A look at round 20 of the AFL season, where West Coast and Brisbane suffered shock losses.
THEY SAID IT:
"We can see the finish line in sight, we've just got to keep pushing up that mountain and get to where we need to go. It's going to be one hell of a finish, there's no doubt about it."
- Richmond coach Damien Hardwick speaks about the number of sides who keep falling over - including his own - when eighth spot is within their grasp.
STATS THAT MATTER: 215-41.
That's how much Gold Coast have been outscored by in their past six quarters, dating back to halftime of their round 20 loss to Brisbane. In their match against Melbourne on Sunday, the Suns conceded 14 straight goals in the time between late in the first quarter and the match's dying minutes.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND: There were doubts over Jordan De Goey's ability to be a genuine midfielder but the Collingwood dynamo is starting to make a mockery of those claims. De Goey racked up a career-high 34 possessions in the Magpies' thrashing of West Coast. Since Nathan Buckley's departure as coach in June, De Goey is averaging 30.5 disposals a game.
KEY MOMENT: Essendon were leading Sydney by 11 points in the third quarter of Sunday's game at the MCG when Swans gun Isaac Heeney pressured James Stewart, then landed a big tackle on Dyson Heppell, before following up again by wrapping up Stewart. It was a brilliant individual effort and set the tone for the Swans to seize control, then ultimately go on to win the game.
TALKING POINT: With Hawthorn bringing forward Alastair Clarkson's exit to the end of this season, talk immediately turned to where the master coach could end up next. But the two clubs appearing most likely - Carlton and Collingwood - delivered arguably the best performances of their seasons. The Blues' smashing of St Kilda could not have been a better show of support for under-fire David Teague.
INJURIES: Dougal Howard (St K, hamstring), Hunter Clark (St K, concussion), Tom De Koning (Carl, pec), Chayce Jones (Adel, corked quad), Tom McDonald (Melb, back), Luke Breust (Haw, knee), Bailey Banfield (Frem, concussion), Jayden Laverde (Ess, shoulder)
WHAT'S NEXT: The round 21 fixture is set for yet another reshuffle. Melbourne was originally set to play West Coast in Perth on Saturday night, but that will be pushed out to Monday night to allow them to complete the required seven days of quarantine. Geelong's clash with GWS is set to be moved into the Friday night timeslot, with the Essendon-Bulldogs match moved to later in the round. The Power and Crows are hopeful their Showdown on Saturday will be played in Adelaide.
-- with AAP
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