AFL Showdown: Collingwood's Dominance Continues Toward Minor Premiership

The Collingwood juggernaut continues on it path towards a minor premiership after they triumphed, again, in thrashing their arch-rivals Carlton at a packed MCG.

Jamie Elliott impressed once more by kicking another four goals to take his tally to 41, the most he has ever kicked in a single season during his 14 years at the club.

It was a big night for midfielder Roan Steele, who recently joined the Magpies as pick eight in the 2025 Mid-Season draft from WAFL side West Perth and was handed his debut – he wasn’t fazed at all by such a big occasion and came through it well.

For the Blues, this horror season continues to get worse with coach Michael Voss conceding that “We let our club down tonight” and it was a “really poor performance” as he and the players look set to face another tough week in the media spotlight.

Powell-Pepper injury heartache

Reigning Premiers Brisbane are the closest challengers, although still ten points adrift in second place on the ladder, as they overcame a valiant Port Adelaide.

Having got off to an initial slow opening, a run of seven consecutive goals then laid the platform to go on and lead for the rest of the contest – Zac Bailey (pictured below) scoring five goals.

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It was a really tough night for the Power that not only saw their September chances disappear but also lose three players to injury – Dante Visentini (ankle), Esava Ratugolea (hamstring) and the most serious to Sam Powell-Pepper (ACL).

Absolute heartbreak for the 27-year-old, just days earlier he was feeling on top of the world after the arrival of his third daughter, Remi. Not surprisingly, he came off as very emotional, especially when you consider he missed most of 2024 with the exact same issue in his other knee and had to go through an operation and rehabilitation.

Chris Scott coaches game 350

Geelong’s Chris Scott became just the 19th coach in AFL/VFL history to reach the 350-game milestone as he watched his players hammer a young Richmond outfit.

He is currently the longest serving and has an impressive winning percentage of 68.05% – the highest by any that have made the 150-game mark or more.

ALSO READ: AFL 2025: Lions Topple Ladder Leaders Collingwood at the ‘G’

That wasn’t the only major achievement on a great night for the Cats, as key forward Jeremy Cameron (pictured below) became just the 27th player in the sport to kick 700 goals.

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The big moment came in the third, when he collected a handball from Brad Close and then wheeled around onto his left foot and put it straight through the big sticks.

A horror show for the Tigers was further compounded by the sight of number one draft pick Sam Lalor coming off with what looks like a significant hamstring injury.

Suns win on the road

Gold Coast took another step towards a first-ever finals spot by producing a really strong finish, which saw them completely run over the top of a spirited Essendon.

Their home form has never really been an issue but rather interstate – however, this latest victory was their fifth on the road this season, which shows just how much this team has matured and improved under the tutelage of coach Damien Hardwick.

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Midfielder Matt Rowell (pictured above), who recently signed a new two-year contract with the club, registered an equal-career-high 17 tackles – the most ever by a Suns player.

One of the interesting fallouts will be if any action is taken against Bombers’ Nate Caddy for making accidental conduct with an umpire. This coming just days after the AFL made a statement saying that they would be cracking down on such incidents.

Silk-Miller Blue Ribbon Cup

Hawthorn skipper James Sicily returned to the line-up after a month out with a hip/ abdominal issue to help his side defeat St.Kilda in the Silk-Miller Blue Ribbon Cup.

This fixture, one of the AFL’s longest-standing traditions, was first established in 2000 as a tribute to Victoria police members Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, who were both killed in the line of duty in Moorabbin.

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Lloyd Meek (Hawks – pictured above) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (Saints) both received Silk-Miller Memorial Medals, voted for by the opposing club’s president, for their displays.

Mabior Chol became just the second ever South Sudanese born player, in AFL history, to make a hundred appearances in the sport. Now at his third club, the 28-year-old forward, nicknamed ‘Marbs’, is arguably in his current career’s best form.

ALSO READ: AFL 2025: Lions Topple Ladder Leaders Collingwood at the ‘G’

Swans down the Dockers in a thriller

Last season’s Grand Finalists Sydney kept their faint hopes alive of making that all-important eight by overcoming Fremantle in a highly entertaining encounter.

A lot of the build-up around this one was centred on the state of the SCG oval, but credit to all the ground staff that did an excellent job to get it ready for this match.

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Although the Swans were always ahead on the scoreboard, they were never really able to shake the visitors off. It made for an exciting finale, and it was only when Hayden McLean and Will Hayward scored late goals they knew they were home.

A narrow loss ended a run of six straight wins for the Dockers, who will look back and rue a few missed chances at crucial moments, which stopped them making it seven.

Daniel Curtin makes history

Down in South Australia, Adelaide produced a stirring comeback with a strong second-half showing to eventually see off the challenge of a plucky Melbourne.

Isak Rankine, wearing the Crows’ 2025 First Nations Guernsey to signify the start of National NAIDOC Week, did the damage with an equal career-high five majors.

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Rising Star nominee Daniel Curtin (pictured above) became the first ever player to have 25-plus disposals, 4-plus intercept marks, 4-plus score assists and 2-plus goals in a match.

There were high hopes for the Demons at the start of the campaign, but this was their fifth straight loss, meaning they won’t be there come the pointy end.

Giants stand tall over Eagles

Greater Western Sydney made their longest journey of the year, a 6,600kms round trip to WA, but it was thoroughly worth it as they returned with the chocolates.

Despite missing leading goalkicker Jesse Hogan (foot), they returned off the ‘bye’ looking sharp and were simply too strong in overwhelming bottom side West Coast.

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From the time they took the lead, inside 15 seconds, through Darcy Jones, who has earnt himself the nickname ‘kid with the lid’, it was very much plain sailing as they went on to lead for the whole evening as well as managing to win every quarter.

ALSO READ: AFL 2025: Lions Topple Ladder Leaders Collingwood at the ‘G’

Midfielder Finn Callaghan had the best outing of his Giants career to date with a career-high 37 disposals, game-high 854 gained, six clearances along with a goal.

Kangas Centenary match

North Melbourne’s special centenary match didn’t quite go to plan as they were comprehensively thumped by a red-hot Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Todd Goldstein, Glenn Archer, Wayne Schimmelbusch and Adam Simpson, who all played over 300 times for the club, were in attendance as part of the celebrations to recognise the club’s 100th year in the competition.

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The Kanga players were even given a pre-match address on the field by Denis Pagan, who coached between 1993-2002 and won two flags in 1996 and 1999, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to inspire them as they finished a well-beaten side.

Tom Liberatore, in his 250th appearance for the Doggies, marked his milestone by having the highest-rated game of his 14-year career, which includes a Premiership, as he racked up 27 disposals, 10 tackles, six clearances, five marks and two goals.