First there was one upset, then another, and all of a sudden THREE of the flag favourites were beaten by far inferior opponents. Ask some and they might say they were the losses those sides needed to have going into finals. A minor blip, or signs of something sinister?
Our footy experts cast their eye over the week's action to find out whose stocks are up -- whether it's a coaching masterstroke or a player having a blinder -- and whose are down. Every club features, so jump ahead to your team below (desktop only).
Crows | Lions | Blues | Magpies | Bombers | Dockers | Cats | Suns | Giants | Hawks | Demons | Roos | Power | Tigers | Saints | Swans | Eagles | Bulldogs
Adelaide
Stocks up: At times he's looked off the pace of senior football, but Harry Schoenberg really took a step in the right direction with an impressive Showdown performance in which he tallied 31 disposals, six clearances and over 500 metres gained. Not bad at all for a 20-year-old.
Stocks down: Taylor Walker. Need we say more? The culture shift at Adelaide won't be fully complete until players like Walker are ultimately moved on.
Brisbane
Stocks up: It's fair to say Joe Daniher is in ominous form with two rounds to go, and that is far from good news for fellow finals aspirants. His four-goal haul on the weekend, his equal best as a Lion, saw him snapping them like a medium-sized goal sneak, clunking marks like a big man should and nailing set shots from tight angles - all in the wet, mind you. Without Eric Hipwood, Joe is going to be a crucial piece of Brisbane's September puzzle.
Stocks down: Stocks in Brisbane's doomsayers have gone down after an incredibly complete performance against the Dockers. There was cohesion across every line, Dayne Zorko led beautifully, and there were scoreboard contributions from many sources. An excellent response from the Lions.
Carlton
Stocks up: Another two goals for Josh Honey on top of his two from last week. He looks like a player; he's got a beautiful set shot action, is tenacious and gets to good positions. Looks to be a keeper for the Blues.
Stocks down: Are coach David Teague's stocks at an all time low? He just can't get his team up consistently, and losses to the Kangaroos and Suns in the past 14 days have been tough to watch. Could it be curtains for the Teague Train? He wouldn't be the first Carlton coach to be fired after a bad loss to the Suns ... Brett Ratten, too, was shown the door back in 2012.
Collingwood
Stocks up: It was another disappointing day at the office, but Magpie fans should be buoyed by the club's youth that was again on show. Oliver Henry (11 kicks, seven marks and a goal) will be a dangerous operator in the forward 50 moving forward, Finlay Macrae was busy in the midfield with 20 touches (16 effective) and a goal, and lively rookie Jack Ginnivan booted three majors, giving supporters an early look at the future.
Stocks down: While one coach pulled off yet another masterstroke, the other, albeit an interim, was short of answers. Robert Harvey didn't do his chances of securing the Magpies' top job any favours when his system was obliterated by fellow battlers Hawthorn. The Pies looked like a team that had nothing to play for, and talent alone made the game look closer than it was.
Essendon
Stocks up: He had only kicked more than three goals in a game once in his career, so it's fair to say that after netting 7.0, Two Metre Peter's stocks have shot through the roof! He put on an absolute clinic.
Stocks down: After a blistering start to the season, we're now not sure Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti offers enough in that Bombers forward line; for the fourth consecutive week he's had a measly five touches. Needs to lift or a late-season dumping could be on the cards.
Fremantle
Stocks up: Young midfielder Caleb Serong can hold his head high after winning 30 disposals, five clearances and six inside 50s for the Dockers who, overall, were dreadful against the Lions. The 20-year-old hard-nut has now amassed at least 20 touches five weeks in a row and is one of Freo's most exciting talents.
Stocks down: Another week, another loss against a top eight side... Fremantle just isn't up to it yet and that Brisbane bashing is further proof. No matter how tight the finals race is and the Dockers' involvement in it, they look the least likely to make any impact out of the chasing pack.
Geelong
Stocks up: Not much went right for the Cats on Friday night but a special shout out has to go out to Jake Kolodjashnij who booted his first career goal in what was his 127th game! Oh, and did we mention it came in the first 31 seconds of the game!? Anyone have him for first goalkicker?
Stocks down: He can be hot and he can be ice cold, against the Giants it was the latter. Gary Rohan had just two touches in 71 minutes of game time and failed to hit the scoreboard. He sat out the late stages of the game with a hip complaint. All in all, a dirty night for Rohan.
Gold Coast
Stocks up: It was an excellent day out for many Suns, but Wil Powell's game was -- apart from that of Touk Miller! -- one of the standouts. He collected 28 touches and laid seven tackles. He also kicked a ripping goal late to put the result beyond doubt.
Stocks down: He might have kicked his first AFL goal against the Blues, but Joel Jeffrey's haircut has to be one of the worst in the league. Are you really going to persist with the 'Nathan Carroll'!?
GWS
Stocks up: Take a bow, Sam Taylor! The emerging Giants defender had an incredible 17 intercept possessions in an unlikely win over the Cats on Friday night. He also had a couple of crucial intercept marks to keep Geelong's potent forward line unusually quiet.
Stocks down: Has Toby Greene gone and ruled himself out again? It was another epic performance from Greene, who kicked four goals in the win, but the spotlight will be on him over the coming days after receiving a two-week ban for a high hit on Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield.
Hawthorn
Stocks up: You will be hard-pressed to find two players with as uncanny a resemblance as Jack Scrimshaw and Grant Birchall. The former was sublime for Hawthorn on Sunday and plays in an eerily similar way to the four-time premiership Hawk and current Lion, racking up 26 touches (88 percent efficiency), 12 marks and a goal in a commanding game off the half-back line.
Stocks down: Alastair Clarkson out-smarted Robert Harvey and his black and white coaching panel by denying them the corridor and stifling the quick ball movement that saw the Pies upset the Eagles last week, all while implementing a decisive, uncontested kick-mark game style that could slice through a shaky Collingwood zone. The Pies aren't a great team, but Clarko clearly still has what it takes, so we're still not sure about this coaching handover...
Melbourne
Stocks up: Multiple Demons' stocks just continue to rise, but can anyone's be trending upwards more rapidly than James Harmes? Surely not after last night! He didn't lead all comers, but 25 disposals, five inside 50s and 515 metres gained from 54 percent game time is extraordinary.
Stocks down: Melbourne held a cosy 33-point lead six minutes into the final stanza, before the lightning forecast sent scares through game officials and halted the contest for half an hour. The Dees' return after the break? Lacklustre! They conceded four straight goals and squandered their control of the game.
North Melbourne
Stocks up: Watching Luke Davies-Uniacke transform into a powerful, ball-winning midfielder has been a pleasure. He's big, he's strong in the contest, can burst out of tackles and has an explosive first few steps that is reminiscent of a faster Patrick Cripps. He gathered a game-high 38 disposals and had five clearances in the loss to the Tigers.
Stocks down: We're big fans of him, but Nick Larkey had a couple of costly moments in the first half that might have harmed North's chances of causing a boilover. The first was kicking at goal too low from just 20m out, and the ball was touched. He missed another easy chance not long after. His 1.3 for the match was very wasteful.
Port Adelaide
Stocks up: Could it really be anyone other than Aliir Aliir!? We think not. The former Swan had 16 intercept possessions, 10 intercept marks (five of which were contested), 400 metres gained and was a thoroughly deserving winner of the Showdown Medal.
Stocks down: They got the four points in a danger game where they were challenged, and in the end that's all that matters. But that slow start will be on the top of Ken Hinkley's list of things to eradicate, as a flag contender will make you pay when you're slow out of the gates.
Richmond
Stocks up: How good has Richmond's own Mr Plug-and-play been? Liam Baker has played just about every role imaginable for the Tigers in his short career, and his match against the Kangaroos was one of his best. He had 26 disposals, kicked two goals and was involved in nine scores. He's a gun.
Stocks down: Spearhead Tom Lynch was incredibly well held by Ben McKay and North's defence. Just six touches and no score for the Tigers' full forward on Saturday.
St Kilda
Stocks up: Don't crown the Bont the 2021 Brownlow Medal winner just yet, Jack Steele is a very real chance of taking home Charlie. The Saints skipper was best on ground again in the upset win over the Swans, finishing with 34 disposals, seven tackles, seven score involvements and a goal of his own. Our predictor has him sitting comfortably in the top four, having polled a staggering 21 votes since Round 11!
Stocks down: He played a very good game but Rohan Marshall basically gifted two goals to the Swans, and he can consider himself quite lucky the game wasn't closer as it could have proved very costly. A fifty metre penalty for running through the protected area was followed by a dinky kick in the defensive 50m which was cut off and snapped truly by Jordan Dawson.
Sydney
Stocks up: You can never fault the effort of Luke Parker. He's a heart and soul player who again gave it his all, winning 30 possessions and 12 clearances on a tough night for the Swans.
Stocks down: We could easily pot the performance of Sam Wicks (six disposals) or Dylan Stephens (eight disposals) but we're going with big Buddy Franklin. He kicked one fortuitous goal in the first term and was virtually unsighted after that, finishing the game with just four kicks. Sure, he didn't get that much supply, but we expect a whole lot more from the man closing in on the 1,000 goal milestone.
West Coast
Stocks up: Elliot Yeo is back! The star Eagle produced his best game for the club since returning from a long injury layoff -- and arguably his best under Adam Simpson -- collecting 31 possessions, a whopping 14 clearances and 725 metres gained to go with eight inside 50s on a soggy night. He's a delight to watch when fully fit.
Stocks down: West Coast will be sweating after 301-game veteran Shannon Hurn tweaked his hamstring in the opening quarter. Fingers crossed scans won't reveal anything too serious; it could be a big blow for the Eagles on the eve of the finals, and would be a potentially disastrous ending to a fabulous career!
Western Bulldogs
Stocks up: Luke Beveridge would be delighted star midfielder Adam Treloar is back in the side just a few weeks out from finals action. After nearly three months on the sidelines, Treloar managed 22 disposals, seven marks, kicked a goal, and importantly got through the game unscathed as he builds towards September availability.
Stocks down: Sometimes, footy can be such a cruel game. Spearhead Josh Bruce twisted his knee awkwardly in a tackle in the dying seconds on Sunday afternoon which has likely resulted in an ACL tear, the Dogs fear. Not only would his season -- and a shot at a flag -- be over, but so would most of his 2022.