By Nicholas Duck
One side confirmed their premiership favouritism in style on Saturday as another top five team rode a wave of momentum late.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Moe vs Leongatha
The Lions have fully asserted themselves as the team to beat for the 2026 flag after a statement 46-point win over reigning premiers Leongatha on Saturday.
Moe made their move early, kicking 10 goals in the second quarter alone to leave the Parrots shellshocked.
Although the league's top team of the last decade were able to steady somewhat, drawing back within 24 points, the damage was already done as Moe romped to victory 19.8 (122) to 11.10 (76).
The second term onslaught was the first time Leongatha have conceded 10 goals in a quarter since the 2012 qualifying final.
The conditions did the Parrots no favours in their comeback efforts as rain teemed down, turning the Traralgon Showgrounds into a big puddle late in the day.
Myles Poholke once again led the goals with five majors, bringing his season total to 52 from 10 games. Safe to say he'll be featuring heavily in the votes come awards night.
Former Melbourne Demon and Western Bulldog James Harmes wasn't far behind on four in a best on ground performance.
Moe have enjoyed one of the more talented lists in recent seasons and having only added to it in the off-season now have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal.
If they don't win the flag with the weapons they have something's gone seriously wrong.
Their other top performers were Trent Baldi, Nathan Scagliarini, Blake Mullane and Jordan Shields.
Leongatha must now deal with the reality of being in an unusually indifferent run of form. The Parrots have won just one of their last four, with losses to Moe and Wonthaggi and a draw against Warragul.
Now six points outside the top three, they've got work to do.
Fighting hard all day for them were Tom Marriott, Aaron Heppell, Curtis Murfett, Jackson Harry, Sam Bradley and Tallin Brill.
Wonthaggi vs Morwell
Wonthaggi kept up their strong run of form by knocking off Morwell to the tune of 34 points.
It wasn't always pretty, the second half especially, but the Power had far too much quality on the park, keeping the Tigers goalless across quarters three and four to prevail 9.9 (63) to 3.11 (29).
The result sees Wonthaggi extend their winning streak to six while Morwell have won just one of their last eight.
A first quarter assault set the home side up nicely for the day, with the Power piling on five goals to none. A sixth was added soon into the second term and against a team struggling to put a score on, that buffer was close to a match-winning lead.
The Tigers rallied for the next three but that was to be their only purple patch for the day as they failed to put one through the big sticks past half time.
Neither side were in a scoring mood at that time to be fair in a game that largely played out to an inevitable conclusion.
Wonthaggi's best included Joshua Bates, Isaac Chugg, Jasper Shone, Hunter Tiziani, Reeve Moresco and Thomas Glen as they now prepare for an almighty clash with Warragul.
Last time they met it went down to the wire so keep an eye out for an entertaining battle.
Battling manfully for Morwell were Lachlan Ainsworth, Zachary Anderson, Tyler Hillier, Aidan Quigley, Campbell Blewett and Maclan McInnes.
Bairnsdale vs Traralgon
Traralgon have made the most of a fourth quarter surge to take down Bairnsdale by 38-points away from home.
The Maroons led by just three points at the final change of ends but came out firing in the last, slamming home six unanswered goals in a vital 12.12 (84) to 6.10 (46) win.
It was a rather limp ending to what had, up to that point, been a tough game to read.
Neither team had let the other out of their sight on the scoreboard, with the largest lead being a 13-point advantage to the underdog Redlegs in the third term.
The Maroons are a quality outfit, however, and when it was required they turned on the jets, powering ahead in an impressive display.
The win sees them keeping ahead of sixth-placed Maffra while also closing to two points behind Leongatha.
Playing well for the Maroons were Liam Willaton, Connor Ambler, Matthew Northe, Tom Hamilton, Cooper Anderson and Mitchell Mustoe.
The Redlegs will be proud of their fight for three quarters but majorly disappointed by their lack of it late. Their top performers were Tyran Rees, Oscar Baylis, Randall Stewart, Jonah Walker, Lachlan Byrne-Jones and Rex Hargreaves.
Sale vs Maffra
Maffra has once again claimed the Battle of the Birds against Sale with an emphatic 126-point win.
With their long time rivals struggling this season the Eagles wasted no time sinking the boot in even further, doing it easily 25.16 (166) to 6.4 (40).
Maffra began the day slowly but ramped things up in the second term where they kicked eight goals to open up a match-winning lead.
Jack McQuillen and Seth Smith both booted five as Thomas Scott, Zachary O'Keefe, Danny Butcher, Leo Stephenson and Sam Anderson all starred.
While the top five looks unlikely to change Maffra is certainly the team most likely to come in as they sit one game behind Traralgon.
Unfortunately for them games against Moe and Leongatha loom large in the weeks to come.
Flying the flag for Sale were Ashton Wright, Adam Wallace, Benjamin Hall, Cooper Rand, Darcy Van der Voort and Mason Annear.
Drouin vs Warragul
Warragul may have claimed Western Derby glory on Sunday but it wasn't without a few scares along the way as they overcame an inexperienced but gallant Drouin side by 24 points.
Having smashed the Hawks by more than 100 points earlier this year it was a much different story this time around as the home side's run and carry troubled the second-placed Gulls for much of the first half.
As the game wore on, however, Warragul's quality began to win out, the Gulls booting nine goals to four after half time to win 14.11 (95) to 10.11 (71).
It was a much improved performance from Drouin, who took to the field without a player over the age of 21 thanks to coach Jordan Kingi being sidelined with a hand injury.
They certainly weren't going to die wondering with some of their ball movement as they continually chipped it short out of defence before rushing it forward to give themselves opportunities at goal.
Warragul are a quality unit though, and after half time came out with renewed purpose, clicking into gear at the clearances and tidying up their own ball use to surge ahead in the third quarter.
More and more mistakes crept into the Hawks' game with a deficit to chase and though they never stopped fighting, they never quite threatened like they did earlier in the day.
Keys to Warragul's victory were the lethal efforts of midfield combo Tom Hobbs and Sam Whibley.
The Gulls' contested ball dynamo enjoyed silver service from his ruck, who used his size advantage over Hawks ruck Riley Wierzbicki to take full toll.
Young Cooper Leighton's decision-making with ball in hand stood out as Riley Senini also put in a solid body of work on the ball and in the middle.
Tom Stern impacted all around the ground and especially in aerial contests while Levi Moore rounded out the best for the winners.
Drouin enjoyed a top notch performance from hard nut Brodie Atkins, who had the ball on a string at various stages.
Up against a vaunted midfield group, the 2025 Morrish Medallist crashed and bashed his way through as he tried to give the Hawks every chance at an upset.
Tommy Trist booted three first half goals and looked like the Hawks' most likely scorer for most of the day, putting himself in smart positions throughout.
Tom Mapleson did well in a job on star Warragul interceptor Sean Masterson, sometimes looking like a full-on tagger in the forward line.
Captain Seb Amoroso's relentless chase on the footy was a sight to see as always as Campbell Bedford and Lane Ward were both strong.
While pre-game expectations had Warragul as big winners, the early toing and froing instead had Drouin looking like the more composed side as they dictated terms.
Despite Jed Lamb finding the first of the day out the back, the Hawks' transition was working well, as shown when they went end to end to let Noah Lafrantz get them going.
Two free kicks handed consecutive goals to Tommy Trist to get the home crowd up and about before James Harrison put on a decent tryout for the Socceroos, booting a beauty off the ground as a response.
With Whibley and Wierzbicki tapping it down to Ward, the midfield battle sounded like a line from Elmer Fudd at times as the teams went into quarter time dead even.
Trist ran in his third soon after play resumed while things became somewhat heated thereafter when Mapleson won a free kick on Masterson and let the Gull know all about it when he kicked truly.
Several 50s were handed out for some ill-disciplined plays, including a double 50 that took Hobbs from half back all the way to the goal line.
That ill-feeling continued past the half time buzzer as the clubs took some time separating themselves heading into the rooms.
Rylie Baker missed a golden opportunity early in the third after bringing down a great mark close to home, with the Gulls sweeping it forward to get Hobbs a second major and instead take the lead.
Warragul were able to keep that momentum going late in the term, kicking goals through Stern, Vinnie Caia and Brad Hefford to extend their advantage out to 21 at the final break.
Needing the first of the last to give themselves a chance, the Hawks got what they were after when Vinnie Kuol baited Masterson into giving away a free, the ex-Gull booting the ball straight back over Masterson's head and getting in his face immediately after.
That momentum was short-lived, largely thanks to Drouin shooting themselves in the foot with some of their turnovers, which allowed Xavier Olsson and Senini to put the visitors firmly back on the front foot.
By the time the Gulls looped one over the top to Cameron Thompson it was essentially game over, despite some late consolation prizes for the maroon and gold.
Speaking post-game, Warragul coach Gary Ayres was happy to get the win.
"Full credit to Drouin today and the way they performed, the way they were able to spread from stoppage, especially in the first half, and their ability to transition," he said.
"Having said that I thought our third quarter was more how we wanted it to look. If you won around stoppage it was a bit of a front half game. I thought Drouin had that in the first quarter but we were quite efficient going forward at times.
"In the second quarter we could have nailed some gettable goals so we left a few out there but I thought the third quarter was the best quarter we played.
"I was really pleased, I think we've got a fair bit of resilience as a group that we've built for three or four months ... I sit here and it's a pretty hard-earned four points and a lot of the credit goes to how Drouin played."
Drouin coach Jordan Kingi said the day was a huge occasion for the club on account of their fundraiser and his side was keen to perform.
"We wanted to make sure we were ready for it. And we wanted to make sure we showed improvement on the last time we played them. And the things that we didn't do very well against them we feel like we did really well today. We took away their uncontested marking today and we were a lot braver with the ball than last time," he said.
"We knew at half time that all good teams, when they're a little bit down, they always respond. So they got on top in terms of the contest especially and then they got their ball movement going from that.
"From our point of view it's huge for confidence to take it up to second on the ladder. They're second for a reason, they're a really good team with some great players."
Warragul will now prepare for a Titanic clash against third-placed Wonthaggi this Saturday at home. Key forward Jordan Stewart is set to return, while the club also hopes to get back Sunday's late withdrawal Zac Stewart as well as Luke Garner.
Drouin will saddle up to face Traralgon away from home with Kingi set to miss again but big man Denver Lund likely to come in and take ruck duties for the first time this season.
Photo: Andrew Day
