1. Bulldogs dodge a bullet
The Bulldogs kicked the opening goal of the game through Tory Dickson, but surrendered the lead three minutes later and trailed the Magpies for the next three quarters until Josh Dunkley goaled at the six-minute mark of the final term. Collingwood looked to have all the momentum when a Ben Crocker goal put them 15 points up midway through the third term, but the Dogs – with the help of a string of Magpie injuries – overran the Pies, kicking seven of the last eight goals of the game to win by 21 points. On a day when fellow top-four contender Geelong suffered a shock loss to Carlton, it was a valuable 'ugly' win that could prove vital at the end of the season.

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2. Magpies mauled by injury
The Magpies were brave in defeat, having to cope with a raft of injuries that drastically reduced their interchange options from early in the second term when Alan Toovey went off the ground with concussion. The Magpies defender did not return to the game and worse was to come when Taylor Adams (hamstring), Alex Fasolo (shoulder) and Ben Crocker (ankle) went down in the third quarter, and Darcy Moore (shoulder) followed them off the ground in the final term. Only Crocker was able to return to the ground, with the Pies' rotations of 57 to the Dogs' 86 reflecting the huge workload that Collingwood's fit players had to take on. Not surprisingly, the Bulldogs' fresher legs proved vital in the end. 

3. Suckling makes a handy return
The Bulldogs have suffered their fair share of injuries in recent rounds, so they would have been buoyed to welcome defender Matt Suckling back after a month on the sidelines with injury. The former Hawk made a solid return against the Magpies and underlined on several occasions just how much the Bulldogs have missed his incisive foot skills across half-back. Suckling set up a Jack Redpath goal in the first term with a quick low pass down the wing, then hit Mitch Wallis lace-out on the lead early in the second quarter. And he put the icing on his comeback cake with a goal at the 20-minute mark of the final term that helped to seal the Dogs' win. 

GAMEBREAKER: Stand-in stands up

4. Levi on Bontempelli
A week after holding Geelong skipper Joel Selwood to 18 possessions, Levi Greenwood was handed the big assignment of curtailing emerging Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli. In the first half, the Magpies tagger again underlined his status of one of the stingiest run-with players in the game, holding Bontempelli to just one possession in the first term and six by half-time. Remarkably, for a player renowned for his work at stoppages, none of those touches were clearances. Bontempelli worked his way into the game in the second half to finish with 20 possessions and a goal, but Greenwood, who had 14 touches and 11 tackles himself, still had a solid day at the office. 

5. Fasolo maintains set shot streak
Alex Fasolo entered Sunday's game having kicked 11.0 from set shots in 2016. The Pies small forward extended his perfect record when he converted from 45m in the opening minutes of the game. Fasolo's goalkicking has been sharp in general play too. Before Sunday's game he had kicked 10.4 on the run this year, but he missed a golden opportunity in the second quarter when he narrowly missed a checkside snap from 25m. It was a relatively straightforward chance that Fasolo normally would have swallowed, and part of a run of four consecutive Pies' behinds that closed their inaccurate 1.6 term.

Alex Fasolo is normally on line, but had an uncharacteristic miss on Saturday. Picture: AFL Media