In Round 5 of the AFL, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera showed us why the Saints made him the highest paid player in league history, Jamie Elliott had a moment to forget, and the Bombers finally had something to celebrate. Here's whose stocks are up and down.
Our footy experts cast their eye over the week's action to find out whose stocks are up -- whether it's a coaching masterstroke or a player having a blinder -- and whose are down.
Adelaide
Stocks up: It was a truly electric performance from Josh Rachele, who sparked Adelaide early with four first half goals and didn't let fans down with his celebrations. The dynamic Crow was also thrown into the midfield at various stages of the contest and made a real impact, finishing the Gather Round opener against the Blues with 26 disposals, six clearances, six inside 50s, seven score involvements, and over 500 metres gained.
Stocks down: If the Crows really are still in the premiership mix, then coughing up 48 points in an opening quarter to a side that's almost certainly finishing in the bottom six simply cannot happen. These slow, sluggish starts have been a problem for Matthew Nicks' side of late. They have now lost four in succession, though fortunately for them they were able to peg the Blues back. But hey, that feat doesn't exactly set you apart from the rest of the pack...
Brisbane
Stocks up: All the talk about Brisbane's firing midfield this season has centred around Will Ashcroft, and fair enough. Maybe it is 'his midfield' now. But can we just take a second to acknowledge the understated season Lachie Neale is having? The two-time Brownlow medallist picked up another 30 disposals, 20 contested possessions, and 10 clearances against the Roos, easily one of the most damaging players on the ground.
Stocks down: Lincoln McCarthy's chances of winning the goal of the year award aren't great, which is unfortunate given how classy his checkside dribbler was on the weekend. Sometimes timing is everything, and slotting a pearler on the same weekend Essendon's Zach Merrett and Gold Coast's Malcolm Rosas did similar isn't the way you stand out on your own. Well done, Linc, but pick your moments!
Carlton
Stocks up: You know what? George Hewett should feel vindicated after (remarkably) being dropped for his side's Gather Round clash against the Crows. It was a ... bizarre choice by the Blues, to say the least. The fact absolutely nothing changed proved Hewett ain't the problem...
Stocks down: He's the red-hot, raging favourite to win the AFL Rising Star award, and barring injury he probably will win it, but Jagga Smith didn't exactly have a Gather Round to remember against the Crows. The 20-year-old midfielder struggled to impact until the game was gone. Smith managed just five first half disposals and while he finished the night with 19 next to his name, as well as five clearances, it's a performance that's a step below what we expect to see from a future leader of the club.
Collingwood
Stocks up: For all of Collingwood's struggles right now, their backline remains a strongpoint, and a major component of it is the unsung Billy Frampton, who is going about his business effectively without much fanfare and has turned into one of Craig McRae's most important soldiers. Frampton had eight spoils against the Dockers, killed contests at will, completely blanketed Josh Treacy, and contested a game-high five defensive one-on-ones, losing none of them. Great game, but was he perfect? Nearly, more on that below...
Stocks down: Oh boy, wouldn't Jamie Elliott love his time again. The star forward, who has been the Magpie hero so many times before, fumbled a crucial ball at centre half back that led to the go-ahead goal, and match-winner, from Matthew Johnson. In tight, wet weather contests, the finest of margins often prove the difference. But he shouldn't be all to blame, the choice of Frampton to kick the ball to the middle of the ground instead of going long down the line when trying to save the day a real head-scratcher.
Essendon
Stocks up: Archie Roberts looks like an absolute beauty. He tallied a career-best 42 disposals, 15 marks, and one goal in the drought-snapping win over Melbourne, one week after finishing with 37 and 708 metres gained against the highly-fancied Western Bulldogs. He's a critical part of the offensive drive in this team stemming from the back half, and at the age of 20, will only get better.
Stocks down: We've grilled this team for a long, long time. And fairly so. But snapping a 17-game losing streak which started back in May last year? Have a week off, Bombers fans. You deserve it ... just don't get used to it.
READ: Brad Scott calls for calm after Bombers snap losing streak
Fremantle
Stocks up: There's no doubt Max Gawn has his hands on the All-Australian ruck blazer, but former teammate Luke Jackson is coming for it. And coming fast! It was another impressive display from Jackson, in wet conditions, mind you. The Dockers big man dominated at the contest with 38 hitouts and 10 contested possessions, and a game-high nine tackles. And how about the late-game awareness from spearhead Josh Treacy, who, after a quiet, scoreless night, clunked a key mark in the dying stages to stave off Collingwood's last-gasp attack.
Stocks down: Had the Dockers lost to Collingwood, the media spotlight may have shifted to Patrick Voss. The polarising 22-year-old had an underwhelming night at Adelaide Oval, finishing with just six disposals and a solitary behind to his name. Voss has now kicked 4.12 in 2026 after an accurate 37.23 in last year's breakout campaign.
Geelong
Stocks up: It was evident the sot of running power Geelong had against the Eagles on Sunday, Max Holmes, Tanner Bruhn, Tom Atkins, and Bailey Smith four of the major standouts. But that aspect of the game was led by none other than the latter of that group, Smith finishing with 34 disposals, seven clearances, 15 inside 50s, 13 score involvements, 868 metres gained, and one goal.
Stocks down: After picking up 16 and three goals, and then 24 and one goal, it was fair to see Shaun Mannagh's six disposals against the Hawks on Easter Monday as an outlier performance in what was an otherwise super start to the season. But eight disposals at 25% efficiency for just one behind against the Eagles? Okay, that's two weeks in a row now, Shaun, so you can't escape our spotlight this time.
Gold Coast
Stocks up: Matt Rowell was back to his busy best against the Swans, racking up 32 disposals, 17 contested possessions, eight clearances, and seven tackles playing in the trenches. Bodhi Uwland also continues to impress us. The versatile, reliable defender plays small or tall and more often than not holds his own despite mixing up his matchups every game. He had 26 disposals, nine intercept possessions, and seven rebound 50s at Norwood Oval, easily one of his side's best.
Stocks down: He doesn't always need to collect other-worldly disposal counts to hurt the opposition, but Noah Anderson's stocks are just slightly on the dip this season. The Suns skipper was well held by a James Jordon tag on Saturday before being freed up in the third term, but he still 'only' managed 20 disposals on the day, following 22 in Round 4, and 21 before that. He hasn't been bad at all, but he is well down from what we know his prolific best can be. We're also putting Gold Coast's tall forwards on notice here. Damien Hardwick's three lowest-rated players on the ground? Ethan Read (1 rating point), Ben King (2.8), and Jed Walter (3.5).
GWS
Stocks up: How much better are the Giants with that trio of returnees?! Okay, maybe they played against a struggling Richmond outfit they would have beaten easily regardless, but Adam Kingsley -- and his players -- should be much more confident with a 23 that includes Aaron Cadman, Toby Bedford, and Brent Daniels each week. A record of 1-3 going into the match, that trio combined for nine majors to help their side to a 66-point win ahead of a huge clash against the Swans on Friday night.
Stocks down: Speaking of that game, it didn't come without injury concerns. The Giants will unfortunately be without Cadman after his impressive return, as well as veteran Stephen Coniglio, due to concussion.
Hawthorn
Stocks up: A fit and firing Mitch Lewis really adds a whole new dynamic to this club. The Hawks spearhead has been one of the forgotten men of the AFL in recent years, as a result of missing significant chunks of time through injury, but in 2026 he's healthy and playing some of the best footy of his career. Against the Bulldogs on Saturday night, Lewis kicked three goals from his 18 disposals. That performance came a week after booting the game-tying goal against the Cats on Easter Monday at the MCG.
Stocks down: It wasn't quite as happy a day for fellow key forward Mabior Chol, who exited the contest early with a hamstring strain. We'd expect him to miss some time, which means plenty of the forward line heavy lifting will fall on Lewis and the rejuvenated Jack Gunston.
Melbourne
Stocks up: He's featured here plenty of times already but will continue to do so, Kysaiah Pickett again standing out in that Demons midfield. Kozzy had 28 disposals, six score involvements, six inside 50s, eight tackles, and two goals at Adelaide Oval, so couldn't really have done too much more.
Stocks down: He wasn't on his own as a Melbourne forward, Jacob van Rooyen, with Brody Mihocek and Jake Melksham also struggling for scoreboard impact in a really dour performance. But the 22-year-old, who often promises so much and will have more big games this year no doubt, finished with just 0.2 next to his name from three kicks. He booted just one in Round 4 after two goalless rounds before that. What makes it frustrating? He kicked six in Round 1. He was the lowest-rated player on the ground, too.
North Melbourne
Stocks up: Luke Davies-Uniacke was the usual bull in the North Melbourne midfield. Against Brisbane, the Roos star finished with 27 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven clearances, eight tackles, and one goal. Cooper Trembath also continues to get better by the week. He hauled in a terrific mark of the year contender, but he looks more and more like the critical second key forward Nick Larkey has long needed in that forward 50 every time he plays.
Stocks down: A genuine hand in North Melbourne's comeback win one week, struggling to find the footy the next. It's happened a bit in the early career of Zane Duursma, who is uber-talented, clearly very skilful, can absolutely impact games, but also goes missing just that bit too much right now. Just the one kick from four disposals against the Lions, the 20-year-old needs to find consistency in his game.
Cooper Trembath got UP! ✈️#AFLRoosLions pic.twitter.com/JLCWihoMV6
— AFL (@AFL) April 11, 2026
Port Adelaide
Stocks up: His stocks might just be higher than anyone else in the game right now. Zak Butters is looking like a top three player in the sport at the moment and will soon have every Victorian club jumping over themselves in an effort to sign him. In the loss to the Saints, Butters was easily his side's most damaging player, finishing with 31 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 10 inside 50s, over 600 metres gained, and a goal. Superstar!
Stocks down: At some point you have to begin asking the question of whether Todd Marshall is better suited to playing forward than in defence. Josh Carr made the positional switch at the beginning of the year to partner Aliir Aliir in the backline with Marshall, while Mitch Georgiades and Jack Lukosius together patrol the forward line. But wouldn't Lukosius, someone who has spent significant time playing in defence throughout his career, be the one more suited to partnering Aliir? Perhaps Port need to make the change before the season slips away...
Richmond
Stocks up: Mykelti Lefau booted four goals straight (from just four kicks!), with three of those coming in the third term when the Tigers were hanging in and mounting a comeback. Tim Taranto can also hold his head high after 25 disposals, 10 clearances, and one goal netted him a team-high 16.9 rating points.
Stocks down: He's a young, developing key forward playing in a poor side, so it's not exactly a recipe for success. But we'd like to see a little more from Jonty Faull. One kick and one turnover in 84% game time against the Giants is a pretty rough outing. Faull, the second year player, has kicked just one goal from four games in 2026.
Lefau off the deck! ⚽#AFLGiantsTigers pic.twitter.com/t7kLkOsdAY
— AFL (@AFL) April 12, 2026
St Kilda
Stocks up: That's the game we have been waiting for from Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera! St Kilda's $2 million man has been well restrained in the early part of 2026, but broke out in a big way on Sunday night as the Saints cut down the Power at Adelaide Oval. 'Nas' finished up with 28 disposals, 13 contested possessions, nine tackles, six clearances, and two goals in a near certain best-on-ground performance. That's why they pay him the big bucks, hey.
Stocks down: The Saints spent big to bring in Tom de Koning, while also ensuring they kept hold of Rowan Marshall. But can the two rucks play in the same side? Once again, the pair split ruck duties, and neither was able to have a significant impact on the game, despite getting the four points. It's giving Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy as teammates vibes. You feel something's got to give...
Sydney
Stocks up: We've run out of adjectives to describe Isaac Heeney, but if you now think he is the best player in the game, we won't argue with it. Heeney had a career-best performance against the Suns (that's right, his best ever match), with 33 disposals, 11 tackles, 10 clearances, 12 score involvements, and two goals netting him a whopping 30.8 rating points.
Stocks down: Charlie Curnow isn't having the impact we know he's capable of. Does it matter right now? Maybe not, considering he went goalless (finished with 0.4) and the Swans still crushed their opponents. He wasn't alone to be fair, Logan McDonald (1.2) and Joel Amartey (0.3) also hardly dominant. But given what the Swans gave up to land the dual Coleman Medal winner, you'd like to see the former Blue's form turn around quickly.
West Coast
Stocks up: Willem Duursma is going to feature here a fair bit this season, but for good reason. The No. 1 draft pick has seamlessly fitted in tot he Eagles' senior lineup and was one of, if not their best on Sunday, impacting the game at both ends of the ground both in the air and at ground level. Duursma finished with 20 disposals, six marks, and one goal. Jobe Shanahan's four goals from six grabs and nine disposals also deserves some praise, keeping Tom Stewart occupied all day and getting the better of the star Cat.
Stocks down: Thinking of the Eagles as a percentage-boosting clash will get some teams in trouble this season. Maybe it already has. They were well beaten by an experienced Geelong outfit at Norwood Oval to the tune of 46 points, but if it wasn't for a quick five-goal burst at the end of the second half, Andrew McQualter's side was competitive for the most part and right in the contest. They're gonna take another scalp or two this season if teams aren't careful, no doubt about that.
READ: 'Let himself down': Eagles young gun dragged in loss
Western Bulldogs
Stocks up: His performance will likely be glossed over given the Bulldogs were well beaten by the Hawks, but emerging midfielder Ryley Sanders played arguably the best game of his young career. Sanders was the highest-rated Dog on the ground, ending the night with 25 disposals at 88% efficiency, 13 contested possessions, seven clearances, and seven tackles.
Stocks down: There was serious concern Ed Richards might not play again in 2026 after going down late with a nasty looking knee injury. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, scans have cleared him of any serious damage. The star midfielder could still miss some time, however. The Bulldogs next face the Cats on Friday night at GMHBA Stadium.