A top of the table thriller played out on Saturday as another key battle in the race for top five was happening elsewhere.
Here's what you might have missed this week from Indigenous Round
Moe vs Leongatha
First vs second on the ladder saw Leongatha get their revenge on Moe in Saturday's blockbuster at Ted Summerton Reserve.
Just two points separated the teams at the final siren, Leongatha holding on despite a late barrage of forward forays.
The Parrots led for most of the 10.3 (63) to 9.7 (61) win despite the Lions giving themselves more than enough chances to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Moe's last quarter will especially sting, given they doubled their opposition's inside 50 count just to end the term with the same number of goals – one each.
Moe's lone major, a set shot to Crocker after winning a holding the ball free, ended up being the last of the day at the 20th minute mark.
The teams played out a nil-all draw for the remaining eight, sealing a hard-fought Parrots win.
The battle between the competition's two most in-form goalkickers Ben Crocker and Patrick Ireland saw Crocker take home the chocolates with four goals to one. Given Ireland's side ultimately won the day it's fair to say he probably didn't mind.
Both sides were well short of their best line-ups and were missing stars across the ground, leaving it to some of their lesser known lights to take up the mantle.
Benjamin Harding reigned supreme for Leongatha, winning the ball with aplomb when it was up for grabs.
Hayden Lindsay put together one of his finest efforts in green and gold as Aaron Heppell, Jack Hume, Nicholas Argento and Ben Willis were all excellent.
Moe was best served by Myles Poholke, the former AFL talent putting on a show through the middle to try and drag the home side over the line.
Junior prospects Luke Cheffers, Max Woodall and Xavier Berquez showed plenty, as did Alex Dijkstra and Harrison Pepper.
The path to another minor premiership has now opened up for Leongatha, who do not face another top three team for the rest of the year.
Moe also have a comfortable run home and will be hoping for a better result come finals time.
Wonthaggi vs Morwell
Wonthaggi have been sent tumbling out of the top five after copping a 37-point whack from Morwell at home.
In one of the key battles for the top five on the run home it was the Tigers who proved far too ferocious in a stunning third quarter display, booting eight goals to one to set up the commanding 12.12 (84) to 7.5 (47) win.
Up to that point the Power, who were welcoming back several senior troops during a serious form slump, were doing their level best to match Morwell and even led by four points at half time.
Which is all to say they probably didn't see the onslaught coming that has left their finals hopes are in all sorts.
Defender Zachary Anderson led the charge for the visitors, keeping the Power forwards quiet past half time especially.
He was ably assisted by the likes of Aidan Quigley, Sam Walsh, Boyd Bailey, Anthony Rosato and Blake Couling.
It's been a brilliant response from the Tigers after dropping a vital game against Warragul just weeks ago.
Since then they've knocked off the reigning premiers in style and claimed an important one here.
Wonthaggi, meanwhile, are hardly inspiring confidence. Having won just one of their past six, which includes a loss to bottom-placed Drouin, they're in plenty of strife.
Sale this week is a non-negotiable.
Brodie Mabila, Ethan Dickison, Jaxon Williams, Jye Gilmour, Kaj Patterson and Harry Dawson kept giving their all on Saturday.
Traralgon vs Maffra
Traralgon exacted some good old-fashioned revenge at home with a 115-point drubbing of Maffra.
After been utterly shocked by the Eagles last time around the reigning premiers were in no mood to allow a repeat, slamming home eight goals in the first term en route to a 23.19 (157) to 6.6 (42) smashing.
Another seven unanswered goals in the third ensured the final margin was going to be a big one. It was the perfect tonic for the Maroons after their disappointing defeat to Morwell last round.
Tye Hourigan monstered Maffra in the air to be his team's best, along with Jordan Cunico, Harvey Neocleous, Dylan Loprese, Tristen Waack and Matthew Northe.
On a tough day for Maffra their better players were Alex Carr, Danny Butcher, Zach Felsbourg, Thomas Phillips, Dylan Alexander and Elijh Berry.
Sale vs Drouin
If Drouin's breakthrough win two weeks ago had them walking on air, Saturday's effort against Sale has brought them crashing back to earth.
The Hawks put together arguably their worst performance of the year away from home as they were completely demolished by a rampaging Magpies side.
Though the wind played a role in the 9.9 (63) to 26.16 (172) defeat, the way Drouin were outworked, outrun and ultimately outgunned was more of a factor.
Having to kick into the wind in the opening term they were simply blown away by a much different looking Magpies side, who were out to make a statement in a game that, on paper, they could have lost.
Although the deficit was still gettable at the first break Drouin did themselves no favours across the second and third terms, kicking two goals to Sale's 17.
It's a disappointing result for the young Hawks after making several important strides as the season's gone along, namely their sterling pre-bye victory over Wonthaggi.
Where that game was a near full team effort with every player contributing, this one saw too many fall by the wayside and fail to have much impact at all.
Seb Amoroso (31 disposals, two goals) was one of the Hawks players who could hold his head high, giving no quarter in his first game as Drouin captain in the absence of Jarrod Marshall.
Kye Quirk (39 disposals, eight clearances) gave similar efforts as per usual while teenagers Max Williames, Blake Bibby and Caleb Kleeven (on debut) got the chance to show their wares in multiple roles.
Kleeven especially showed plenty of craft around goal, ending the day with one goal from several shots.
Zayne Atkins rounded out their best on a tough day overall.
By contrast the Sale list was full of winners, chief among them being superstar Shannen Lange. Lange did his usual work on the ball, winning 35 disposals, and was also lethal up forward as he kicked five goals, second only to teammate Thomas Campbell's six.
Harry Tatterson, Bodhi Walker and Derek Eggmolesse-Smith all showed their class, as did Jack Halligan and ruck Jack Leslie, whose aerial work was exemplary.
Losing the toss did the Hawks no favours as they found themselves staring down the barrel of a powerful breeze favouring the Magpies.
Things only became more difficult when young gun Kaiden Walmsley came from the field minutes into the game feeling faint and not returning thereafter.
The Magpies, meanwhile, got to work. While the first 10 minutes were relatively even and saw no goals kicked, the run and spread Sale have been lacking all year suddenly sprung to life, allowing them to get the early jump.
Goals to Campbell, Lange, Leslie and Walker had the home fans up and about, a quick-thinking soccer from Arli Fleming the only Drouin major for the quarter.
Though the wind began to die down after the first term the Hawks were looking for a response in the second. They didn't get it.
Sale continued to run riot, carving through the Drouin defensive structures again and again.
That trend only continued in the third where the Magpies thumped through another 11 to really put the visitors to the sword.
Drouin were able to muster some late resistance, outscoring the Magpies in the last 5.2 to 4.2.
By then it was far too late, the Hawks left to rue a match in which they never put their best foot forward.
It's an especially tough pill to swallow given how close the Hawks came in their last encounter.
Drouin coach Leigh Horsburgh labelled the match "the worst we've played this year."
"My honest opinion going down there was I was really hopeful to get the win and we were just nowhere near it," he said.
"They just beat us everywhere to be honest. We had too many passengers, too many spectators. At quarter time I thought the margin was still pretty gettable but we just didn't show up in the second. That's just not acceptable what we did in that second quarter.
"To their credit they played really well, they worked really hard."
In brighter news Drouin had the chance to train on their home ground's new surface for the first time last week with Horsburgh labelling it "elite." The Hawks will continue to have limited training on the field before it will host their final round Western Derby clash with Warragul in August.
Bairnsdale vs Warragul
Warragul have scraped and scrapped to their fifth straight win on Saturday as they took down Bairnsdale away from home.
While the Gulls led from start to finish the day wasn't without a few nervous moments, namely when the Redlegs kicked the final three goals of the day to give themselves a chance at stealing the game.
In the end Warragul did enough to keep the home side at arm's length, securing another four points 9.10 (64) to 8.8 (56).
The result reverses Warragul's 17-point loss to Bairnsdale earlier this season and is the first time the Gulls have won at Bairnsdale City Oval since 2016.
It wasn't a clean day for either team with the wind playing havoc at the Redlegs' home ground. Momentum swung at various stages, although after taking the early lead the match was always Warragul's to lose.
A major factor in that was another standout performance from key forward Jordan Stewart, who booted five goals.
Stewart's ability to impact in the air and at ground level have been features of his game since coming into the side and have led to him kicking 22 majors from his past five starts.
He was again the focal point for the Gulls, outmuscling his opponents and finishing his work nicely.
Defenders Sean Masterson, Patrick Mulqueen and Liam Serong stood tall when required, keeping the Redlegs' forwards honest.
The dangerous James Harrison made a welcome return to the club's 22 as forward Tom Stern was always a threat.
Bairnsdale big man Ethan East played a strong hand around the ground and up against one of the league's better rucks in Sam Whibley.
A man of fair size himself, East wasn't afraid to use his body to keep the ball going the way of his midfielders.
Tyran Rees, Will Mitchell and Tom Blenheim found plenty of the ball while Nic Bulmer and Lachlan Cloak also played well.
It was clear from the outset the conditions were going to play a role as the breeze blew strongly across the ground.
After a series of misses Koby Grass got the Gulls rolling with a lovely checkside snap.
Although Bairnsdale fired back not long after through Rees, goals to Caleb McIntosh and Stewart gave the visitors the advantage at quarter time.
Wil Malady and Jobe Froud kicked truly in traffic to get the Redlegs back into the contest before the Gulls made their move.
Consecutive goals to Stewart, one on the run in the pocket and the other from a brilliant one on one mark in the goal square, were quickly followed by majors from Stern and Tom Hobbs, the Gulls looking to break the game open.
The Redlegs were keeping in touch in the third when young Gull Kai MacLean won a vital ground ball to allow Stewart to waltz into an open goal.
Stewart backed it up by again clunking a contested grab, booting his fifth on the eve of three quarter time.
With the breeze having shifted to favour Bairnsdale's end the Redlegs kept up the fight, goals to East and Malady bringing them closer until an expert rove from small forward Brayden McCarrey brought the deficit to under 10 points at the 25-minute mark.
Stern and McIntosh both missed gettable shots to slam the door shut for Warragul until the final siren sounded on an important win in the context of the Gulls' season.
Having now racked up five straight Warragul are a game clear in fourth, four points ahead of Morwell (fifth) and Wonthaggi (sixth).
The way things are going those three are going to be trying to fit into two, making results like Saturday's all the more important.
Warragul coach Jed Lamb said although it was an ugly win "sometimes you need to win ugly to give you that belief."
"I think in previous years we probably give up that lead...full credit to Bairnsdale, although their ladder position isn't that great they're always really hard to play against."
Lamb was full of praise for Stewart, saying he had been a brilliant inclusion.
"To be honest he's exceeded my expectations. He's an absolute gun, he competes in the air and wins it on the ground really well."
Warragul now face a challenging two weeks where they face last year's grand finalists back to back, hosting Traralgon this Saturday before travelling to Leongatha the week after.
Cover Image: Wazshots
