West Coast, with their strength usually coming from defensive transitions. The Suns were able to shut them right down and have sent a message to the rest of the league about how to thwart the reigning Premiers.
Coleman Medal Leaderboard
The AFL might as well just hand Jeremy Cameron the Coleman Medal before Geelong's home game against Port Adelaide next Sunday.
Cameron became the first Cat since 1994 to hit double digits in an AFL game as his team notched up the first 100+ point victory of 2025.
Even if he were to go down with a freak knee injury during training this week and miss the rest of the year, it's almost unfathomable now for anyone to catch up to him in the space of four rounds.
AFL Coaches' MVP Leaderboard
James Sicily, Aaron Naughton, Finn Callaghan, Matt Rowell, Jeremy Cameron, Riley Thilthorpe, Nick Daicos and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera were the eight players to pick up the full ten votes this weekend, whilst Freo pair Hayden Young and Murphy Reid shared eight votes each in the only game without a ten awarded.
Daicos has extended his lead over Gold Coast captain Noah Anderson from two votes to four, and whilst the coaches' award doesn't have the prestige or honour of a Brownlow Medal, it can often hint at who may be good value to poll top five with the umpires.
Goal of the Year: Round 20 Nominations
Shai Bolton (Fremantle):
Finn Callaghan (GWS Giants):
Steely Green (Richmond):
Mark of the Year: Round 20 Nominations
Calsher Dear (Hawthorn):
Jaspa Fletcher (Brisbane Lions):
Liam Ryan (West Coast):