1. Joe Biden went to the wrong game
While Mason Cox helped interpret Australia's homegrown game for the American Vice-President at the MCG, the afternoon's more entertaining spectacle unfolded across town. Both St Kilda and Melbourne have played a brand of football this season that has won respect. While Biden watched West Coast's slogging win over Carlton, the Saints and Dees lit up Etihad Stadium with 26 goals amid fierce tackling and quick ball movement. The Saints prevailed because they had more experienced players capable of standing up in big moments but the Demons never gave up, drawing within five points early in the final term. Despite St Kilda's 14 consecutive wins over Melbourne, both teams are on the right track with each list containing elite young talent. If either team was a stock, it would be marked buy. - Peter Ryan

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2. Ben Griffiths is a keeper
With speculation the Tigers will move on one of their out-of-contract tall forwards at the end of the season, Ben Griffiths is moving past Ty Vickery as the more attractive option for rival clubs. But rather than dealing Griffiths to a new home, the Tigers should re-sign the 24-year-old and play him for the rest of the season. The 200cm big man is inconsistent, but in his best games he is hard to stop and he enjoyed one of those days against Essendon on Saturday, taking a career-high 12 marks and kicking three goals. With a lot of football ahead of him, he should be part of the rejuvenation at Punt Road Oval and backed to play at his best more consistently. - Nathan Schmook

3. Hawthorn should let Shaun Burgoyne set his own contract
The 311-gamer remains unsigned beyond the end of this year, but if his performance against the Sydney Swans on Thursday night dictates the value of his new contract, or even if he's offered one at all, Burgoyne can name his price. The Hawks have a host of stars that have stood tall in huge moments over the past few years, but none can match the man nicknamed 'Silk', who is one of the competition's best at producing in big games. The veteran, who turns 34 in October, had 11 possessions, five clearances, five tackles and kicked two clutch goals in the final quarter against the Swans at the SCG, and while teammate Cyril Rioli's match-winner stole the spotlight, Burgoyne's last term was phenomenal. Hand the man a blank contract now, Hawkers. - Adam Curley

4. Port's finals equation is not merely mathematical
Port Adelaide's hopes of making the finals looked remote heading into its clash against North Melbourne, but its impressive 28-point win has transformed those hopes from mathematical to genuine. The Power is now just two games behind the eighth-placed Roos and notably gained a narrow percentage advantage over them – 109.9 to 109.7 – on Saturday night. What's really brought Port back into September calculations is North's dramatic form slide, which has seen it drop six of its past seven games. Picking up two games on North over the final six rounds won't be easy, but if the Power can maintain their round 17 form and the Roos continue to do them a few favours they can do it. - Nick Bowen 

• Who impressed for your club in this weekend's state leagues?

5. The Blues should keep experimenting with Jacob Weitering in attack
Last year's top draft pick has pushed himself into NAB AFL Rising Star contention with his mature and assured performances down back, but with the Blues' defence holding up relatively well, Carlton might have more use for Weitering in attack. After fears his day being done when he suffered a corked leg in the first term against West Coast on Sunday, Weitering was thrown forward in the second half and booted his first two AFL goals to help inspire the Blues' thrilling fightback from 33 points down to just seven at the final siren. Weitering gave the Blues a dangerous target, and given their issues hitting the scoreboard recently – Sunday was the first time in four games they've kicked 10 goals - he might be worth persevering with to see what he can do alongside Charlie Curnow and Levi Casboult up forward. - Travis King

6. The Crows can function under finals pressure
While Adelaide managed to eventually earn an eighth-straight win on Saturday night, Collingwood applied what Crows coach Don Pyke described as finals-like pressure. It was a tight and scrappy game and an important test for Pyke's side in the run towards September. The standout line was Adelaide's defence, where Daniel Talia, Jake Lever, Kyle Hartigan, Brodie Smith and Ricky Henderson all performed. Throw Rory Laird and Luke Brown back into the side and Adelaide appears to have a back six capable of standing up in September football. - Harry Thring

7. The Bulldogs have to fix up their forward problems
While the Dogs broke the 100-point mark for the first time in eight games and kicked their biggest half-time score for the season (11.9) in the 48-point win over Gold Coast in Cairns, coach Luke Beveridge still bemoaned his side's inability to make of the most of its ample chances up forward. Kicking just 15.17 from 57 inside 50s against an under-strength Suns team was compounded by a shoulder injury to star Jake Stringer.  Inefficiency in attack has been a common theme for the finals-bound outfit this season and they'll have to sort it out if they are to be a genuine threat for the premiership. - Ryan Davidson

8. The Dockers remain hard to beat when they bring the heat
Fremantle's insipid first-half performances against Collingwood and Melbourne had fans suffering flashbacks to some of the dark old days in Docker history. But the malaise was short-lived. The Dockers delivered a trademark effort against the Cats without a bevy of stars. In the first quarter they convincingly won the tackle count, contested possession count and clearance count against a Cats midfield that is highly fancied. They also did not go away despite losing momentum and the lead during the second and third terms, and had they kicked straight in the last quarter could have pinched the game. The Dockers' next challenges are sustaining that effort for longer periods and continuing to work on their obvious skill deficiencies. - Alex Malcolm

9. Josh Kelly is making strides in a hurry
He might not get the raps of Callan Ward or Dylan Shiel, but Josh Kelly is rapidly emerging as the most damaging Giants midfielder. While Ward, Stephen Coniglio and Toby Greene did the grunt work in Sunday's thumping of the Lions, Kelly feasted in space. His second quarter goal from outside 50m on the run was only bettered by his third quarter effort from 40m in the pouring rain. The penetrating left foot coupled with the balance and vision in space is a package that's hard to stop. Kelly is in just his third season, but opposition coaches will soon have to seriously consider tagging him. - Michael Whiting

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