Week of big floggings with Essendon, Richmond and the Western Bulldogs all experiencing difficult weeks and will the Dog supporters be using the flu as an excuse for their thumping?

Nick Riewoldt is back with 10 marks, 19 possessions and 7 goals. Can he inspire his team to a second consecutive Grand Final?

Collingwood defeated Essendon by 98 points

As much as Essendon believe in the rebuilding phase by Matthew Knights, this was the biggest loosing margin against Collingwood since 1971 and their fifth match in 2010 they have lost by 10 goals plus.

• Collingwood kicked 14 goals in a half.
• Cloke kicked five and for the first three quarters had his kicking boats on and then kicked several points in the last quarter to fail to kick a personal best.
• Collingwood had 12 individual goal kickers.
• Will Fraser get a game?
• Malthouse in his Eagles years gifted several players milestone matches even when they did not deserve it & I personally doubt he will make the same mistake again.
• Blair had 28 disposals in just his sixth game.
• While Collingwood had almost 100 more possessions than Essendon they had 30 odd more tackles than Essendon.

Carlton defeated Richmond by 89 points

Carlton bounced back last week and the question was, could they back up for a second week in a row and the answer was yes thanks to Judd who was BOG who has another sore shoulder from carrying his second team in his career.

• Judd had 30 possessions and 12 clearances.
• Carlton kicked 7 goals in a second quarter while Richmond could only manage a point
• Do the umpires have the Riewoldts mixed up where they pay no free kicks for Jack and all of them to Nick?
• Carlton kicked another 9 to 3 goals in the final quarter to score their highest score for the year?
• Will Cousins play again next year?
• Will you be watching the Cousins Documentary?
• Is Wait the most valuable player for Carlton seeing he is the key for their forward line?
• Is Kruzer’s injury the best thing for Warnock, as he blossoms his career in the last month?

Fremantle defeated Sydney by 9 points

Substitutes needed to keep the game fair with injuries during the game meaning they loose? Yeh right AFL, look at Sydney and Adelaide who both won with two players missing for almost a half…

• Shane Mumford had 30 hit-outs and five clearances and can you imagine how good Geelong would be with him?
• While jPod and Barlow are the feel good stories of the year, is a mid range draft pick for Mumford the trade of season 2009?
• Swans had 40 to Fremantles 28 in clearances for the match.
• Pavlich had a slightly better game but still had no impact on the scoreboard.
• Hill had another quiet game and when struggling maybe he should play back or get better protection from his midfield buddies.
• Hannebery imo will be the rising star in 2010 in a battle with Rocklift from the Lions.
• McGlynn kicked three goals before he injured himself.

Geelong defeated Western Bulldogs by 101 points

After a tight first quarter Geelong smashed the Dogs with a 10 goal quarter while the Dogs could only manage a point, after this it was only a matter of how much as Geelong look to show that they are still a force for 2010.

• Brian Lake had a terrible game along with a few other teammates were the jPod kicked three on him.
• Corey Enright (34 possessions) and Darren Milburn (20) were superb down back.
• Gary Ablett (39 disposals, three goals) and Joel Selwood (35 disposals, two goals) were the outstanding midfielders of the day.
• Matthew Boyd (35 touches, eight clearances) and Daniel Giansiracusa (27, three goals) were the best for the Doggies.
• Coach Eade refused to blame the flu for the smash, is he right?
• Can the Dogs turn around this latest setback to make an impact on the finals?

Port Adelaide defeated West Coast by 1 point

The game was best described as a mess, both sides could not hit a target 15m away and the umpires? Well the less said about them the better… However who would have thought that this game would have been more exciting than the big match between the Cats and Dogs?

• Ebert and Hitchcock both kicked two goals each
• Primus decided not to tag anyone which allowed Cornes and Cassisi free reign and they gathered 68 possessions between them.
• For the second time in two weeks, West Coast was defeated by a score in the last 30 seconds.
• Rosa continues his solid season with 26 possessions.
• Cox has never defeated Port Adelaide in his 200 games at AAMI stadium.
• Should West Coast trade their first round pick?
• Strijk kicked three goals to be the most influential forward on the ground.

Adelaide defeated Brisbane by 7 points

Brisbane kicked away to a handy four goal lead in the first quarter and Adelaide needed a spark and they got it through the Porps, Tippett on his way to 9 scoring shots and two injures to Chris Knights (hamstring) and Bernie Vince (knee).

• If Tippett could kick straight he would be a shoe in for 50+ goals a year.
• With Clark kicking 5 and Brown as dangerous as ever, why did they need to recruit Fevola?
• Adelaide have never won less than 8 games since 1993.
• I am honestly confused at how Brisbane suck so much, do you have any theories?
• Both Tippett and Jonstone had laughable misses at goals.

Hawthorn defeated Melbourne by 21 points

While Melbourne played well in patches, the Hawks seemed that little bit better and had all the numbers in their favour with more contested and uncontested possessions.

• Frawley continues his recent good form with Franklin only being able to kick three on him. Can he make All Australian?
• Melbourne have a great brand of football and at times they almost took the game away from them but the Hawks were better in closing up the game.
• Bruce matched up on Hodge and it was one of the best battles on the ground.
• Skipper and Renouf managed to match Jamar’s ruck influence.

St Kilda defeated North Melbourne by points

The match will be remembered for Nick Riewoldt finding his pre hamstring injury form with soft free kicks and kicking a bag. If St Kilda are to shake the top two, he needs to fire.

• Can St Kilda make a tilt at the premiership this year?
• North only had one tackle inside their forward 50m, St Kilda had 15+ odd.
• Are St Kilda a better team last year?
• Are North a team on the rise?
• Grima continues to shine down back with 10 marks along with Hansen who managed to take 10 marks and 4 goals against the Saints defence.
• Does anyone in the Saints defence actually play on anyone?

Top 8 Ladder after Round 20

1. Collingwood: 66 points – 145.79%
2. Geelong: 60 points – 146.95%
3. St Kilda: 58 points – 124.51%
4. Western Bulldogs: 52 points – 129.51%
5. Fremantle: 48 points – 110.35%
6. Carlton: 44 points – 111.76%
7. Sydney: 44 points – 104.17%
8. Hawthorn: 42 points – 104.55%

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