Round 8 of the AFL season saw the Power continue their mini resurgence while the Saints were humbled at the hands of ruthless reigning premiers Melbourne.
Dustin Martin's return was welcomed competition wide - except by Pies fans! - while Fremantle continued to assert themselves as contenders.
See where your team sits after Round 8 ๐
1. Melbourne (-)
What can we say that hasn't been said already?
The reigning premiers are a juggernaut, having easily dispatched of St Kilda on the weekend to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
ANALYSIS: High four: How the generous Dees will still kill in an instant
With an average winning margin of just under five goals, the scary thing is there's a feeling among pundits that Melbourne are still in cruise control as they put teams away in bursts rather than four-quarter demolition jobs.
They are clearly the team to beat at this stage.
2. Brisbane (-)
It was a shame for the Lions to have suffered an injury at their open training session at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Out-of-contract forward Daniel McStay is set for a stint on the sidelines, with scans set to reveal the extent of a left ankle injury.
READ MORE: Lions free agent linked with "astronomical" offer from Victorian club
The 75-point win over the West Coast Witches Hats was as effortless as you'd like, with the general consensus it could've been more if not for the slippery conditions.
Apart from Melbourne, injuries appear to be the Lions' biggest concern at this stage.
3. Fremantle (-)
Speaking of witches hats and open training sessions, the Dockers were another club to hold an open session at home over the weekend.
All the talk in the lead-up was Fremantle playing their first AFL game on a Friday night in 2,122 days - and you could argue that streak is yet to end after their cakewalk.
The 78-point win over a hapless North Melbourne was clinical and, while the Dockers will face much sterner tests, they sit pretty with a 7-1 record.
4. Carlton (+2)
There's a lot to like about the Blues, who sit fourth on the ladder with a 6-2 record.
Key forward duo Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow look capable of dismantling any opposition, while there is no player across the competition in better form than Patrick Cripps.
In a sign of change, supporters were actually disappointed with Sunday's 48-point win over Adelaide - suggesting it was an opportunity missed to build percentage.
Hard to be negative on Carlton a 6-2. But this last quarter has been nothing short of an opportunity lost. Percentage needed boosting. #AFLBluesCrows
— Jake Benoiton (@JakeBenoiton) May 8, 2022
5. Sydney (-1)
It's hard to know what to make of the Swans, who fell to the Gold Coast in a shock 14-point defeat on Saturday.
Sydney's best is scintillating, but they can also throw in a shocker at times - think the loss to the Western Bulldogs, the narrow win over North Melbourne or Saturday's loss to the Suns.
This may simply be their reality with an emergence of young talent - that their performance levels fluctuate from week to week - but it's hard to say they're a legitimate contender with such inconsistency.
6. Geelong (+1)
The weekend's win over GWS was clinical, taking the Cats to a 5-3 record.
And that record should be improved on over the coming weeks, with Geelong's next five games against St Kilda (away), Port Adelaide (home), Adelaide (home), Western Bulldogs (away) and West Coast (away).
At the very least, the Cats would expect to come away from that with three wins - although the only game they won't start heavy favourites in will be this weekend's stoush against the Saints.
7. St Kilda (-2)
The Saints were far from disgraced in Sunday's much-hyped game against the reigning premiers, but they did realise they still have a lot of ground to make up to be genuine contenders.
St Kilda didn't necessarily play poorly in the 38-point defeat, but their ball movement was stifled by the stingy Dees defence and they didn't help themselves with some costly turnovers.
As summed up in the tweet below, the game was a good reality check.
Good day to buy stocks in the phrase "reality check" #afldeessaints
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) May 8, 2022
8. Richmond (+2)
The return of Dustin Martin was the talk of the football world on the weekend, and the Tigers welcomed back their star with a comfortable win over the Pies.
'Dusty' was solid with 23 disposals and two goals, but he was overshadowed by Tom Lynch who continued his hot form with 6.1, 11 marks and 25 possessions.
The Tigers' win saw them leapfrog Collingwood into the top eight, and they will fancy themselves over Hawthorn and Essendon over the next fortnight.
9. Collingwood (-1)
Far from disgraced in defeat on the weekend, the 4-4 Magpies are far ahead of where many expected at the start of the season.
Craig McRae's men are competitive and will win their fair share of games, but they are still a bit off the better teams in the competition.
Perhaps their biggest issue is the defence - or lack thereof - from star player Darcy Moore, who recently signed a six-year contract extension worth a reported $5 million.
"He's on 900K for six years, he wants to be captain of the club. You cannot be let off with defensive actions like that."
Cornesy Vol-Kane-Os Darcy Moore, who was again caught out playing too loose as Tom Lynch booted six goals yesterday. #9AFLSFS | @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/lZlcSE1ILl
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) May 8, 2022
10. Port Adelaide (+3)
The Power's resurgence continued with a comfortable win over the Western Bulldogs at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The 17-point win - an 88-point turnaround from last year's preliminary final thrashing - was the Power's third in a row and, with the bye (North Melbourne) to come this week, there is a sense of optimism again at Alberton.
Just imagine if Jordan Dawson missed after the siren and Port fell over the line against Carlton ...
If only someone saw earlier that Port wasn't thatย bad ...
READ MORE: OPINION - Port Adelaide not as bad as 0-5 record suggests
11. Hawthorn (-2)
Saturday night's final quarter fadeout against the Bombers was nothing other than diabolical.
To throw away a lead against a 1-6 Essendon, who lost five players before the game as late outs, is simply not good enough - not to mention it's the second time in three weeks the Hawks have been overrun after starting strongly.
There have been encouraging signs in the first eight weeks of Sam Mitchell's reign however, and, with such an inexperienced group, perhaps inconsistency is to be expected.
12. Western Bulldogs (-1)
Something just doesn't feel right with last season's beaten grand finalists, who now sit at 3-5 after a disappointing defeat to Port Adelaide.
Two of those three wins have come against lowly Essendon and North Melbourne, which are also the only two games the Bulldogs have scored over 100 points.
Take out those two matches and the Bulldogs average just a smidge more than 70 points per game - supporting the theory that it's currently 'Aaron Naughton or bust' when going inside 50.
13. Gold Coast (+2)
The Suns' win over Sydney on Saturday actually frustrates more than it encourages.
Yes, the Swans weren't at their best, but this is what the Suns are capable of and this is the standard they should be held accountable to.
There is enough to look forward to for the Suns and their young crop - they've now beaten both Sydney and Carlton this season, and that's without star forward Ben King.
But they still need to minimise the gap between their best and their worst.
14. Adelaide (-2)
The Crows had won plenty of respect for their start to the season, with a 3-3 record after six rounds including two defeats by less than a goal.
However, their last fortnight has been disappointing, falling to GWS by 59 points at home before offering little resistance in a 48-point defeat to Carlton that could have been much more.
The Crows have a rough few weeks coming up, scheduled to host Brisbane and St Kilda before a trip to Geelong.
Their early-season form would see them at least be competitive, but they can't afford to be blown out of the water as they have been over the past fortnight.
15. GWS (-1)
After a dominant win last week over Adelaide, which followed intense specutlation on the club and coach Leon Cameron, many expected GWS to go on with the job.
While Geelong posted a much tougher challenge than Adelaide, GWS should've at least remained competitive. However, they were anything but.
A 58-point defeat in which they only scored four goals for the game was incredibly disappointing, but what sums up GWS in recent times is that, in some ways, the result barely raised an eyebrow.
16. Essendon (-)
Credit where it's due, this was a good win by the Bombers.
Down and out mid-way through the game, Essendon were also heavily undermanned with five players late withdrawals.
To fight back and win shows a bit of tenacity and spirit - something the club has lacked in the early rounds of the season.
However, they remain in 16th in our power rankings because one hot day doesn't make a summer - if we see more of this, they'll be sure to rise over the coming weeks.
17. North Melbourne & West Coast
These two are as bad as each other.
Outside of playing one another - which they aren't fixtured to do again - you can't see where their next win will come from and the simple fact is both clubs are uncompetitive.
Yes, North Melbourne are in a rebuild and West Coast have had everything go against them, but right now they're a percentage boost for whoever they play.
We'll leave it up to you to decide who belongs where.
