Round 5 saw football played in Melbourne for the last time until at least the end of July as all 10 Victorian clubs evaculate the state due to rising COVID-19 numbers.
There was also injury carnage, big wins and a whole lot more.
Here's some of the biggest talking points to come out of the round.
How do Essendon replace Jake Stringer?
The most pleasing aspect of Friday night’s 15-point win over Collingwood for Essendon would’ve been the manner in which they won.
Rather than win of the back of a few individual performances, it was a collective buy-in and manic pressure which was too much for the Pies to handle in the wet.
But one of their best wins in recent memories was soured by Jake Stringer’s syndesmosis injury which will see him miss as many as eight weeks. The key question for the Bombers is how their forward line looks without Stringer for the foreseeable future.
Orazio Fantasia played in defence on Friday night but they’d be well served to play a smaller forward line with him in moving forward and even consider James Stewart as a tall alongside Shaun McKernan.
Suns suffer Rowell injury setback
Speaking of injuries, Matt Rowell’s extraordinary start to life at AFL level ground to a halt on Saturday after he left GMHBA Stadium in a sling after dislocating his shoulder in their loss to Geelong.
It’s a cruel blow for the Suns, who despite taking the lead in the third quarter were overpowered in the final term by the Cats.
The hope is unlike 2014, where a Gary Ablett shoulder injury derailed Gold Coast’s season, Matt Rowell’s absence doesn’t see the Suns’ form suffer.
Why did Ben Cunnington play?
North Melbourne have questions to answer after playing a clearly injured Ben Cunnington in Saturday night’s comprehensive loss against the Western Bulldogs.
The hard-nosed midfielder has missed the last fortnight with a back injury and was a surprise inclusion this weekend.
Cunnington started the game in the forward line and look hampered throughout the contest, spending large stretches of quarters on the bench getting a massive or on the exercise bike.
North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw believe it was “possibly” the wrong call to play him.
"(Cunnington) copped a knock early and then it just didn't get any better. He wasn't giving us anything from then on in, so it's really disappointing," Shaw told reporters post-game.
"He was in doubt all week, as we stated early in the week, and he got up and we were confident and I made a decision to play him, so that's where it sits.
"It possibly was the wrong call but we were really confident, to be honest, on all the evidence we were given … I was really confident with the way he was going and he warmed up really well, so it's just what it is."
Collingwood's fortnight from hell goes from bad to worse
It was only two weeks ago in the lead up to their Round 4 clash against the GWS Giants that Collingwood were anointed early season premiership favourites.
Since then, they’ve lost twice, Jeremy Howe has gone down with a serious injury, Steele Sidebottom was banned for a month due to breaking COVID-19 protocols and Jordan De Goey was charged with one count of indecent assault stemming back to an alleged incident in 2015.
The fall from grace for Nathan Buckley’s side has been sharp and while the season is only five rounds in and there’s plenty of time to recover, Collingwood now have to face Hawthorn on Friday night on the back of a tumultuous two weeks in what now looms as a crunch clash in Round 6.
Steele Sidebottom and Jeremy Howe won’t be there and Jordan De Goey will have to test negative to two COVID-19 tests before being available for selection in Round 6 after attending a police station this weekend in relation to his indecent assault charge.
There’s plenty to ponder at the Pies in the coming days.
Tigers injuries put dent in premiership credentials
Richmond may have beaten Melbourne on Sunday afternoon but it’s come at a significant cost as Damien Hardwick looks to deal with fresh injuries to some of his most important players.
Toby Nankervis and Dion Prestia (syndesmosis), Trent Cotchin (hamstring) and Tom Lynch (finger) all left the MCG battered and bruised and all could face some time on the sidelines in the coming weeks.
Adding to Hardwick’s woes is the likelihood of Bachar Houli and Shaun Edwards not being available for the next five weeks after they reportedly opting not to join the rest of their teammates in the Gold Coast hub due to personal reasons.
The question now becomes, how much damage will be losing half several crucial players do for Richmond’s premiership credentials in 2020?
They faced a similar injury crisis last season and managed to win enough games in the interim using depth players to eventually become premiers but the intricacies of the current season pose a very different problem.
And one more thing
Port Adelaide have undoubtedly been one of the best sides in the competition so far but their form line has to be put into context of who they’ve actually played so far.
Since the season restarted, they’ve beaten 18th-placed Adelaide, 17th-placed Fremantle and 14th-placed West Coast.
And in their first true test so far against the high-flying Lions on Saturday night, they were soundly beaten by 37 points and in truth could’ve lost by a lot more.
With a string of home games to come at Adelaide Oval later in the year, there’s still plenty of time to prove themselves as genuine premiership contenders but Saturday night’s performance leaves more questions than answers about just how real Port Adelaide’s strong start to the season is.