1. Suns' Sunday stinker
After being treated to five games decided by less than a goal from Friday to Saturday night, the expectation for the round was set high. But Greater Western Sydney's obliteration of Carlton at Etihad Stadium as the early Sunday game was a prelude to what happened at the MCG when Melbourne got hold of an undermanned Gold Coast. The final margin wasn't as big but the damage was done early, with the Dees opening up a quarter-time lead of 51 points that left the Suns chasing tail all afternoon. They did well to offer some resistance but the 23,072 in attendance weren't treated to a contest beyond late in the first quarter as the Demons meandered through the second and third quarters while keeping the Suns at arm's length before blasting five goals to two in the fourth to wrap up an underwhelming game. 

DEE-MOLITION JOB Full match coverage and stats

2. Lynch's call justified?
Tom Lynch finally made public his intention to leave the Suns this week, which was met with varied reactions given it's been reported he met with rivals in season while injured, plus the club's call to instantly strip him of the captaincy and essentially banish him from the club. But what transpired on Sunday would have helped settle any doubts he had. The Suns were depleted and they did look OK in sporadic patches but the reality remained; they were humbled by the Demons in front of a smallish MCG crowd – the lowest at the venue this season - on a chilly Sunday evening. No doubt part of Lynch will be casting an eye to the round's other high-octane blockbuster matches played in front of big attendances and be optimistic there are likely grander occasions on his immediate radar, starting in round one, 2019.  

3. Percentage-booster for finals-bound Dees
The Demons' percentage was a healthy 127.33 going into the game and went up to 132.8 with the 96-point win, which is the highest of any finals-bound team with the exception of Richmond. It looked as though they weren't going to capitalise on their dominance in the second and third quarters as they didn't keep up their first-quarter goal-kicking rate and turned a quarter-time lead of 51 points into 74 by the final change. But their five-goal final term pushed it out to a demolition job and really bolstered their numbers after they shared their goal-kicking around to 10 individual players. Triple M commentator Wayne Carey said in the second quarter, "If you can't kick five [goals] as a Melbourne forward today, you can't play", but that didn't take into consideration the fact they offered multiple weapons and troubled the Suns' undermanned backline with eight of those players booting more than one.

4. Missing spine cripples Suns
Already missing Lynch, Steven May, Rory Thompson and David Swallow, the loss of Peter Wright in the opening three minutes meant the Suns were essentially fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Their backline was depleted, which allowed the Demons to essentially line up and take turns kicking goals, while their forward line struggled with Alex Sexton – at 186cm – their biggest and only real threat with a career-best bag of five goals (of the Suns' seven). But, it wouldn't have mattered who was up front for the Suns at times with the way in which the ball was delivered inside 50; they had 13 less forays into attack at half-time but trailed by over 10 goals, which told the story of a team struggling across the field. However, the fact they were missing eight of their 2017 best and fairest top 10 certainly counts for something.

5. The feelgood stories continue in round 20
After Alex Johnson returned for the Swans on Saturday night after 2136 days and five knee reconstructions, it was the Demons' turn to celebrate a story of persistence of Sunday. Aaron vandenBerg played his first game since round 23, 2016, after a long battle with a stress fracture in his heel. He came on to cheers at the seven-minute mark of the first quarter after starting on the bench and ran straight to the forward line, which was expected with Jake Melksham sidelined with a hamstring injury. His first touch came a minute later when he marked a Clayton Oliver kick and he finished with 14 disposals, two clearances and six inside 50s all up, unfortunately missing two shots at goal in the second quarter. While his layoff of 708 days doesn't rival Johnson's, it was still a pleasing sight to see the 26-year-old back on the field after a torrid 18 months.