Hawthorn beats Adelaide by 56 points at the MCG, Fremantle has thumping win over Carlton, St Kilda pips Gold Coast
Updated
Adelaide's season has continued to spiral out of control, Hawthorn celebrating Shaun Burgoyne's 350th AFL game with an emphatic 56-point win.
The comprehensive victory followed a thumping victory for Fremantle over Carlton, and a stunning comeback from St Kilda to beat the Suns on the Gold Coast.
In their first visit to the MCG since losing last year's grand final, the listless Crows slumped to a 6-7 record with their fourth loss in a row.
The Hawks led Saturday night's dour contest by four points at half-time, but swept aside Don Pyke's meek men with a seven-goals-to-nil third quarter in a 12.16 (88) to 4.8 (32) thumping.
Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara led the way with 39 and 30 possessions each, while James Sicily had 24 disposals and booted three third-term goals.
Milestone man Burgoyne had 24 touches and capped his big night with a last-quarter goal.
Bryce Gibbs was Adelaide's best with 28 possessions and six clearances, but he was the best of a bad bunch.
The Hawks won't mind how it looked but, if AFL chief Gillon McLachlan needed further evidence the game might need a nudge in the right direction, he need look no further.
The first half was exactly the sort of snail-paced, low-scoring, error-riddled, congested tedium that has the league investigating rule changes.
Case in point, Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs hadn't kicked a goal in 12 games this season.
But he booted his side's first two majors, which says a bit about how well Adelaide's sputtering forward line was functioning.
Hawthorn's forwards weren't setting the 'G alight either, with inside 50s at both ends met by swarms of players.
With three goals apiece at half-time, the inaccurate Hawks led by four points.
But Sicily kicked off a withering seven-goal burst and Adelaide surrendered.
Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak scored more goals on Saturday night than the Crows did in the third term, Adelaide going scoreless for just the seventh time in their 28-season history.
The margin was 48 points at three-quarter time and Burgoyne's goal was the highlight of the last quarter.
The Hawks improved to a 7-5 record and it's hard to see Adelaide making the finals.
The injury-ravaged Crows will face top-four sides, West Coast, Richmond and Geelong, when they emerge from their bye.
Hawthorn's James Frawley was a late withdrawal with a migraine and was replaced by Kaiden Brand.
AAP
Saints steal it against the Suns
Under-fire St Kilda have mounted a last-quarter comeback to defeat Gold Coast and snap an 11-match AFL losing streak.
The Saints, who trailed by 31 points at the last term, kicked five goals in Saturday's fourth quarter to claim an 11.14 (80) to 11.12 (78) win.
Jade Gresham's snap with less than a minute on the clock gave the Saints the win as the Suns failed to score a point in the final term.
"It was good to just get back on the winner's list ... in the rooms at halftime, we were keeping positive — we knew we could get it done," Gresham told Fox Sports.
The victory is a much-needed one for Saints coach Alan Richardson going into a bye next weekend.
Defeat will be bitter for the Suns who looked comfortable after a five-goal burst in the second term gave them a six-goal margin at the main break.
It's Gold Coast's ninth loss from their past 10 games and the club has registered just two behinds in their past four final terms.
The Suns' final-quarter panic was epitomised when defender Rory Thompson gave away a needless 50-metre penalty which led to one of the Saints' last-term majors.
Josh Battle kicked three goals for the visitors, while Gresham, Paddy McCartin and Tim Membrey booted two each.
Gold Coast captain Tom Lynch, under fire after a lacklustre performance in last week's 108-point loss to GWS, kicked three goals but also missed a couple of good chances to add to that tally in the second half.
Alex Sexton also booted three majors for the hosts while Nick Holman had two goals.
St Kilda's last-term effort also came with a shortage on the bench after Jimmy Webster (groin) and Bailey Rice (concussion) failed to reach three-quarter time.
The Suns also had an injury concern with youngster Jack Bowes sitting out the final quarter with a quadriceps injury.
While St Kilda enjoy a bye, Gold Coast travel to Tasmania to play Hawthorn.
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Dockers have day out against the Blues
Fremantle Dockers have won their first away match of the AFL season in record-breaking style, holding hapless Carlton goalless in the opening half on the way to a 57-point triumph at Docklands.
The Dockers had the game shot to bits well before the halftime break on Saturday, when they led by 70 points.
The Blues did show much more fight in the final two quarters, when they outscored the Dockers by six goals to three.
But Nick Graham's missed set shot after the final siren meant the Blues still recorded their lowest-ever score against Fremantle, who won 15.13 (103) to 6.10 (46).
The Dockers' best players included big guns Lachie Neale, Nat Fyfe and David Mundy, while youngsters Andrew Brayshaw and Stefan Giro also impressed.
Veteran defender Kade Simpson and stand-in skipper Patrick Cripps, who had a game-high 38 possessions, were among a handful of Blues who could hold their heads high.
The Blues were simply dreadful in the opening half, conceding six goals in both quarters without managing to kick a single major in response.
The worst moment of a horrible first quarter came when Blues backman Sam Rowe dropped an uncontested mark deep in defence, gifting a goal to Neale.
If anything, things got even worse in the second term.
Brayshaw sauntered away untouched from a stoppage to goal early in the quarter, while Tom Sheridan kicked his first major after Jacob Weitering showed a distinct lack of awareness to be caught with the ball in the middle of the ground.
The Blues were booed off the ground at halftime by a sizeable contingent of the crowd of 21,430.
The home team finally got a first goal for the day three minutes into the third quarter through Sam Kerridge.
Tireless ruckman Matthew Kreuzer then managed back-to-back goals, the first from outside the 50m arc and the second a clever left-footed snap as Carlton showed some long overdue spirit.
Even so Fremantle finished the third quarter with the final two goals to Michael Apeness and Brandon Matera.
All five of the Dockers' previous five victories this year had come at home at Perth Stadium.
The heavy loss kept Carlton rooted to the bottom of the ladder ahead of a daunting clash next week against traditional rivals Collingwood.
Carlton's previous lowest score against Fremantle was 6.13 (49) in 1996.
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