In the first bye week of the season, thrillers and blowouts were occurring across the nation, with key individual performances that continue to shape our MVP leaderboard after Round 12.

Demon Christian Petracca has taken the top spot from Dogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli, whilst Pies star Nick Daicos moved into the top two.

Tim Taranto continues to climb the leaderboard, moving into fourth. Elsewhere, injured Demon Clayton Oliver slid down to seventh.

Melbourne vs Carlton

Despite an improved performance from the Blues, Melbourne managed to win by 17 points on Friday night. Dees' superstar Christian Petracca relished his role in midfield racking up 32 touches and kicking one with Clayton Oliver still out with an injury.

Steven May was crucial down back, keeping Charlie Curnow to only one goal whilst the ever-reliable Bayley Fritsch kicked two at the other end. Max Gawn dominated around the ground with key performances from both Ed Langdon and Jacob Van Rooyen also.

For the Blues, gun midfielder Adam Cerra (30 touches) and defender Jacob Weitering (16 disposals and eight marks) kept them in the game.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Christian Petracca Steven May Christian Petracca Christian Petracca
4 Steven May Christian Petracca Max Gawn Steven May
3 Max Gawn Bayley Fritsch Steven May Max Gawn
2 Adam Cerra Max Gawn Bayley Fritsch Adam Cerra
1 Bayley Fritsch Ed Langdon Jacob Weitering Jacob Van Rooyen

Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn

In arguably the most dominant display from any side all year, the Power stormed home against the Hawks. Their first half was an absolute clinic. Key forward Jeremy Finlayson booted four in the first quarter alone, finishing the game with five.

Young guns Connor Rozee and Zak Butters led the way through the midfield with 29 and 26 touches respectively. Both midfielders hit the scoreboard with a goal each also. Todd Marshall was a threat up forward with Finlayson booting five of his own.

Nothing went right for the Hawks in the first half, however, Luke Breust broke the 500 career goal mark and ended up booting five of his own.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Jeremy Finlayson Jeremy Finlayson Jeremy Finlayson Jeremy Finlayson
4 Dan Houston Connor Rozee Connor Rozee Todd Marshall
3 Zak Butters Zak Butters Zak Butters Zak Butters
2 Todd Marshall Dan Houston Todd Marshall Connor Rozee
1 Luke Breust Todd Marshall Luke Breust Dan Houston

West Coast vs Collingwood

Although on paper this game could only go one way, the Eagles put up a fight in the third term against the red-hot Pies. However, Collingwood overcame the injury-battled side to win comfortably.

The midfield dominance was the name of the game, with Tom Mitchell producing a clinic, racking up 30 touches and kicking a goal. Nick Daicos was back to his best with 30 disposals and a damaging three goals.

For the Eagles, premiership hero Dom Sheed was everywhere with 43 touches and a goal in his 150th game. Teammate Elliot Yeo was back to his best in the clearance battle despite the ruck dominance from Pie Darcy Cameron.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Tom Mitchell Tom Mitchell Tom Mitchell Tom Mitchell
4 Nick Daicos Nick Daicos Nick Daicos Nick Daicos
3 Dom Sheed Dom Sheed Dom Sheed Dom Sheed
2 Darcy Cameron Darcy Cameron Elliot Yeo Darcy Cameron
1 Elliot Yeo Elliot Yeo Darcy Cameron Brody Mihocek

Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

The Cats proved they still have something left in 2023 despite some early hiccups after beating the Dogs at Marvel. Utility player Mark Blicavs was everywhere around the ground for the Cats only matched by Bulldog Tim English.

Tom Stewart showed his class and was a key reason for the Cats' comeback as he racked up 27 and kicked a crucial goal. Jeremy Cameron was back to his best around the ground and up forward with 21 touches and two goals.

For the Dogs, it was defender Caleb Daniel who stood out with his clean disposal off half-back finishing with 35 disposals and a goal.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Mark Blicavs Mark Blicavs Mark Blicavs Mark Blicavs
4 Tom Stewart Tom Stewart Tim English Tom Stewart
3 Tim English Tim English Tom Stewart Caleb Daniel
2 Caleb Daniel Jeremy Cameron Caleb Daniel Tim English
1 Bradley Close Caleb Daniel Jeremy Cameron Tom Atkins

Gold Coast vs Adelaide

The Suns continued to shine after defeating the Crows in Darwin. Jack Lukosius, once again, showed his worth as a forward booting five for the second consecutive week.

Noah Anderson was dominant in midfield managing to kick two along with 28 possessions. Matt Rowell was a wrecking ball with eight tackles and a game-high 10 clearances.

For the Crows, Jordan Dawson and Ben Keays stood out, both hitting the scoreboard (one and two goals respectively). Young Sun Bailey Humphrey continued to impress with two goals along with 17 touches.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Noah Anderson Noah Anderson Noah Anderson Jack Lukosius
4 Jack Lukosius Jack Lukosius Jack Lukosius Noah Anderson
3 Jordan Dawson Jordan Dawson Jordan Dawson Matthew Rowell
2 Bailey Humphrey Bailey Humphrey Matthew Rowell Jordan Dawson
1 Matthew Rowell Matthew Rowell Ben Keays Ben Keays

GWS vs Richmond

Whilst history shows that the Tigers tend to be on the losing end of a close game, they managed to overcome the Giants in Sydney. Tim Taranto was at his usual best kicking one and racking up 36 touches against his former side.

Richmond defender Noah Balta was a standout while up forward, Jack Riewoldt turned back the clock, booting five. Tom Green was damaging through the midfield for the Giants with 35 disposals along with young teammate Finn Callaghan.

Number one ruckman for the Giants Kieren Briggs won the ruck battle against the Tigers even managing a major to cement his spot.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Tim Taranto Tim Taranto Tim Taranto Tim Taranto
4 Noah Balta Noah Balta Noah Balta Jack Riewoldt
3 Jack Riewoldt Kieren Briggs Jack Riewoldt Tom Green
2 Kieren Briggs Finn Callaghan Tom Green Kieren Briggs
1 Finn Callaghan Jack Riewoldt Kieren Briggs Noah Balta

Essendon vs North Melbourne

To cap off a great round of footy, the Dons beat the Kangaroos under the roof of Marvel in an absolute thriller. Zach Merrett had one of the all-time great opening terms and ended up finishing with 34 and two goals.

Star wingman Nic Martin continued to push for an All-Australian jacket with 21 touches and two goals. Defender Jordan Ridley and midfielder Jye Caldwell also impressed to push the Bombers over the line.

For the Roos, defender Ben McKay was back to his best with 10 marks in the backline, whilst young superstar Will Phillips impressed with 27 and a goal.

Mitch Keating Ed Carmine Jack Jovanovski Nick Splitter
5 Nic Martin Zach Merrett Zach Merrett Zach Merrett
4 Zach Merrett Nic Martin Nic Martin Nic Martin
3 Ben McKay Jordan Ridley Will Phillips Will Phillips
2 Jordan Ridley Ben McKay Ben McKay Jordan Ridley
1 Will Phillips Will Phillips Jye Caldwell Ben McKay

 

Leaderboard

 

View the full 2023 leaderboard here.