Geelong bounce back with a vital win against the Western Bulldogs at Docklands, and the Suns make it back-to-back wins in Darwin with victory over the Crows.
Earlier, Collingwood star Jordan de Goey made headlines for the wrong reasons against West Coast, and Port Adelaide inflicted a big defeat on Hawthorn in Adelaide.
Look back at the day's stats, scores and stories below.
Geelong back on track with win over Bulldogs
The Geelong Cats have breathed life back into their AFL premiership defence with a hard-fought 22-point victory over the inaccurate Western Bulldogs.
Entering Saturday night's crucial clash on a three-game losing streak, the Cats came alive to extend their recent dominance to 17 wins from their last 19 games against the Bulldogs.
The lead changed seven times before Geelong edged away with five-straight goals from late in the third quarter to midway through the final term.
The Bulldogs blew numerous chances on goal to cost themselves dearly as Geelong prevailed 15.7 (97) to 10.15 (75) and improve their record to 6-6 ahead of a bye.
Coming off a shock loss at home to GWS and with several key players still on the sidelines, the Cats rallied to avoid losing a fourth-straight match for the first time since 2006.
Star forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron were important with two goals each, but it was some of their lesser likes that proved the catalyst for the win.
Mitch Knevitt, in just his ninth game, bombed a long goal on the half-time siren to reduce the Bulldogs' margin to just two points in a huge boost for the Cats.
Enigmatic forward Gary Rohan stepped up in his first game for five weeks with two majors, including the sealer, and also laid some crucial pressure tackles.
Vice-captain Tom Stewart kicked just the fourth goal of his 137-game career a minute into the final quarter to spark Geelong.
The Bulldogs' second-straight defeat was soured further by losing speedy defender Ed Richards to a hamstring injury.
Star Dogs captain Marcus Bontempelli and fellow midfielder Adam Treloar also spent plenty of time off the field and both returned with heavy strapping on their legs.
The Bulldogs failed to kick a goal in the final term, finishing with just 2.7 in the second half.
Luke Beveridge's team have just six days to rest before hosting surging Port Adelaide, who are on a club record nine-game win streak, at Docklands on Friday night.
Lukosius kicks another bag as Suns down the Crows
The Gold Coast Suns have given their finals hopes a boost with a second successive win in Darwin, this time over the Adelaide Crows.
In humid conditions, the Suns were jumped by the Crows, with Matthew Nicks's men kicking six goals to two in the opening quarter.
But the Suns — who beat the Bulldogs at the same venue last week — regathered themselves and held the line in the second term.
The second half saw a different contest, as Adelaide players failed to take their chances, while the Suns booted 11 goals to five to get over the top of their fancied opponents.
Jack Lukosius kicked five goals for the second straight match, including two in 90 seconds early in the final quarter. Suns spearhead Ben King booted three as he continued a strong season.
Gold Coast's young trio of Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell and Bailey Humphrey combined for 44 contested possessions as the Suns were harder at the ball when it mattered.
For the Crows, Taylor Walker led the way with three goals, while Darcy Fogarty and Ben Keays kicked two each.
The Suns have the bye next week, followed by matches against Carlton, Hawthorn and Collingwood.
The Crows face West Coast in Adelaide next week before their bye.
They then have matches against Collingwood, North Melbourne, Essendon and GWS.
Pies roll on with win over Eagles, but de Goey could miss weeks
Star Collingwood forward Jordan De Goey is facing a sizeable suspension after unleashing a devastating bump on West Coast youngster Elijah Hewett during the Magpies' 63-point win in Perth.
Hewett had just fired off a handball when De Goey came through and bumped him flush on the face late in the opening term of Collingwood's 18.12 (120) to 8.9 (57) win on Saturday.
The first-year Eagle was flattened by the hit and was ruled out of the rest of the match with concussion.
The incident is almost certain to cost De Goey multiple weeks on the sidelines, with the AFL taking a dim view of players who opt to unnecessarily bump opponents.
The high nature of the hit and the fact Hewett was concussed will also play against De Goey, who could be referred straight to the AFL Tribunal.
If that's the case, De Goey will face a minimum ban of three weeks.
Whatever the suspension ban ends up being, it spells the end of De Goey's Brownlow medal hopes.
"I hope the young lad (Hewett) is OK," Collingwood coach Craig McRae said.
"That's where our concern goes to. Jords is a fair player and the rules will be the rules.
"It's split seconds, isn't it? Do I go in and tackle, or do I bump or smother?
"He's a great kid Jordy. I don't know how he is personally, emotionally after the game, but he's a fair player and I think history will show that."
West Coast were reduced to just two fit men on the bench after quarter-time and the Pies looked set for an easy win after skipping out to a 46-3 lead early in the second term.
The Eagles launched a frenetic fightback and would have closed the gap to nine points had Andrew Gaff kicked truly from 35m late in the third quarter.
Gaff's miss proved costly, with Collingwood booting nine of the next 10 goals to secure their eighth straight win.
In contrast, the result was West Coast's 10th straight loss — setting a record losing run for the Eagles.
"That's for you to write about," was Eagles coach Adam Simpson's swift response when asked about the new record.
Hewett was one of three Eagles players injured in the opening quarter.
Connor West damaged his knee when a teammate crashed into his legs, while Shannon Hurn injured his right hamstring late in the term.
Those injury concerns came on the back of star defender Tom Barrass being ruled out before the match with a hip injury.
Collingwood didn't come out unscathed either.
Beau McCreery injured his ankle late in the first half and Will Hoskin-Elliott was helped off the field in the final quarter after rolling his left ankle.
West Coast won the clearances and inside 50s across the first three quarters in a positive sign against the league's top side.
Collingwood rising star Nick Daicos continued his hot form with 30 disposals and three goals, while Ash Johnson, Bobby Hill and Brody Mihocek kicked three goals apiece.
Dom Sheed (43 disposals, 10 clearances, one goal), Tim Kelly (29 disposals, nine clearances, one goal) and Elliot Yeo (26 disposals, seven clearances) were monumental for West Coast, while forward Oscar Allen booted three goals.
Second half fightback spares Hawks' blushes in Power loss
Port Adelaide's Jeremy Finlayson has kicked five goals in a 55-point belting of Hawthorn which creates a club-record AFL winning streak.
The second-placed Power's 23.13 (151) to 14.12 (96) rout at Adelaide Oval on Saturday is their ninth consecutive victory — bettering their eight-straight wins in the seasons of 2002, 2003 and 2014.
Port also logged a series of scoring benchmarks against the Hawks, who were woeful in the first half and trailed by 82 points at the long break.
The Power romped to 9.3 at quarter-time — their biggest score in an opening term at Adelaide Oval, and their highest in any game since 2009.
Port booted another seven goals in the second quarter for a 16.9 (105) total — their highest half-time score ever, surpassing the previous best of 15.5 (95) against Richmond in 2002.
The Power's 82-point half-time lead was also a record for Ken Hinkley's club. Midway through the third term, the hosts were 96 points up.
But the Hawks stemmed the bleeding by kicking eight of the last 10 goals of the game.
The only bright spot in Hawthorn's dismal first half was Luke Breust kicking his 500th career goal, joining Leigh Matthews, Jason Dunstall and Jarryd Roughead as Hawks to reach that milestone.
Port's Finlayson booted four goals in the opening quarter and his five for the match equalled his career-high.
Fellow forwards Todd Marshall (five goals) and Junior Rioli (four goals) also matched their career-best hauls.
Port's midfield duo of Connor Rozee (29 disposals, 13 inside-50s, one goal) and Zak Butters (26 touches, one goal) continued their fine form, while Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines collected 24 possessions and halfback Dan Houston's 20 disposals featured two long goals.
Hawthorn's Breust finished with five goals in a standout display for his 16th-placed club and Mitch Lewis slotted three majors.
Hawk on-baller James Worpel gathered a match-high 35 disposals while former Power pair Jarman Impey (33 touches, one goal) and Karl Amon (25, one goal) battled gamely against the Port tide.
Ladder
ABC/AAP
