Here's a guide to how the games unfolded via Premier Data's statistics:

When it came to the crunch in the final quarter, Gisborne dominated Golden Square and won the match.

The eye test said Golden Square couldn't get its hands on the ball in the final term and the Premier Data stats backed it up.

Gisborne had 90 possessions to Square's 51, had 27 effective handballs to six, won the clearances 21-10 and had 20 inside 50s to nine.

Ruckman Braidon Blake gave his on-ballers first use with 27 hit-outs to five in the final term.

Gisborne had more contributors across the four quarters than Golden Square.

Gisborne had seven players collect 18 or more possessions for the game, led by Brad Bernacki (32), Luke Ellings (23) and Liam Spear (23), while Golden Square had just four - Terry Reeves (22), Jack Geary (19), Liam Barrett (19) and Jack Hickman (18).

Square had 12 players collect 12 or less disposals for the game and some of their highly-rated players didn't have an impact on the game - Jake Thrum (12 touches), Hamish Morcom (11 touches).

The Magpies had more disposals (325-306), more tackles (72-58), won the ground ball battle (134-98), but lost on the scoreboard by a single point.

Eaglehawk's prime movers got the Borough over the line.

Noah Wheeler (32 disposals, seven marks, seven clearances) and Billy Evans (26 disposals, eight clearances) were instrumental in the win, while Ben Thompson (26 touches, nine marks) and Sam Thompson (22 touches) were good across half-forward.

In arguably Castlemaine's best performance of the season, in-form midfielder Tommy Horne filled the stats sheet with 32 possessions, nine clearances, seven tackles and three goals.

John Watson and Will Moran had career-high numbers in disposals - 36 and 26 respectively.

Moran and Declan Slingo (26 touches) had a game high 10 clearances each.

The Tigers are growing in confidence every week and by the end of round nine they could be inside the top three.

One of the Tigers' strengths is their spread of contributors - they don't rely on one or two players to get big numbers each week.

The Tigers had 11 players pick up 15 or more possessions against the Dragons on Saturday.

While midfielder Hamish Yunghanns (27 touches) and defender Frazer Driscoll (27 touches and 172 ranking points) have been good all season, one of the reasons the Tigers have gone to another level is the improvement of youngsters Angus Nolte (29 possessions, eight clearances) and Bailey McGee (24 possessions, nine inside 50s).

Not for the first time this season, Sandhurst had more turnovers (110-98) than its opponent.

The Dragons matched Kyneton in most of the key statistical areas, but ball use forward of centre hurt them.

Kyneton had 52 marks to 33 and, crucially, eight marks inside forward 50 to four.

The Bloods got the four points they needed, but the Magpies had plenty of positives.

The winless Pies won their share of the footy (345 disposals compared to South's 378) and won the clearances 44-33.

The difference in the game was control of the footy.

Maryborough turned the ball over 20 more times than South Bendigo and the Bloods had 24 more marks (79-55) and 10 more inside 50s (49-39).

The cream rose to the top for Maryborough, with Aidan Hare collecting a league-best 46 possessions, Jacob Lohmann 45 and Coby Perry 40.

South Bendigo coach Nathan Horbury (42 possessions) had another big game for the Bloods and must be in Michelsen Medal contention through eight rounds.

Livewire midfielder/half-forward Michael Herlihy's brilliant form continued with 33 touches, 10 marks and four goals.

Statistically, the Storm-Roos clash was one of the most lopsided games of the season.

The Storm had basically double the amount of possessions (429-216) and dominated marks (99-36), inside 50s (71-28) and clearances (56-31).

The Storm's ability to share the ball was shown in the individual statistics.

Remarkably, the Storm only had one player Riley Clarke collect less than 10 possessions for the match. In comparison, the Roos had 13.

The Storm's Riley Wilson (39 disposals and four goals), James Schischka (24 disposals and nine goals) and Jake Moorhead (40 touches) racked up cricket scores in player ranking points - 191, 171 and 165 respectively.

Cal McCarty (34 possessions, 10 clearances and 138 ranking points) made a great return from injury.

Mitch Collins (17 possessions, 10 clearances, 99 ranking points) and ruckman Nick Lang (12 disposals, 50 hit outs and 92 ranking points) were best for the Roos.

RANKING POINTS

1. Riley Wilson (SS) 191

2. Frazer Driscoll (Kyn) 172

3. James Schischka (SS) 171

4. Jake Moorhead (SS) 165

5. Aiden Hare (Mb) 162

6. Nathan Horbury (SB) 156

7. Michael Herlihey (SB) 149

8. Jacob Lohmann (Mb) 141

9. Declan Slingo (Cm) 139

10. Callum McCarty (SS) 138

DISPOSALS

1. Aiden Hare (Mb) 46

2. Jacob Lohmann (Mb) 45

3. Nathan Horbury (SB) 42

4. Coby Perry (Mb) 40

5. Jake Moorhead (SS) 40

6. Riley Wilson (SS) 39

7. John Watson (Cm) 36

8. Callum McCarty (SS) 34

9. Michael Herlihey (SB) 33

10. Noah Wheeler (Eh) 32

CONTESTED DISPOSALS

1. Brad Bernacki (Gis) 19

2. Angus Nolte (Kyn) 17

3. Jake Moorhead (SS) 17

4. Hamish Yunghanns (Kyn) 14

5. Aiden Hare (Mb) 14

6. Billy Evans (Eh) 13

7. Lee Coghlan (Sh) 13

8. Bailey McGee (Kyn) 13

9. Nathan Horbury (SB) 12

10. Callum McCarty (SS) 12

MARKS

1. James Schischka (SS) 13

2. Michael Herlihey (SB) 10

3. Riley Wilson (SS) 10

4. Ben Thompson (Eh) 9

5. Pat Blandford (SS) 9

6. John Watson (Cm) 8

7. Chris Freeman (Mb) 8

8. Jacob Lohmann (Mb) 8

9. David Stephens (Cm) 7

10. Noah Wheeler (Eh) 7

CLEARANCES

1. Brad Bernacki (Gis) 12

2. Sam Graham (Gis) 11

3. Will Moran (Cm) 10

4. Declan Slingo (Cm) 10

5. Callum McCarty (SS) 10

6. Mitch Collins (KF) 10

7. Tommy Horne (Cm) 9

8. Jake Moorhead (SS) 9

9. Billy Evans (Eh) 8

10. Joel Mullen (Eh) 8

HARD BALL GETS

1. Terry Reeves (GS) 10

2. Angus Nolte (Kyn) 8

3. Tommy Horne (Cm) 7

4. Hamish Yunghanns (Kyn) 7

5. Nathan Horbury (SB) 7

6. Ryan Hartley (GS) 6

7. Brad Bernacki (Gis) 6

8. Jack Hickman (GS) 6

9. Matt Thornton (Sh) 6

10. Mitch Comben (Kyn) 6

INTERCEPT POSSESSIONS

1. Liam Ireland (Sh) 16

2. Frazer Driscoll (Kyn) 13

3. Oscar Madden (Eh) 12

4. Mitch Comben (Kyn) 10

5. Cameron Taggert (SB) 10

6. Brayden Torpey (SB) 10

7. Noah Wheeler (Eh) 8

8. Liam Barrett (GS) 8

9. Jon Coe (GS) 8

10. Harrison Huntley (Kyn) 8

TACKLES

1. Aiden Hare (Mb) 14

2. Dean Bartrop (Kyn) 13

3. Tommy Horne (Cm) 11

4. Jack Hickman (GS) 11

5. Boden Alexander (SS) 11

6. Declan Slingo (Cm) 10

7. Joel Mullen (Eh) 10

8. Hamish Yunghanns (Kyn) 10

9. Angus Nolte (Kyn) 10

10. Mitch Collins (KF) 10

SCORE INVOLVEMENTS

1. James Schischka (SS) 13

2. Riley Wilson (SS) 12

3. Tommy Horne (Cm) 10

4. Jake Moorhead (SS) 10

5. Riley Clarke (SS) 9

6. Tim Hosking (SS) 9

7. Rhys Magin (Kyn) 7

8. Michael Herlihey (SB) 7

9. Fergus Payne (SS) 7

10. Brad Bernacki (Gis) 6

ONE PERCENTERS

1. Frazer Driscoll (Kyn) 15

2. Jake Wilkinson (Sh) 14

3. Jacob O'Brien (Eh) 11

4. Dillon Williams (Eh) 11

5. David Stephens (Cm) 10

6. Callum McConachy (Cm) 9

7. Jon Coe (GS) 9

8. Jaidyn Owen (Gis) 9

9. Ben Xiriha (Kyn) 9

10. Liam Murphy (Mb) 9

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