Melbourne joined St Kilda, West Coast and Fremantle by the wayside as round 13 took another large step towards deciding the make-up of the final eight. The Demons lost to the Eagles in Sunday’s late match at Subiaco, leaving themselves a steeply uphill task to participate in the September scramble. The Kangaroos and Geelong picked up important premiership points earlier in the weekend to help them keep in touch with the eight, but Adelaide and the Swans lost their chances to gain ground on the top half. Essendon now leads the way by two clear games, with Carlton, Richmond and Hawthorn making up the top three. The Hawks suffered a wounding loss to Brisbane on Friday night, crashing by 87 points to their fifth loss in the past six weeks. The wheels on Port Adelaide’s wagon look similarly wobbly, with the Kangaroos overturning the South Australian pacesetters in Canberra on Saturday. The Magpies pulled off a memorable two-point victory at Football Park, the Blues demolished the Bulldogs, while Richmond and Geelong gained vital points at the expense of St Kilda and Sydney respectively.