It was a big round of footy and there were important storylines out of all nine games.
We have selected one positive and one negative from every club’s Round 8 performance.
See our thoughts below:
Positive: Sloane back in action
It was good to see captain Rory Sloane back in action after missing four weeks with a detached retina.
Sloane battled manfully all night and even copped another hit to his eye, receiving a nasty cut as a result.
He finished with 20 disposals, 10 tackles and a goal, and tried his hardest to lead his side against the odds.
The Crows and Sloane hung in there as best they could but were just overpowered by a stronger opponent.
Negative: Losing players early, lack of connection in attack
The Crows were without two players inside the first quarter which was not an ideal beginning.
Ned McHenry suffered a concussion from a Scott Lycett sling tackle before Lachlan Murphy sustained an ankle injury which ended his night early.
It wasn’t the difference between them winning and losing but it certainly didn’t help.
Neither did their inability to take clean possession in attack. The Crows took just two marks inside 50 for the entire game which is rarely going to equate to goals.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: Lock Hugh McCluggage into an All-Australian wing
Hugh McCluggage is getting better by the week after another strong performance against Fremantle.
It’s becoming a recurring theme in Brisbane’s positive column, but the silky ball-winner’s form of late has been too strong to ignore.
His 27-disposal, one-goal game could have genuinely been his fourth consecutive best afield performance as the Lions re-emerged as premiership contenders.
He’s almost certainly set for higher honours this season if his form continues, and he may even lead the Brownlow Medal count after eight rounds.
Could Brisbane make it back to back ‘Charlie’ winners? McCluggage, 23, is certainly putting his best foot forward to give it every chance.
Negative: Has Cameron’s form jump come at the cost of Eric Hipwood?
There’s no doubt Charlie Cameron has hit his straps after a poor start to the season.
A move back closer to goal across the past three weeks has resulted in 10 goals, rediscovering the form that transformed him into one of the most dangerous small forwards in the competition last year.
While Cameron has certainly upped his potency around goal, key target Eric Hipwood has failed to make an impact in the past fortnight despite the Lions’ dominance.
He’s kicked one goal across the last two weeks from just 10 kicks overall, as he now struggles for a bit of form.
It’s not a major concern for Chris Fagan such is his side’s strong form, but Hipwood would like to be having a bigger say in their wins.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: The Blues are almost there
As infinitely frustrating as it would be for Carlton fans to see their team give up a five-goal lead to lose again, they did go down to a 7-1 team second on the ladder.
They dominated for 2.5 quarters and squandered a few opportunities to put the game beyond doubt.
Regardless of their age profile, Carlton is a side filled with young players who are still learning what it takes to win big games.
Experiences like this will hopefully help them in the long-term and an opportunity to made amends looms against Melbourne this weekend.
Negative: Midfield dominated
Carlton is the fourth most efficient team at scoring when they get the ball inside 50 and they could not have asked for more from defensive duo Jacob Weitering and Liam Jones.
The issue is everything in between. Tom Liberatore and Marcus Bontempelli combined for 23 clearances, Jack Macrae found 32 disposals and Adam Treloar did as he pleased on the outside.
Sam Walsh and Ed Curnow had good games, but the Blues were smashed overall in the clearances 43-27, leading to the Dogs having 60 inside 50s, and it ultimately swung the game in the Bulldogs’ favour.
Patrick Cripps meanwhile looks sore and has not been anywhere near the AFLPA MVP of a few years ago.
Nic Negrepontis
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Positive: Position debates put to rest
Darcy Moore and Jordan De Goey put to rest any debate of their best positions.
Moore’s best performances at AFL level have been at centre half-back while De Goey has shone as a deep forward.
Coach Nathan Buckley went back to what he knows works best with the duo and it paid off, with Moore collecting 28 disposals and taking 19 marks down back while De Goey looked by far the most dangerous forward on the ground kicking 6.3.
If Collingwood has any hope of turning their season around it’s going to rest largely on the shoulders of the pair, so it’s best that Buckley continues to maximise their output in their natural positions going forward.
Negative: The win was anything but convincing
Yes, they managed to snap a five-game losing streak, but it was certainly wasn't as emphatic as they'd have hoped.
A three-goal win over clearly the worst side in the competition does nothing but confirm the Magpies are a very average outfit in 2021.
North Melbourne ultimately shot themselves in the foot with poor decision making and a lack of execution when moving the ball.
In fact, there was almost no way the Magpies could have lost, such was the lack of competence the Kangaroos showed on Saturday.
Wins will prove increasingly difficult to come by if the Magpies produce similar performances going forward.
They'll be hoping to improve dramatically despite taking the four points.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: Recovering from big margins twice
The Bombers started Saturday’s game against GWS in shaky fashion, with Leon Cameron’s side able to pile on a big run of goals in two seperate periods of the match.
Essendon was able to steady and wrestle back momentum on the road against an in-form side and even if they did land up losing their third game of the season by less than a goal, they’re rapidly building a pattern of performing under duress and the ability to problem solve throughout the match.
The next step for them is being able to convert promising form in patches of games into wins.
Negative: Conceding plenty of goals again
Any good premiership-contending side has defence at the heart of everything they do and on that front, it’s been a disappointing fortnight for Essendon having conceded over 100 points in losses to Carlton and GWS.
The issue Ben Rutten will be looking to fix largely centres on their turnover game and cutting out costly errors coming out of defence.
It’s only then that they’ll go from a development side to a team challenging for finals.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Sean Darcy’s form
Sean Darcy was dominant on Sunday evening against the Lions.
He won 39 hit-outs, overshadowing Oscar McInerney’s 15.
Darcy was also effective around the grounds, finishing with 17 disposals and kicking a goal.
After an injury interrupted pre-season, the Freo ruckman is starting to build into form.
Negative: Where are the goals coming from?
Matt Taberner is carrying a heavy load in this Fremantle forward line and when he doesn’t fire, few others are standing up.
Taberner has kicked 22 goals this season, including two on the weekend against Brisbane.
Freo’s next highest goal kicker is Lachie Schultz with 10.
The Dockers have to manufacture more goal kickers if they are to make the top eight.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: Geelong’s three-headed monster fires
The footy world caught a glimpse of Geelong’s new-look forward line at their brilliant best on Friday night, led by star recruit Jeremy Cameron who kicked six goals in the Grand Final rematch.
What was as impressive was the ability for both Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan alongside Cameron to separate themselves and each provide a potent threat all night against Richmond.
If the Cats’ three big forwards can fire all at once at the pointy end of the season, look out.
Negative: Questions around Geelong’s late changes
It was reported by AFL Media on Wednesday that Rhys Stanley had been dropped for Esava Ratugolea, but the teams named on Thursday night still had Stanley in the selected side.
It was only an hour before the game on Friday night when the teams were finalised that the change was confirmed, raising questions as to whether making non-injury selections public shortly before the bounce is the best practice and if it should be allowed.
On a night where Geelong did nothing wrong and impressed on the field, the manner in which they used the late change is a reasonable question to be asking.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Touk Miller
Underrated Sun Touk Miller continues to lead by example.
Miller collected a game-high 33 disposals, three clearances and five score involvements in Gold Coast’s loss to the Saints.
The unassuming midfielder is averaging 28.9 touchers and four clearances per game in 2021. He is also ranked second for tackles across the competition in what is a career-best season so far.
Gold Coast’s vice-captain is doing everything in his power to lift his side to the next level.
In a blow for the Suns, Miller was offered a one-match ban for engaging in rough conduct with St Kilda's Nick Coffield.
Negative: Another lost opportunity
It’s a game the Suns would feel they should have won.
After leading for most of the afternoon, Gold Coast faded late to fall to their fifth loss of the season.
The Suns needed to back up their big wins over Sydney and Collingwood with a home victory over the Saints, and they looked on their way after leading by 15 points at three-quarter time.
Better consistency is required if the Suns are to break their finals drought.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Season back on track
After a slow start, the Giants have fought back strongly in the past five weeks to keep their season well and truly alive.
Leon Cameron’s side has won four of their past five and are now within striking distance of the eight.
It wasn’t pretty against Essendon, but in the end they achieved the desired result and now get to take an improved 4-4 record to Richmond this Saturday night.
The Giants have resurrected themselves after a tricky beginning while having to deal with a number of injuries to key players.
Negative: Let the Dons back in, another injury
GWS got the win but it could have been much more comfortable.
They led the Bombers by as much as 31 points in the first quarter before letting the visitors back in, in a game that ended up being a real shootout. That won’t fly against better opponents.
In a major blow, Lachie Keeffe will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in the final moments of the game.
He has been a central figure in the backline and his absence will be felt, especially with Phil Davis and Nick Haynes already on the sidelines.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: James Worpel finding form
Hawthorn has had an awful fortnight overall, but James Worpel has found some form.
After an indifferent start to the season, he picked up 33 disposals, 11 clearances and seven tackles against the Saints last week.
He then backed that up with 27 disposals, six clearances and two goals against the Eagles, rediscovering the form that saw him win the best and fairest in 2019.
Negative: A total lack of goal kickers
Jack Gunston made his return from a back injury last week, but was a late withdrawal for the Eagles clash with back spasms.
Without him, the Hawks have struggled to find consistent avenues to goal this year.
Luke Breust has kicked 12, while Dylan Moore and Jacob Koschitzke have kicked nine each.
Koschitzke, Mitch Lewis and Emerson Jeka are young key forwards that will get the opportunity to develop this year, but for now the Hawks are lacking firepower.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: Ben Brown proves his worth
How Simon Goodwin went about integrating Ben Brown into a forward line of the only unbeaten side in the competition was always going to be an interesting watch and on the basis of how he played against Sydney on Saturday night, his inclusion is proving to be a winner.
Coming back from injury through the VFL, Brown has been made to wait for his Melbourne debut and after his first game for his new club against his old one in North Melbourne last week, he impressed again at the MCG on Saturday night.
Kicking three goals and taking nine marks, Brown showed exactly why the Dees opted to recruit him.
The scary prospect for opposition clubs is he should only get better as he continues to build fitness.
Negative: Centre clearance numbers
Simon Goodwin said post-match they had plenty of work to do on their centre clearance numbers and it now looms as key area of improvement heading into next week’s game against Carlton’s strong midfield.
Melbourne lost centre clearances 17 to 4 on Saturday night, with the Swans midfield earning first use out of the middle on almost every occasion.
After Goodwin publicly put that stat on the agenda post-match, how they go in that area against the Blues will be worth keeping an eye on.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Consistent effort
They sit winless on the bottom of the ladder, but you couldn’t question North’s effort over the last fortnight.
They took it right up to the undefeated Melbourne last week and were equally committed against Collingwood in Round 8.
The Roos fought hard and were in the game from start to finish.
Unfortunately…
Negative: They couldn’t stop Jordan De Goey
Aiden Bonar was comfortably beaten by Jordan De Goey in the first quarter with the Collingwood forward booting 4.3 in the first half.
In an otherwise relatively even game, this one-on-one proved the difference and yet the Roos opted not to make a change.
Bonar was eventually subbed out of the game with an ankle injury, but the damage had been done and De Goey finished the afternoon with a bag of six.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: Forward trio fire Power to Showdown supremacy
Todd Marshall, Charlie Dixon and Mitch Georgiades kicked seven goals between them to fire Port Adelaide to victory over cross-town rivals Adelaide in the Showdown.
Marshall booted an equal season-high three goals while Dixon and Georgiades chipped in with two goals apiece.
Port Adelaide’s midfield class, led by three-time Showdown Medallist Travis Boak, allowed them to take 12 inside 50 marks to Adelaide’s two.
A solid response after the heavy loss to Brisbane in Round 7.
Negative: Lycett's sling tackle
Port Adelaide could be without ruckman Scott Lycett for multiple weeks.
Lycett was sent straight to the Tribunal for an ugly sling tackle on Adelaide’s Ned McHenry.
McHenry’s head was slammed into the ground and was later substituted out of the game with concussion.
Match Review Officer Michael Christian graded the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
Lycett is almost certain to miss Port Adelaide’s upcoming home clash against the Western Bulldogs.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Shai’s screamer, strong start
The night started pretty well for Richmond.
They got out to a handy three-goal lead by quarter-time but not before a Mark of the Year contender from Shai Bolton.
It was a magical moment when Bolton flung himself over Mark Blicavs in the goal square to take an absolute screamer.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, there weren’t too many highlights thereafter.
Negative: Second-half capitulation
The Tigers were good value for a bigger lead at half-time but couldn’t quite shake the Cats.
Then it all went horribly wrong.
Geelong went bang in the third term, kicking eight goals to one, using a similar game style to what has made the Tigers so successful of late.
Richmond was brushed aside by a powerful Cats outfit and now has the task ahead to quickly recover when the Giants come to town next Saturday night.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: Ryder sparks strong finish
St Kilda has sorely missed Paddy Ryder – you could argue that he is their most important player.
Ryder’s ruck dominance allowed the Saints to gain control through the midfield which sparked a four goal to zero last quarter.
Ryder also kicked a crucial goal that put the Saints in front with time ticking in the final term.
St Kilda won the clearances (37-27), centre clearances (10-7) and the stoppage clearances (27-20) largely thanks to the veteran’s ruck craft.
Negative: Sloppy skill errors
It was a tough watch, but the Saints banked the all-important four points to square their season ledger to 4-4.
In perfect conditions at Metricon Stadium, both teams were guilty of sloppy skill errors.
St Kilda missed several gettable goal-scoring opportunities with Dan Butler (0.3), Jack Higgins (1.3) and Max King (1.2) wayward in front of the big sticks.
With Geelong and the Western Bulldogs to come over the next fortnight, there is plenty of scope for improvement, particularly with ball in hand.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Centre bounce domination
Despite the loss, Sydney’s on-ball brigade did as they pleased against a highly-regarded Melbourne midfield group at centre bounces.
The Swans won the centre clearance tally 17-4, giving their forwards first opportunity and giving the rest of the side strong field position in attack.
Ultimately, the Demons were able to do well to win the ball back throughout the night, but it’s certainly an area of the game that the Swans know is a strong suit going forward.
Veteran midfielders Luke Parker (32 disposals, 7 clearances) and Josh Kennedy (22 disposals, 5 clearances) are in strong form and they should find it even easier to get the better of weaker midfield groups in Collingwood, Fremantle and Carlton in the coming weeks.
Negative: Inability to mark inside 50
Sydney comfortably won the inside 50 count 58-46 on Saturday night but were unable to turn it into a winning score.
The Swans kicked only 8.10 despite the dominance, and it came down to the fact that they only were able to take six marks inside 50.
Yes, it was a wet night, but that’s still an incredibly low number and a figure that few teams could kick a winning score with.
In comparison, they took 15 marks going forward against Richmond in Round 3, and that was without Lance Franklin.
They’ll want to tidy up this aspect of their game as they continue to press their finals claims.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: The small forwards
With Oscar Allen once again lining up behind the ball to cover injured Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass, Adam Simpson had the opportunity to experiment with different pieces.
Jake Waterman, who resumed a role closer to goal in the win over Fremantle, played even deeper as the Eagles pushed the margin out. The father-son recruit, along with Jack Petruccelle, dipped in and out of the game but the contest was there when the ball came in dirty.
Higher up the ground, Zac Langdon and Jamaine Jones dialled up the heat on the Hawks with 43 pressure acts and two goals between them, and helped the Eagles’ midfielders chain it out of the centre. A tick for Simpson’s smalls.
The match also represented a breakthrough as West Coast’s first win away from Perth this year.
Negative: The squalid opening stanza
Despite leading forward entries 16-8 and the clearance count 8-3, the Eagles couldn’t break through for a goal in the opening term.
It was a rough aesthetic, with both sides corralled wide and challenged to create from low percentage areas
Given the seven-goal second term, how to respond to the first may depend on how you perceive half a glass of water.
Simpson is of the half-full persuasion, and related his contentment with the way the game was breaking.
“We had good field position, not good entries… Hawthorn defended really well, their back six held up,” he told reporters.
“(But) the message at quarter time was that if we keep getting that sort of supply, we’ll eventually convert.”
Otherwise, spearhead Josh Kennedy’s substitution with a calf complaint will have sent a shiver through the West Coast camp.
The 33-year-old was of a sunny disposition after the game, declaring it was only a precautionary call, but the Eagles can ill-afford further injuries.
Nathan John
Positive: Josh Bruce
The impact of the former Saint has been understated over the past season or so; while above his ideal playing weight in 2020, Bruce worked hard to shield his teammates and break up aerial contests down the line.
The 28-year-old has this year complemented that doggedness with a clean pair of hands and more of a ground level game, but his goals have still come amid Bulldog ascendancy - most famously his 10 in an 128-point win over North Melbourne five weeks ago.
On Sunday afternoon Bruce was the master of his own destiny, his five goals spanning the final three quarters even as the Blues built a handy lead midway through. He played like a leader, clunking marks and converting set shots to tame the margin.
Negative: They were opened up too easily
Despite the Doggie dominance moving the ball out of the engine room, underpinned by Tom Liberatore (13 clearances), the Baggers kicked eight of 10 goals on either side of half-time.
David Teague’s men were too easily afforded channels for the outlet receiver to dash into, and they ate up the room to run, hitting targets by foot and maintaining forward momentum.
The Dogs’ inability to close exits and put pressure on kicks was reflected in the Blues’ uncontested marking differential (+10) and kicking efficiency (79%) over the second term.
Luke Beveridge tightened the screws at the long break, Carlton’s verticality vanished, and the dividends flowed in. It is fortunate for the Dogs that Beveridge is one of the competition’s leading match day tacticians, and indeed that the door was still ajar.
Nathan John