The Magpies are showing exactly why the lead the AFL, spoiling the Suns’ sell-out party at Carrara, with a dominant first-half display on the Gold Coast.
Elsewhere, the Crows cruise to victory against the Kangaroos, and the Bulldogs get a vital win against Fremantle.
Later the Bombers take on Port Adelaide under lights at the MCG.
Follow the live scores, stats and results below.
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Crows crush Kangaroos in Adelaide
Boom recruit Izak Rankine kicked five goals as Adelaide’s high-octane attack hit top gear in a 66-point hammering of North Melbourne.
The Crows, with seven players scoring multiple goals in their 21.12 (138) to 11.6 (72) victory on Saturday at Adelaide Oval, reclaim a spot in the top eight.
Rankine also directly created two other goals while Darcy Fogarty slotted four majors and Coleman medal leader Taylor Walker kicked three.
Adelaide’s Ben Keays (28 disposals, two goals) was outstanding while Luke Pedlar, ruckman Reilly O’Brien and Riley Thilthorpe kicked two goals apiece.
Captain Jordan Dawson (28 touches) continued his fine season, combining with Rory Sloane (30) and Rory Laird (24) to form a dominant midfield while halfbacks Mitch Hinge (26) and Brodie Smith (24) were prominent.
Adelaide will end the round in the top eight and possibly as high as sixth after passing the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season.
The 17th-placed Roos were just seven points down 23 minutes into the second quarter but conceded nine of the next 10 goals.
North’s Nick Larkey slotted three goals in a 10-minute purple patch in the second term, Taryn Thomas (two goals, 23 disposals) had patches of influence and Harry Sheezel was their chief ball-winner with 31 disposals.
The Crows, with Rankine booting two goals and setting up another, scored 7.2 to 4.1 in an opening quarter punctuated by an injury to key defender Jordon Butts and a flashpoint for the Roos’ Callum Coleman-Jones.
Butts left the field, concussed and clutching his left cheekbone, after an accidental clash of heads while Coleman-Jones’ late air-borne crash into Nick Murray after the Crow took a mark will attract match review scrutiny.
North, powered by Larkey’s burst, scored four goals in 14 minutes to sneak within seven points midway through the second term.
But Adelaide kicked the last three majors to edge 26 points clear at half-time, 12.5 to 8.3.
The Crows accelerated with four goals in less than 12 minutes to open the third stanza to kill off the Kangaroos — they were 53 points up at the last change and added four goals to two in the final quarter.
Bulldogs burn the Dockers in fierce finish at Docklands
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s star turn up forward has inspired the Western Bulldogs to a 29-point victory over Fremantle that keeps Luke Beveridge’s charges firmly in touch with the AFL top four.
Former number one pick Ugle-Hagan took several impressive flying marks among nine in total and kicked 4.2 along with teeing up several teammates as he proved the difference against the error-ridden Dockers.
Fremantle posed a far sterner test than when they rolled over at home in round six but lacked poise at crucial moments, with the Bulldogs riding the bumps to prevail 16.6 (102) to 11.7 (73) at Docklands on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (9-6, 36 points) sit fifth on percentage while it was a missed opportunity for Justin Longmuir’s Dockers (7-8, 28 points), who remain outside the top eight.
Marcus Bontempelli (27 disposals, nine clearances, 512 metres gained) and Tom Liberatore (21 disposals, 10 clearances) impressed amid Tim English’s entertaining ruck duel with Sean Darcy (50 hitouts, 18 disposals).
Michael Walters and Jye Amiss (four goals apiece) kept Fremantle in the game along with typically-busy star midfielder Caleb Serong (38 touches, 10 clearances).
Winger Liam Henry (33 disposals) had plenty of the ball but made some crucial errors while former skipper Nat Fyfe struggled and was substituted early in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs burst out of the blocks with English, Ugle-Hagan and Mitch Hannan delivering a early three-goal lead.
But Walters stopped the rot with a wonderful instinctive snap, then added another to get the Dockers rolling.
Amiss’ late snap put the game on level footing ahead of the first break.
From there, the game turned into an arm wrestle.
Ugle-Hagan threatened to break the game open in the opening 10 minutes of the second quarter but kicked 1.2 as the Bulldogs took a six-point lead into half-time.
The Bulldogs snatched the advantage in the third quarter when Henry attempted to take a one-handed mark then lost out to Williams, who shrugged the winger’s tackle and kicked a running goal to extend the lead to 11.
Ugle-Hagan took a huge flying pack mark and snagged his fourth goal to put the margin out to 17.
Walters’ third kept Fremantle in it at the final change and he cut the deficit to four points early in the fourth term.
Darcy marked and put the Dockers in front — but their joy was short-lived.
Rory Lobb restored the Bulldogs’ lead with a lovely long-range shot from a free kick and it proved the first of five consecutive goals that broke the game open as the Bulldogs never looked back.
Bombers vs Power
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