Geelong were the big winners today after they overcame fellow top-four hopefuls Greater Western Sydney by 10 points in one of the games of the season.
There were more lead changes than you could poke a stick at, but in the end the Cats overcame their wastefulness in front of goal and their sheer weight of inside 50s (76-48) overwhelmed the Giants.
However, GWS lost few admirers in their second consecutive match on the road at one of the competition's most hostile venues.
They fell short against the Crows at Adelaide Oval last week and were denied by Geelong this week.
Make no mistake, barring a catastrophic run with injuries, the Giants will be playing finals this year.
The result saw the Cats hang onto third spot on the ladder while GWS slipped to seventh.
Sydney clung to second position after a hard-fought six-goal win against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium tonight in some of the worst conditions seen at an AFL game for many years.
The Hawks had their work cut out for them against Melbourne but did enough in the end to overcome the spirited Dees and momentarily grab a spot in the top four.
But they will be replaced by either the Western Bulldgs or West Coast tomorrow.
After many predicted they would win the wooden spoon this year, Carlton are now knocking on the door of the top eight thanks to their sixth win from their last seven games against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium.
And the Dockers finally broke through for their first win of the season with a 79-point smashing of a depleted Essendon outfit.
The result saw Freo lift themselves off the bottom of the ladder and the Bombers are now stone motherless last.
Only percentage is now separating the Dockers (16th), Lions (17th) and Dons (18th) who are all 1-10.
FULL TIME
Fremantle 5.1, 11.2, 18.4, 20.6 (126)
Essendon 1.3, 3.4, 4.7, 6.11 (47)
GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Walters 3, Mayne 3, Ballantyne 2, Barlow, Taberner, Sheridan, Tucker, D.Pearce, Weller, Mundy, Neale, Griffin
Essendon: Daniher 2, Goddard, Fantasia, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hams
LEADING DISPOSALS
Fremantle: Neale 42, Mundy 33, Sheridan 31, Barlow 26, D.Pearce 26
Essendon: Z.Merrett 37, Goddard 24, Parish 22, Bird 22
Q4 24 MIN, FRE 126 ESS 47
Hams effects the intercept, runs to 40m out and he too kicks his first career goal!
Q4 23 MIN, FRE 126 ESS 41
McDonald-Tipungwuti unloads from 55m out on the run on a tricky angle and dobs his first ever goal at AFL level.
Back to topCrowd at Metricon Stadium is 4368. Lowest attendance at an AFL game since 1992. #AFLsunsswans
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) June 4, 2016
Q4 20 MIN, FRE 126 ESS 33
A dirty night gets dirtier for Essendon with Crowley appearing to suffer a significant hamstring injury.
The trainers help him off the ground and in a lovely touch, the Freo fans give him a standing ovation and fair enough given the great service he gave the Dockers over many years.
Lots of love for Ryan Crowley from @freodockers fans. #AFLFreoDons pic.twitter.com/ph2kb0C1mP
— Ben Cameron (@BenCameron23) June 4, 2016
That was pretty nice touch by Freo fans as @ryanmcrowley came off. Hope that's not it for him. #AFLFreoDons
— Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) June 4, 2016
A tremendous show of respect from the @freodockers faithful. #AFLFreoDons https://t.co/82WE9ucPsb
— AFL (@AFL) June 4, 2016
246 combined tackles between Gold Coast and Sydney. Second-highest figure since stat has been recorded.#AFLsunsswans
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) June 4, 2016
Amazing that it's taken until the middle of the season for Essendon to hit the bottom of the ladder. Nobody predicted that #AFLFreoDons
— Ronny Lerner (@RonnyLerner) June 4, 2016
Two terrible AFL games tonight yet I watched both of them. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem.
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) June 4, 2016
Q4 16 MIN, FRE 126 ESS 33
Leading disposals: Neale 40, Mundy 30, Z.Merrett 29, Sheridan 26
Back to topFULL TIME
Gold Coast 3.2, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 (41)
Sydney 1.3, 6.6, 8.13, 11.13 (79)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Sexton, Davis, Lonergan, Lynch, Rosa, Matera
Sydney: Rohan 2, Parker 2, Sinclair, Lloyd, Franklin, Rose, Mitchell, K.Jack, Heeney
LEADING DISPOSALS
Gold Coast: Prestia 38, Rosa 33, Miller 32, Rischitelli 30
Sydney: Hannebery 36, Kennedy 33, Mitchell 33
Q4 7 MIN, FRE 124 ESS 32
Ballantyne escapes out the back, takes a bounce and streams into the open goal. He now has two majors to his name.
.@Hayden_ballas gets on the end of a @freodockers chain to register his second for the night. #AFLFreoDons https://t.co/jI3vMO7gio
— AFL (@AFL) June 4, 2016
Q4 2 MIN, FRE 118 ESS 31
Zaharakis has only had 5 touches tonight.
Q4 0 MIN, FRE 118 ESS 31
It's only taken 26 seconds for the Dockers to kick the first goal of the quarter.
Mayne strolls into the open goal and he joins Pavlich and Walters on three goals.
A 100-point win is wel and truly in the Dockers' sights tonight.
Q4 20 MIN, GC 41 SYD 79
Parker's drop punt from a severe angle on the boundary line in the wet goes straight through the middle! That is all class!
Back to topTHREE-QUARTER TIME
Fremantle 5.1, 11.2, 18.4 (112)
Essendon 1.3, 3.4, 4.7 (31)
GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Walters 3, Mayne 2, Barlow, Taberner, Sheridan, Ballantyne, Tucker, D.Pearce, Weller, Mundy, Neale, Griffin
Essendon: Daniher 2, Goddard, Fantasia
LEADING DISPOSALS
Fremantle: Neale 32, Mundy 27, Crozier 22, Sheridan 22
Essendon: Z.Merrett 24, Goddard 19, Crowley 17
3QT: Freo lead by 81 points! #goodbyeOwen #AFLFreoDons pic.twitter.com/7AwlDy86FQ
— 6PR Football (@6prfootball) June 4, 2016
Q3 32 MIN, FRE 112 ESS 31
Griffin slots the easy goal from 15m out after receiving the free kick and the misery continues for Essendon.
Has a team ever snapped a 10-match losing streak with a 100+ point win?#AFLFreoDons
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) June 4, 2016
Q4 12 MIN, GC 41 SYD 67
Matera gets one back for the Suns but it's a long way back from here in these conditions.
Q4 7 MIN, GC 35 SYD 67
Rohan bounces through his second goal to become the game's first multiple goalscorer.
Sydney well in control now.
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