Lemon's winners and losers, AFL Round 16

A fortnight back, three AFL sides looked to be galloping away with the top three spots in their keeping. But a couple of big upsets and the top of the ladder has cracked wide open.

It was a weekend of gutsy wins by underqualified sides. North Melbourne and Essendon came from the middle of the table to roll the top two teams in the comp, while the win of the round came from Gold Coast. More on those once we check on the premiership contenders, after Hawthorn and Port Adelaide recorded two of the more significant losses of the season.

Facing North on Friday night, the Hawks not only lost top spot, but lost Brad Sewell for a few weeks with another hamstring twang; lost their composure with a series of undisciplined free kicks; and should lose Brian Lake after he lost his mind and tried to choke Drew Petrie.

Lake’s red-mist moment was one of the uglier episodes the modern game has seen, and after being out so long with injury he’s likely to waste his new-found fitness with some more time on the sidelines.

Port, meanwhile, have tricky times ahead. When the high-flyers went down by a couple of points at the SCG a month ago, it seemed an anomalous loss that would just keep the season entertaining. But after being jumped at home by Adelaide and now Essendon, they’ve suddenly lost three out of four, and slumped to third place after being two games clear in first not long ago.

In the meantime, Fremantle and Geelong registered expected but important wins to join those two sides on 11 for the season, only percentage separating second from fifth. Sydney’s own routine win pushed them from third to four points clear at the top.

In the final weeks, each of the top four sides has two games against other top four sides. Whoever triumphs all but guarantees best spot, whoever falters will give the Cats a chance. The Cats can also have a direct say in games against Hawthorn and Freo.

Sydney are in the best form, but have to travel to play both Port and Hawthorn. Hawthorn also have a trip to Perth, Port to the Gold Coast, and Freo to Kardinia Park. From here it’s going to be a top-five deathmatch to see who emerges in the favourable finals positions.

But now to the winners. There’s really no point commenting on North’s erratic season any more: last week they were woeful in losing to Brisbane, this week they came out and dominated the Hawks.

After a tight game to that point, North pulled out the same third-quarter barrage that blew away Richmond, but this time against a vastly superior team. Hawthorn had no answers either, Lake lost the plot, and the rest of his side followed suit.

When the Kangaroos are good, they smash into the contests, run just as hard, and break the game open with fast, long delivery forward. They play the lack of conditions at Etihad Stadium well. They’ve done the impressive trick: now they have to follow it up in easier games to come.

Essendon played the opposite style, coach Mark Thompson saying after the game that their preparation had been about “giving Port Adelaide something that made them uncomfortable. They just like the fast flow-on game, so we tried to do something about that.”

It worked: while Port’s inaccuracy helped, Essendon’s suffocation kept the free-scoring Power to two goals by half time, and seven for the match. The Bombers didn’t score much either, setting the scene for the tense two-point finale, but they hung on after having lost a couple of close ones this year.

It was a big moment for the team, given the way Essendon’s board has been attracting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks, with their disingenuous attempts to discredit ASADA’s drug investigation.

Whether it was a big win for their season isn’t apparent: Essendon and Adelaide both keep trying to crack the top eight, but Gold Coast and North once more did enough to stay a game clear.

Which brings us to the Suns. I have a soft spot for these poor blighters who have to dress like burger-flippers and make their home on the most culturally barren stretch of sand anywhere on the circumference of Australia’s mighty girth. But their win was one that deserved the highest footballing praise.

No Gary Ablett. No bench. No substitutions. No rest. No breath. No stars, no hope, no chance. And yet they got there.

Collingwood – sixth on the ladder and shooting higher – would have started favourites any day of the year. Even more so with scores close in the third quarter when Ablett came off with a dislocated shoulder.

Nor did it stop there. Key forward Charlie Dixon was subbed out of the game with a calf problem, Sean Lemmens suffered a head wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding, and long-ball specialist Trent McKenzie tore a hamstring.

This left Gold Coast needing to get through the final quarter with no rotations and no way to deal with further injury. The 18 players on the field had to run out the match. They found three goals to get a break, but it seemed inevitable that the better-rested Magpies would run over the top. Somehow, the Suns managed to do the defensive running required to keep them out.

It was pure courage, and one of those transcendent moments that occasionally emanate from a footy field.

It also left the Pies as the biggest recent losers in the competition, after coughing up another game two rounds back against the Western Bulldogs. Two games behind the pack vying for the top four, their attention is now on trying to hang onto sixth and a home elimination final.

Any more mistakes, though, and Collingwood could be the ones to slip from the eight. Their upcoming game against Essendon is massive for both clubs, as is the following week’s date with Adelaide. Collingwood then face Port and a trip west to play the Eagles.

Gold Coast, meanwhile, could on current form win six of their last seven. Only Port is likely to be beyond them, but even that’s a chance at Metricon. It’s no longer just about finals for the Suns, they could even score one at home.

That said, managing two quarters without Ablett is a different task to managing four to six weeks. Many hopes, both for the Brownlow and the season, hinge on his medical reports over the next few days.