What a cracker – Collingwood v Western Bulldogs
The Magpies and Bulldogs saved the best for last in round 13, with their twilight Telstra Dome fixture throwing up a thrilling finish after the Pies were left for dead. With Travis Cloke, Leon Davis and Josh Fraser out of the side that fell to Carlton a week ago and a somewhat-underdone Anthony Rocca coming in late, the Magpies weren't expected to set the stage on fire against the in-form Bulldogs.

A wasteful start by both sides had the first half a low-scoring event, but a cracking finale ensured the match would go down as one of most memorable the season.

The Pies led by 23 points in the third term but were reeled in by the tenacious Dogs, before dropping off slightly with just two fit men on the bench. Despite trailing by 14 points, the black and white got within a goal in the dying stages, but four straight behinds to the western suburbs side saw the Dogs run out winners after what can only be described as a brave Collingwood showing.

And at the other end of the spectrum …
… we have what St Kilda and Fremantle unleashed on an unsuspecting football-viewing public on Friday night.

Oh the humanity!

Sure, both sides were desperate for a win regardless of the entertainment value, but this was really one of those matches where you wish neither team was rewarded with four premiership points at the end. I want my Friday night back!

P.S. Does anyone know what Ross Lyon meant when he described St Kilda as a “solution-based environment” during the week?

Player of the round … Gary Ablett
Once again, Lil' Gaz was the talking point midway through the round after yet another stunning performance. The Brownlow favourite casually collected 37 possessions and booted two goals in the Cats' 135-point belting of West Coast on Saturday night, which only added to his remarkable average of 34 touches a game over the past five weeks.

And, if his exhilarating individual form isn't enough to make you leap aboard the Ablett bandwagon, perhaps his modesty will help. After the cracking display, Ablett summed up his round 13 outing in three simple words – "I went alright".

Top four, no more?
The Crows will play finals football this year, but any hopes they had of claiming a top-four berth were exposed as wishful thinking by the undermanned Brisbane Lions. With Brett Burton and Brent Reilly back in the side and Daniel Bradshaw and Travis Johnstone out for the Lions, the Crows had a gilt-edged opportunity to silence the doubters who have questioned the strength of their draw, but it wasn’t to be.

It doesn’t get any easier for Adelaide, with games against Geelong, Collingwood, Port and Sydney in the next month.

How’s stat … 23
Playing in his more familiar defensive role Joel Bowden was magnificent against Port Adelaide. We all know the Tiger defender is capable of racking up some big numbers, but he was truly important in this win. How often does someone take 23 marks?!

He cops a bit from the yellow-and-black faithful, but his 23rd grab in the dying seconds of the closely fought match was one to savour.

Send out for some wholeseed mustard will you, Sando?
We don’t know what it was about it, but the sight of Geelong coach Mark Thompson chowing down on a sandwich in the coach’s box at Subiaco really tickled our collective funny bone at afl.com.au. Maybe it’s because we’re used to scenes of pain and torment in the box and seeing Bomber hoeing into a massive sanger was just so not the norm.

It probably had a fair bit to do with his side’s awesome performance and he has said before that he’s not one to fiddle with the team repeatedly on match day anyway.

The game can be pretty tough on its coaches sometimes and it’s nice to see Thompson put it all into perspective.  

Carlton bandwagon hits pothole
It was the loss that had rival supporters -- namely those of a Collingwood persuasion -- gleefully rubbing their hands together as the footy gods came together to restore normality to the ladder this weekend.

The Blues were bundled out of the top eight after just a week inside the heightened half of the competition, following a 35-point loss to Essendon. The result prompted coach Brett Ratten to offer, "We're never talking finals again", as the bandwagon stuttered, spluttered and finally stopped under the phenomenal weight it had gained in the past seven days.

How’s your head, dude?
There are enough things to worry about when making your AFL debut, but Ben McEvoy added ‘making the television network’s gag reel’ to the list on Friday night.

They teach you to keep your eyes on the ball as a junior and it appears the big Saint really took that advice on board. Charging out on a strong lead against Freo, McEvoy watched the ball right up to the point where it sconed him in the forehead.

It hit him so hard that the ball nearly bounced all the way back to the bloke who kicked it to him. Way to practice the fundamentals, Ben!

And the tough guy award goes to … Henry Slattery
After watching his young defender carried from the MCG on a stretcher on Sunday afternoon, Essendon coach Matthew Knights said it was little wonder the 22-year-old found himself concussed and with a cracked cheekbone. Knights said he was used to seeing Slattery put his safety on the line, and went as far to claim, "he's going back if a Mack truck is coming the other way".

On Sunday, it wasn't 30,000-odd kgs of machinery that halted Slattery, but 100-odd kgs of Brendan Fevola – and the courageous backman learned the hard way that a collision with the spearhead can offer similar results.

Roo-silience!
How good are the Kangaroos? They didn’t have a single friend going into their match with Hawthorn, but they still managed to dig deep and upset the high-flying Hawks. Three losses in a row had the football world pretty down on the Roos, but somehow they conjured a win over Hawthorn.

There was nothing fluky about the victory, with the Shinboners declaring to a man afterwards that they went into the match completely confident of success despite a lengthy injury list.

There's always next week for … Port Adelaide
Or is there? According to coach Mark Williams, there isn't a 'next week', or a 'week after that' – not as far as making the finals is concerned, anyway. The Port coach didn't mince his words following his side's four-point loss to Richmond on Saturday, declaring "we have no chance" of playing into September.

In reality however, there is a next week for the teal side with its fixture dictating play on the first weekend of the split round. While an encounter with the second-placed Western Bulldogs probably wasn't what 'Choco' was looking for after calling off the club's season, at least some pasty Power players will get the chance to top up their tans in Darwin this weekend.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.