None more so than Golden Square's 58-point drubbing of Strathfieldsaye at Wade Street.

Here's a game-by-game statistical analysis of the round nine matches:

The Bulldogs produced a defensive masterclass to grind the Storm into the Wade Street turf.

The Dogs held the Storm to a club record low score on the back of brilliant pressure and a rock solid team defence.

Square's inside 50 dominance of 53-36 was the Storm's lowest mark of the season.

Pressure from up the ground, combined with the Dogs' disciplined defence, saw the Storm take just three marks inside 50 for the day.

The Storm only had 13 less possessions than the Dogs, but they had no answer when it came to moving the ball through the home side's zone.

The Dogs had an even spread of contributors, while the Storm had too many passengers.

Braydon Vaz had his best game of the season. He spent time forward and in defence and had 24 possessions, nine marks and kicked one goal.

The Storm's resistance was led by two players - Cal McCarty and Jake Moorhead.

McCarty had a career-high 46 possessions, while Moorhead had another 30-plus game with 32 touches.

The undefeated Bulldogs were without their premier midfielder Brad Bernacki, but that didn't stop them from dominating around the ball.

The Dogs had 58 more possessions and thumped the Borough in the clearances 51-26.

That led to 58 inside 50s to just 31. No team is going to beat Gisborne with only 31 inside 50s.

In Bernacki's absence, three Gisborne midfielders aged under 21 carried the load - Seb Bell-Bartels (30 possessions, 18 contested), Sam Graham (30 possessions) and Flynn Lakey (29 possessions).

The scary prospect for Gisborne's rivals is the Dogs now have a genuine classy ruckman/forward in Braidon Blake, who has taken his game to another level this year.

Blake torched the Hawks with 26 possessions, 11 marks, 4.3 and 162 ranking points.

On a tough day for the Hawks, the standout was under-rated forward Ben Thompson, who had a career-best day of 28 possessions and 15 marks.

Brady Rowles played his best game of the season, with 24 kicks and eight marks.

Yes, it was a ninth-straight defeat for Maryborough, but the Pies' form since the bye has been encouraging and the stats against the Tigers back that up.

The Pies dominated the clearances (42-28) and contested possessions (104-65), plus they narrowly had more inside 50s (50-49).

Turning possession into scores is the Pies' biggest issue.

Kyneton's ball movement and multiple targets forward of centre was the difference.

The Tigers had 29 more marks in total and took 23 marks inside forward 50 to Maryborough's 7.

Several of Kyneton's scoring chains started in their own defensive 50 and it was full-back Frazer Driscoll who was the most damaging.

Driscoll had 31 kicks (13 of them kick-ins), nine handballs and 14 marks for 191 ranking points.

At the other end of the ground, Rhys Magin had a day out with 27 possessions, 10 marks and six goals.

Maryborough skipper Coby Perry was superb with 40 possessions - 16 of which were contested.

Aidan Hare (39 disposals) and Liam Latch (37 touches) gave the Kyneton midfield plenty to think about.

After Castlemaine gave Eaglehawk a mighty scare the previous round, Sandhurst ensured there'd be no tense moments by putting the Pies away early.

The difference in class and depth was shown by the Dragons having 450 possessions to Castlemaine's 296.

The Dragons had 69 inside 50s to 35, and took 25 marks in the forward line to five.

Sandhurst shared the ball superbly. All 22 players had 12 or more possessions for the match.

In contrast, Castlemaine had 11 players with 10 or less disposals.

Sandhurst key forward Cobi Maxted (22 possessions, 12 marks and five goals) had the most ranking points with 131.

Jeremy Rodi and Lee Coghlan - 32 possessions each - weren't far behind with 130 apiece.

Four players filled the stats sheet for the Pies.

Consistent midfielder Tommy Horne and Jack Chester collected 28 possessions each, while Declan Slingo and defender Jackson Hood had 27.

The Bloods got the four points that they desperately needed, but the improvement shown by the Roos, particularly in the first three quarters, gave the Flat faithful something to smile about.

The Roos were competitive at the contest, winning the clearances by eight (47-39), but when the ball got to the outside the Bloods took over.

South Bendigo had 93 more disposals (403-310), 25 more marks (110-85), 64 more ground ball gets (153-89) and were plus 22 in inside 50s (68-46).

South's charge was again led by coach Nathan Horbury.

The midfielder had 42 possessions, including 19 contested disposals, nine clearances and seven marks for 171 ranking points.

Will Keck was one of the Bloods' best. The midfielder/half-forward had 33 touches and 12 marks.

Isaiah Miller has had a big impact for the Bloods through the first half of the season. His good form continued with 30 possessions and 12 marks.

Kangaroo Flat ruckman Nick Lang gave his midfielders an armchair ride.

The veteran Roo had 69 hit-outs for the day, with 40 of those hit-outs to advantage.

On-baller Liam Collins had 33 possessions and 13 clearances for a team-high 165 ranking points.

Defender Nick Keogh had 30 disposals, with a number of those a result of kick-ins from full-back.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: