Five takeaways from round nine: The AFL simply must hand West Coast a priority pick to avoid looming spiral

Round nine of the AFL season is done and dusted, and was the game of the round another epic Showdown? Was it the shootout at the Cattery? Or was it the wooden-spoon brawl between West Coast and Richmond, which featured 15 lead changes? It was a great weekend of action.

Carlton and Gold Coast continued their yo-yo form, while Essendon and Collingwood put further doubts over Sydney and Fremantle's 2025 credentials respectively.

Here are five takeaways from the weekend's results.

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Pies putting together a masterclass in managing a premiership tilt

Few things scream "this is the team to beat" more than resting four key players off a five-day break, heading over to Perth to face Fremantle, and still getting the job done.

The Magpies rested Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey, Brayden Maynard and Brody Mihocek - positionally some of their most important pieces - and they still took home the four points, thanks to the experience of the group and their consistent ability to deliver in clutch moments, led by Jamie Elliott.

The Pies had every right to put this one down as a piece of scheduling too tough to overcome, particularly with star midfielders Nick Daicos and Steele Sidebottom having off nights, yet they still managed 97 points, got the win and ensured they remain second on the ladder.

They are attempting to win a premiership with what would be the oldest list to ever achieve that feat, and it feels like they are plotting the perfect path to September with their management of players and how they have risen to the occasion in big moments.

Which injury will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Essendon?

The Bombers can't catch a break in 2025 when it comes to losing key-position players to long-term injuries.

Ruck pair Sam Draper (Achilles) and Nick Bryan (ACL) are out for the season, leaving soon-to-be 37-year-old Todd Goldstein to carry the duties solo.

Young key-position player Tom Edwards suffered his own significant knee injury at training, while Harrison Jones fractured his ankle in an ugly incident in round eight.

They lost Jordan Ridley (hamstring) for eight weeks and brought in Lewis Hayes to replace him, who then tore his ACL on debut on Saturday evening.

They will have the chance to add some depth in the mid-season draft, but it's a sour note for an Essendon side that finds itself hovering around the top eight.

The AFL must give the Eagles a priority pick

The AFL hasn't given out a priority pick since handing Gold Coast the dream package in 2019, giving the Suns the second pick in the 2019 draft, which turned into captain Noah Anderson, and three subsequent first-round picks over three years which the club was forced to trade.

And rightly so, the AFL has become extremely hesitant to hand out assistance, given the abuse of the previous priority-pick system in the late 2000s.

Teams like North Melbourne and Carlton have had significant stretches plastered to the bottom of the ladder in the last decade and haven't received anything, so why should West Coast be any different?

Frankly, because things are starting to look really grim. The Eagles have now lost 20 of their last 22 games and 11 in a row, and couldn't beat a Richmond side many assumed would be wooden-spoon locks on Sunday afternoon. And the worst bit is they haven't even hit rock bottom with this list like the Tigers have.

They will likely lose co-captain Oscar Allen in free agency, while former No.1 pick Harley Reid is also a chance to request a trade.

Veterans Jeremy McGovern, Jamie Cripps, Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly and Dom Sheed will all be gone in the next year or two and the club still relies heavily on the first four.

All this to say, the Eagles, who haven't won a game in 2025, are about to head even further backwards, and they don't yet have the young cattle to lead them out of this pit.

The AFL should step in to ensure the 2018 premiers don't fall too far into the abyss. An additional first-round pick in each of the next three drafts (give them pick eight in 2025 and 2026, and pick 16 in 2027, for example), to go with the picks they will receive for Allen and Reid departing, would give them the tools to turn things around ... hopefully.

St Kilda spending $1.7m on Tom De Koning is salary cap madness

The top subplot of Friday night's dour affair between Carlton and St Kilda was Tom De Koning, given the very public nature of the Saints' significant interest in acquiring him, and how Saints big man Rowan Marshall would feel about that.

St Kilda reportedly has a deal worth $1.7 million a year in front of De Koning and he has a big decision to make regarding his future - a decision that also affects Marshall and his standing with the club.

The pair fought relatively evenly on Friday night. The Blue had 21 disposals and 36 hit-outs, while Marshall had 19 and 33 hit-outs, though the Saint's aerial work likely gave him the points in the head-to-head, given he took eight marks, two contested.

All this to say, yes, Marshall is 30 and has had his injury concerns, but blowing your war chest on another ruckman, when your existing one is high quality and not going anywhere any time soon, is a poor use of finite salary cap space. Especially when cheap ruck gems have been, for the most part, the premiership recipe of late.

But the Saints are desperate for someone to take their money, after the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke, Zach Merrett, Jacob Weitering and Finn Callaghan said no, and De Koning likely will take the bag.

It will then be intriguing to see what Carlton does and how the Blues attempt to fill the void left by TDK.

The Greater Western Geelong Giants?

GWS has now beaten Geelong at GMHBA Stadium five times in a row. Yes, you read that correctly.

The Cats' home fortress, the toughest road trip in footy ... except not for the road-trip specialist Giants.

In what was arguably the game of the season, GWS pinched the result 16.9 (105) to 14.17 (101), despite the Cats having five shots on goal to win it in the dying stages.

Reigning Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan's remarkable 7.1 effort summed up the difference between the two sides, with Geelong kicking 14.17 to GWS' 16.9.

Hogan may give Jeremy Cameron a run for his money in the category of "greatest-ever GWS goal-kicker" by the time his career is said and done.

Cameron, for the record, is now 1-6 in games against GWS at Kardinia Park.

That will likely sting, but he can then head back to his farm and polish his premiership medallion and feel better.