Dropped Dog responds as Footscray sends scary reminder

It might need everything to go right to sneak into the finals and earn a chance to defend its premiership, but at the very worst no finals chaser will want to play Footscray on the run home after it dismantled Williamstown by 41 points in their Terry Wheeler Cup clash at DSV Stadium on Saturday.

Rhylee West responded to his AFL omission with 24 disposals (14 contested), eight clearances and eight tackles in a midfield role supporting Norm Goss medallist Cooper Craig-Peters (27, 18 contested, eight clearances, seven tackles, while Sam Davidson rediscovered his best on the wing with 23 touches and two goals.

Evergreen rebounder Jake Greiser was untouchable for the Seagulls in racking up 37 possessions at 86.5 per cent, 11 marks and a goal, with Jack Toner (33, 14 contested, 13 tackles) and Toby Triffett (27, 13 contested, nine clearances and nine tackles were also sensational.

Geelong’s line-up of players who would get an AFL game at most other clubs romped to a ninth consecutive win and a 12th in 13 matches after brushing aside a concerted challenge from Frankston by 52 points at Kinetic Stadium on Friday night.

Frankston pulled back within 16 points turning for home, but its best efforts were no match as Mitch Knevitt slammed on three goals in 10 minutes as part of a 6.6 to 1.0 final term.

George Stevens (34, 19 contested, 13 clearances) was best afield, just ahead of Knevitt (30, 15 contested, three goals), while AFL coach Chris Scott would have loved seeing the contributions of Gryan Miers, who showed his class in his 27 touches, Jhye Clark (30, nine marks), Jack Bowes (27, 15 contested, nine tackles) and untried runner Lennox Hofmann (26, seven marks).

Trent Mynott and Jackson Voss’ brilliant left foot put themselves in the top five on the ground for Frankston, the skipper starring with 31 touches (17 contested), 11 clearances and a goal and one of the top five unluckiest non-draftees in the VFL having 21 touches, seven marks and six entries, while Tyson Milne had nine rebounds among 27 disposals.

All were challenged and all answered in tight contests as Werribee (second), GWS (third) and Box Hill Hawks (fourth) claimed critical wins to open a one-game gap in the top four.

Werribee took its undefeated run to six wins and a draw by overhauling Southport in the second half by 20 points to record its first win over the Sharks at Avalon Airport Oval despite a ridiculous performance from Liston medallist Jacob Dawson.

But apart from Zac Foot (32, 10 contested, seven tackles, nine clearances, nine entries, one goal), there wasn’t enough help as the undermanned Sharks couldn’t hold an eight-point half-time lead thanks to another starring role from 2024 Liston winner Dom Brew (30, 21 contested, nine clearances, 13 tackles, one goal) and Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal favourite Brady Wright (five goals).

The Giants and Hawks debuted new VFL venues, with the former coming from 13 points down at the last change to escape with a two-point win over Coburg at Narrandera Sportsground and the Hawks pipping Tasmania by five points at Penguin’s Dial Park.

The Lions were in the box seat against the Giants after kicking four goals to one in the third quarter, but despite spraying 8.18, it was enough to overrun Coburg’s 9.10 with Nick Madden (18, 15 hitouts, two goals) impressing in his first game back from a knee injury to deny the starring efforts of Jaidyn Stephenson (four goals), Donovan Toohey (32, 10 rebounds) and Jack Bytel (32, 12 contested, nine clearances).

Griff Julian (29, 11 rebounds) and Tom Farrer (25, one goal) enjoyed their best VFL performances and Cody Anderson (25, two goals) found form as Henry Hustwaite (@3, 18 contested, 10 tackles, eight clearances) did the heavy lifting in the middle.

Jed Hagan (22, three goals) was Tasmania’s best while Joey Chaplin did a great job in holding Frosty Miller Medal leader Brodie McLaughlin to one goal.

Essendon retained its undefeated home record against St Kilda and ended the Saints’ six-game unbeaten run after coming from behind for a 25-point victory at Windy Hill on Sunday.

Liam McMahon booted four goals in his first game for two months as the Bombers kicked nine goals to two in the second half to turn around a 14-point deficit, with Angus Clarke (21, two goals) starring in his second game back from his own injury.

Jackson Hately (28, seven marks, eight tackles) and Elijah Tsatas (29, 16 contested, seven tackles, one goal) starred in the midfield while Solly McKay bounced back from his disappointment of last week to have 25 touches (10 contested) and 10 marks.

Hugh Boxshall and Paddy Dow had 30 possessions each, 31 of them contested, and shared 16 clearances for St Kilda with Dan Butler making a strong return with three goals – matched by Bailey McKenzie and Joey Campigli.

The Brisbane Lions’ renaissance continued with a second straight win to move out of the bottom two for the first time this year, ending Collingwood’s finals hopes by 21 points at Barry Plant Park.

The Lions led by 48 at three quarter-time before the Magpies put respectability on the scoreboard with Keidean Coleman (19, seven marks, three goals) and Dan Annable (26) making great returns from injury and Sam Marshall having 30 touches, while Lachie Sullivan (32, 11 clearances) and Jakob Ryan (28) couldn’t have done more for Collingwood.

Sydney broke a nine-match winless run against Gold Coast, beating the Suns for the first time in the VFL with a 40-point result led by Riley Bice’s 35 disposals and six marks in response to being dropped from the AFL, while captain Alex Sexton (38, 11 contested, 16 marks, 10 rebounds) was sensational for the Suns.

Carlton broke a five-match losing streak, overrunning Richmond with a 6.2 to 0.1 last quarter that turned a two-point deficit into a 35-point win at Ikon Park on the back of 28 touches and a goal from Lachie Fogarty and 30 and one for Darcy Tucker.

Port Melbourne moved into the top six, wearing the Casey Demons down in the second half to win by 18 points for an important road victory at Casey Fields in the Demons’ 850th VFA/VFL match, with Ben Hobbs again dominant with 28 possessions.

Brisbane Lion Curtis McCarthy and Werribee's Charlie Lazzaro have narrowly avoided suspensions.

Essendon's Jade Gresham and Richmond's Zane Peucker have accepted reprimands for careless umpire contact (or risk $300), while Southport's Sam Day and Werribee's Jordan Busuttil can take reprimands ($150) for wrestling each other.