AFL H&V Round 16: Bombers rise, Pies slide and Hunt's clutch finish

HEROES

Fast-finishing Bombers: You knew something was afoot when Cale Hooker was seen sauntering towards the Essendon forward line after the three-quarter time break.

The Bombers were trailing the Swans by four points at the final change, and, like the night prior at the same venue, the first three quarters lacked pizzazz, leaving the 60,000-strong crowd at the MCG wanting some action. Well, the home team delivered a withering fourth quarter stanza which has no doubt put some other teams in the league on notice.

After Sydney's Tom McCartin kicked the first goal of the term to put his side 10 points up, rumblings went around the ground, but a 12 minute patch lifted the Bombers out of their mire and back int the top eight (if only for a night!).

Consecutive goals in the 5th, 8th, 13th and 17th minutes put the game beyond doubt and sent fans into raptures. Veteran David Zaharakis was among the Bombers' best in the absence of skipper Dyson Heppell. He kicked three goals and had 22 disposals, while star recruit Dylan Shiel racked up 29 in another impressive performance.

Jayden Hunt: Sunday afternoon's game at the MCG between Carlton and Melbourne may have featured two of the favourites for the wooden spoon, but it was far from a snoozefest and had almost everything a football fan could want from a game.

The Dees, who won this fixture last year by 109 points, broke clear early through an accurate Tom McDonald and while they never held a safe, match-winning margin, always seemed in control.

But when Marty Hore, Harry Petty and McDonald were all ruled out through injury, the Blues stormed back into the contest -- something we've become accustomed to under David Teague.

Carlton booted six unanswered goals to hit the front by a point in the dying minutes, but there was still one more twist in store.

Dees forward Jayden Hunt marked 45m out from goal with under two minutes left on the clock. He took his full 30 seconds before unloading a bomb to put his side back in front, essentially winning the game for Melbourne.

Wet, coasting Eagles: Scathing from last week's shock loss to Carlton, and in similar conditions, Fremantle would have primed themselves for their home western derby on Saturday night.

The blueprint was there for the Dockers; in Round 5, the Power delivered a wet weather masterclass against the Eagles, bullying them at the coalface on the way to a 42-point upset win.

But West Coast weren't going to let it happen again.

By half time they had muscled their way to a 54-point lead and were +15 in contested possessions, +7 in clearances and +3 in centre clearances. Bizarrely, this was all while falling behind Fremantle in the inside 50 count, 25-31.

Freo's cause wasn't helped by their dismal kicking. They managed just one goal in each half - and would have been soundly beaten even by A-League premiers Perth Glory.

But the story was the Eagles, who cruised to a 91-point victory and moved to within one game of ladder-leaders Geelong. If one thing is for certain after this weekend, West Coast going back-to-back is a real possibility.

VILLAINS

Pathetic Pies: They may have led the Hawks at every change, but Collingwood really didn't deserve to win on Friday night.

Nathan Buckley's side was absolutely smashed in the inside 50 count and the only reason Hawthorn trailed throughout was because of a lack of efficiency when attacking. At one stage they had just four goals from 41 inside 50s.

But in the final term the efficiency came and the Pies were made to look like a second rate side as the Hawks turned an 18 point deficit into what was eventually a four-point win, handing Collingwood a third loss from their last five games.

From a Pies standpoint, perhaps the biggest flop of the night was Mason Cox. The lanky American had a second shocker in succession, gathering a game-low six disposals and taking just three marks.

We're not sure anyone expected the Collingwood train to grind to such a halt. They might still be inside the top four, but they're unlikely to stay there if they continue playing like this.

Gold Coast Suns: They's avoided scrutiny for most of the year, mostly due to the nature of their list and the low expectations many had for this team for season 2019, but the Gold Coast Suns served up a stinker on Saturday afternoon.

They went down to Richmond by 92 points, but it was the first ten minutes which set the tone for a dismal afternoon at Metricon Stadium. The Suns allowed a processions of Richmond goals - five straight in fact, to start the match, and it was enough for many pundits to call the result early.

So dire was the first-half effort that dashing Tiger Brandon Ellis walked off the field talking about the percentage-boosting win -- and next week's crucial game against the Giants -- at half time.

And despite well-and-truly putting the cue in the rack at half time, Richmond still managed to outscore the Suns in a meaningless second half - 6.5 to 6.3.

While we're understanding of the rebuild the Suns are currently embarking upon, an 11th straight loss is damning, and damaging the club's brand and reputation in a part of the world which has traditionally been unable to support unsuccessful sporting teams.

You've got a hell of a job ahead of you, Stuart Dew.

Rivalry flops: There's nothing we love more in football than a good old fashioned rivalry, and lucky for us we got two of the best on Saturday night with both the Showdown in Adelaide and Derby in Perth.

Well, so we thought.

Unfortunately, neither game had much fire in it with the Eagles and Power both dominating their disappointing opposition and letting down football fans around the country at the same time.

West Coast kept the Dockers to just two goals for the entire game, while Port Adelaide completely wiped the floor with their cross-town rival in the second half, holding them to just one major.

We touched on the Eagles above and how they are storming back into premiership discussions. For Port, their inconsistent season continues and they have now gone LWLWLWLW in their last eight games.