The big winners of Round 12 are...
Collingwood Magpies, who again proved themselves to be the real deal with a fourth consecutive victory, three of which are against current top-eight opposition.
Their injury list was cut by five last week and two of the returnees, Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury, produced vintage midfield performances to deliver their fifth 40+ point victory of the season.
Head coach Craig McRae told reporters it was his favourite performance of the year to date, pointing in particular to the players' maturity and control in the final quarter during which they iced the result by keeping the Hawks goalless.
Covering the main betting line in eight of their 12 games this year underscores the Magpies' overachievement, even despite being amongst the leading contenders for the flag in March, and it's built on the foundation of an outstanding defence that has conceded only 68.5 points per game this year.
Taking on the stumbling Dees next weekend, they'll certainly be favouring their chances of going into their mid-season bye with an 11-2 record.
Honourable mention: The Adelaide Crows after they jumped above Gold Coast Suns to third with a 90-point demolition job of Sydney Swans at the SCG.
They've had a lot of soft kills recently (Sydney, West Coast, Carlton to name a few), and their games against genuine contenders Collingwood, Geelong and Gold Coast didn't go to plan, but they're still overall rolling along quite nicely and shaping up well for next week's test against reigning premiers Brisbane.
The big losers of Round 12 are...
As we forecasted in our Round 12 predictions, Hawthorn once again couldn't show up against a major threat.
It would be foolish to write them off now considering their march to the finals after a 0-5 start to 2024, but against the top-eight flag contenders they're being outclassed. Collingwood, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong and Port Adelaide have all been too good for them this year.
Sam Mitchell's side are winning all of the games they should be winning, which is keeping them in the top-eight with a positive record, but significant improvement will be needed if they are to climb any further.
Dishonourable mention: Sydney for suffering their largest home loss of the 21st century. Head coach Dean Cox labelled it 'unacceptable' and 'embarrassing'. Their lengthy injury list is no excuse for the dearth of absent that was evident throughout.
Coleman Medal leaderboard
The top five names didn't change, but their order did!
Current leader Jeremy Cameron moved further away from Ben King in third place with his third consecutive 5+ goal haul, but Jamie Elliott kept in touch with Cameron with five goals of his own against the Hawks.

AFL Coaches MVP leaderboard
Brisbane forward Hugh McCluggage and St Kilda's Callum Wilkie were the only two players of the weekend to get the maximum ten votes from the coaches and it propelled McCluggage into equal fourth. Eight votes for Geelong dynamo Bailey Smith saw him grow his lead on Gold Coast midfielder Noah Anderson, who polled six against the Dockers.
Smith is now the outright favourite to win the Brownlow Medal ahead of pre-season favourite Nick Daicos.

Goal of the Year: Round 12 nominees
It's not the kind of goal you often see in elite football, but rather something that we loved doing as kids when mucking around in the backyard!
This wet weather toe-poke from Gold Coast's Sam Flanders was all sexy and nothing stupid!
Talk about reward for persistence... Harley Reid scuffs a shot for goal from the 50 and ends up being the one to finish the play he started.
Mark of the Year: Round 12 nominees
As he continues to make a case for regular selection in 2025, Melbourne's Daniel Turner came up with a great way of getting himself noticed!
Bobby Hill lights up the MCG on an almost fortnightly basis now and this was a very flashy mark against the Hawks.