North Melbourne went into their game against Essendon incredibly young. Goldstein was dropped, Ziebell was rested, and Tarrant was a late withdraw. After the game there were calls of tanking from a number of people around the league.
What is confusing is that teams who are struggling are encouraged to play their youngsters and look to the future. However, when they do this they can then be accused of tanking. It is really a lose-lose situation in regards to the image you portray.
North Melbourne have had a better season than their record suggests, but are clearly a side that is struggling. They then try and get games into their youngsters, which many say is the thing to do if finals are out of the question, and then they are said by some to be losing on purpose. There is just no pleasing some people.
2. Richmond would love it to rain for all of September
Over the past couple of years we have seen Richmond go to another level when the rain starts falling. It happened yet again on the weekend, with their football IQ and smarts improving almost instantaneously.
With this, the Tigers will be hoping that it rains throughout the finals series as they look like a much better side when it does. You would almost back them against any side in the competition if it was in the wet.
3. Things aren't looking great for the West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles gave away four points on the weekend and it put them in an average position looking ahead. They now sit outside the top eight and are in some serious danger.
They have to play GWS and Adelaide in their run home, which could easily result in two losses. With a number of teams vying for the limited finals places, Adam Simpson's men will need to turn things around quickly.
4. Patrick Dangerfield still isn't fully healthy
Dangerfield had a good game against Adelaide, this was despite clearly not being fully fit. The star Cat looked uncomfortable at times and no doubt handballed more than he normally would.
Known for his pace, Danger seemed to lack a step or two and was not at his explosive best. The fact he was still in the top five or so players on the ground really shows just how good he is.
Hopefully for the league's sake the reigning Brownlow Medallist can get healthy. He is brilliant on one leg, but at another level on two.
5. Toby Greene is making Leon Cameron go grey
The stress and anger from watching Toby Greene continually being undisciplined must be driving Leon Cameron crazy.
Greene will be suspended for two weeks after this latest incident, meaning he will have missed a month of football through suspension this year. In a season in which the Giants have been ravaged by injuries, Cameron must be fed up.
No doubt the star forward will need need to be a lot smarter heading into the finals, with other teams likely to try and rile him up.