1. Collingwood responds to Richmond challenge

So much of the talk after Richmond's Friday night domination of St Kilda was about how the Tigers were clearly the best team in the competition. That's hard to dispute, but the Magpies had their say against North Melbourne, making the Roos looks second rate. There were worries about how the backline would cope after the very late withdrawal of Darcy Moore, but it didn't matter because Collingwood owned the football in the opening quarter and didn't give North a sniff. The clash next Saturday afternoon at the home of football between the Tigers and Pies is one to savour.

2. Moore hamstring worries

Darcy Moore suffered a hamstring issue for the third time this season and was withdrawn from the side after taking part in the warm-up. He was replaced by Josh Daicos and while that swap didn't change the result, the signs are concerning for the out-of-contract swingman. His value is surely limited if Collingwood can't rely on the 22-year-old's body, especially so close to finals time. In terms of the on-field impact, Ben Brown seemed set for a field day when Jeremy Howe lined up on Coleman Medal leader. However, despite giving up 10cm, Howe took the points in that contest, keeping Brown to two goals.

MAGPIES FLY Full match coverage and stats

3. North's top-eight odds go south

This was a particularly important clash for North as it looked to claim an unlikely finals berth. The odds of that happening lengthened though after the Roos were soundly beaten. Losing has obvious implications but the percentage drop, from 114.2 to 108, hurt a lot as well, considering the logjam of teams scrapping to make the eight. With West Coast (Blundstone Arena), the in-form Brisbane (Gabba) and Adelaide (Adelaide Oval) all to come in the run home, and needing three victories to lock in that 12-win mark that typically assures a finals spot (although perhaps even that might not be enough this season), Brad Scott's men will need to come home like a steam train to book their spot in September.

SHOWREEL Bloody Kangaroos

4. Horror day for Thompson

It's been a good year for Scott Thompson and the 32-year-old will probably receive another contract from the Roos, as the club's football manager Cameron Joyce seemed to indicate to AFL.com.au. Against Collingwood though, he had an absolute nightmare. On three different occasions he had to leave the field bleeding profusely from his nose, sporting bandaging around his head for much of the contest. With blood spurting everywhere, Thompson required multiple changes of his jumper and shorts. Things didn't go much better for him otherwise, as Brody Mihocek and Jordan De Goey both beat him in one-on-one contests deep in North's defence as the Magpies ran rampant.

5. Pies skipper comes up with his own form of bird control

Winged creatures have long been a blight for spectators at the MCG. Matches have sometimes seemingly featured more seagulls than players, and the sight of birds flying out of the area as the football comes their way happens reasonably often. After different attempts to keep them away, including wires over the top of the ground and even fake eagles to scare off their smaller cousins, Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury took matters into his own hands on Saturday. With a pigeon providing an obstacle for the midfielder as he looked to send the ball deep into the forward line, Pendlebury went to bounce the football and collected a pigeon right on its head, sending it to the ground. For those concerned, the bird made an impressive recovery and flew away, seemingly unharmed.