WE should be basking in the aftermath of the most exhilarating rounds of football in recent memory, the first time in which five games were decided by a kick or less.

Move over, Love Island. See you later, MasterChef. In terms of the best reality TV, nothing beats close footy, and the dramatic circumstances behind each of the white-knuckle finishes deserves further reflection.

But for all the excitement surrounding the weekend, we can't help but agree with Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, who said the AFL should be "embarrassed and disappointed" with the goal review that followed Josh Jenkins' match-winning goal in the pulsating Showdown clash at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

The AFL ticked off the 23-second video review that followed the goal Jenkins himself thought might have clipped the post on the way through, but that's not really the point here.

The real issue is the lack of uniformity when it comes to the technology underpinning goal reviews. There is no mandated location for the goal-line cameras because the League leaves it to the discretion of the broadcasters, who have to carry much of the cost.

This was a Fox Footy produced game and the pay-TV broadcaster has different camera locations to Channel Seven.

The AFL needs to dictate to the broadcasters where any cameras used to assist with goal reviews are to be located and they must be installed at all venues, from the MCG to China. It would be a healthy six-figure figure to kit all AFL grounds with identical technology, but that's chump change when you consider the $2.5 billion or so the League rakes in from its media rights deal.

The integrity of the game demands that if the broadcasters don't want to foot the bill, then the AFL must.

Port has every right to be steamed at what took place on Saturday night. In this 'snakes and ladder' season with so many twists, turns and permutations, every win is precious.

The Power would be third if they'd won and would likely have a finals berth wrapped up. But instead they're seventh, and with West Coast and Collingwood in the next fortnight, anxious times are ahead.

LESSONS Nine things we learned from round 20

Another takeaway from yet another classic Showdown is that the AFL fixturing people need to take note and schedule at least one Crows-Power clash on a Friday night next season. Events on Sunday evening mean you could say the same about the West Coast-Fremantle derby clashes. These games are too good to be buried in the twilight time slots, be it Saturday or Sunday. All of Australia knows that these are showpiece games. All of Australia deserves to watch them.

Gaff's gaffe

The most important person affiliated with West Coast for the next 72 hours is not Adam Simpson, Shannon Hurn or even Andrew Gaff himself.

It is David Grace QC, the Melbourne based advocate who the Eagles have used for years at the AFL Tribunal and was beside Ben Cousins through some of his appearances before the courts.

He also led the Essendon players to victory against ASADA during the supplements scandal, but was unable to lead them when the matter went before WADA.

If precedence can be taken as a guide, the most similar episode to this one is Tomas Bugg's strike on Callum Mills last year after which he was suspended for six weeks. Anything less than that for Gaff and Grace is a genius. 

Great win Swans, but…

It took a crafty and quick-thinking act from Tom McCartin for the Swans to finally edge ahead of Collingwood at the SCG on Saturday night, and yes, this column is going there.

Will he turn out to be the better McCartin?

It was a game the Swans had to win and they did, and the emotion surrounding Alex Johnson's comeback certainly helped, but right now, they're being carried on the incredibly broad shoulders of Lance Franklin. When he fires, as he did on Saturday night with six goals, they win. When he struggles as he did the week before, they do not.

Once Darcy Moore pinged his hamstring again, Collingwood was flat out of defensive reinforcements and the game got away from the Pies with an ordinary third quarter.

You wouldn't fancy the Swans to beat either Melbourne or Greater Western Sydney in the next fortnight, which means it might come down to the clash with the Hawks in round 23 at the SCG. The Bud never fails to lift for games against his former club, but the worry is that if he doesn't fire, who else will?

Hawthorn's secret weapon

Alastair Clarkson is already rated by his peers as AFL's best match-day coach, and best coach for the other six days of the week as well.

And Saturday's epic win over Essendon was testimony of that. The Hawks had a belief in their systems and structures and never wavered despite thrice falling three goals behind the Bombers. There was no panic in the coaches box, no positional moves of any note and Hawthorn ground out the win in a clash as good as any played between these great rivals.

What did please the Hawks was how well they ran the game out. Essendon was coming off an eight-day break, while the Hawks had just six days to prepare and were coming back from Perth. They didn't arrive back in Melbourne until 3am Monday.

But they've had some experience with tight turnarounds from Perth – they travelled there three times in seven weeks late in 2015 – and the fitness staff know what to do. The Hawks aren't kidding when they say they embrace six-day breaks and they followed precisely the same template last week as they did three years ago when they ended up winning the flag.

There has been some talk that Hawks fitness guru Andrew Russell might be the subject of massive offers to change clubs at the end of the season. He has been at Hawthorn for as long as Clarkson and as the coach now contemplates a contract extension, the hope at the club is that Russell will be equally committed to staying the course with his great mate.

And bookmark this game come Brownlow night. Tom Mitchell (43 touches), Zach Merrett (41) and Jack Gunston (five goals) were the offensive stars, but Hawk defender Ben Stratton, with his seven intercept marks, was simply outstanding. He has never received a Brownlow vote in 195 games over nine seasons. Is this the time?

A metre either way …

All these years of watching footy and it continues to amaze what one or two metres can do the fortunes of clubs as the finals approach.

Gary Ablett kicks straight, Geelong wins and we'd just about be backing in the Cats and Tigers for a Grand Final rematch. Instead he missed and the Cats are out of the eight and needing to beat the Hawks next Saturday to perhaps keep their season alive.

Cats coach Chris Scott said the Tigers were beatable afterwards and was howled down for it. We complain when coaches play the straight bat at their post-match media conferences. There's a big tick here for Scott calling it as he sees it.

The only shame for the Cats is they probably have the weapons to seriously challenge Richmond, which appears to be slowly coming back to the field, but might not get the opportunity again this year.

Eighteen hours later at the Gabba, Brisbane's Cam Rayner's set shot sailed wide with just seconds to go and it preserved a huge win for the Kangaroos, who had they lost would be two games outside the eight and in trouble.

North is back to doing what it was earlier in the season – chalking up the wins however they come. With three winnable games to come, the Kangas are a big chance for the finals.

It was great to see the Lions get around Rayner after he inexplicably chose to kick around his body rather than use the traditional drop punt. Back in the day, we all used to dream of having a straight forward drop punt to win the game for our team. Who knows what young footballers think of these days?

We can thank Steve Johnson for that.

Giants injuries

A remarkable afternoon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday spoke volumes about how both Carlton and Greater Western Sydney are faring in 2018.

Down to no fresh players on the bench for the final term, and at times playing with only 16 or 17 men on the ground, the Giants outscored the Blues 7.3 to 1.0 to win by 105 points. Fair play to the AFL match officials who permitted the Giants to still rotate their players.

It was Carlton's darkest day of the season, one of total humiliation. But as well as the Giants played, it might have been the afternoon that put paid to their hopes for 2018.

They're likely back to Rory Lobb in the ruck with Dawson Simpson hurting his ankle. Brett Deledio injured his calf again and given his cursed luck with that particular injury it might be curtains for him for the season.

But they can cover Deledio and Simpson, and they were without Dylan Shiel, Ryan Griffen and Tim Taranto against the Blues. However, if Toby Greene's absence through the second half with hamstring soreness was anything more than precautionary, the Giants are in some strife.

In their current form, the Giants are the team with the most weapons to challenge Richmond, but as the Tigers have shown, you need some X-factor in September and when it comes to the Giants, Greene has it. Fingers crossed for some good news this week.