St Kilda holds onto top spot on the AFL ladder after a comfortable victory against Richmond on Saturday. Brisbane, Melbourne and Port Adelaide continue to make up the remainder of the top four after all recorded impressive victories on the weekend. Geelong moved to outright fifth position after disposing of Sydney today at home.

The race for the finals continues, with Essendon, Kangaroos, Sydney, Fremantle and West Coast all in contention for a spot in the top eight. With Round 16 complete, there is six games remaining in the 2004 home and away season.

The Bombers remain in eighth position despite losing on Friday night to the West Coast Eagles. The Eagles got off to a flying start and held a 31-point advantage at the first change. Essendon’s poor start cost them the match and they never looked like winning at any point in the game. The Eagles ran out comfortable winners at home by 44-points.

Alistair Lynch celebrated his 300^th game with a win against Collingwood. In wet and stormy conditions at the MCG, the Brisbane Lions overpowered Collingwood in the second half. Only two points separated the 2003 grand finalists at the major change, but Brisbane’s 11 goals to six in the second half secured the four points.

Fremantle was staring down the barrel of successive defeats in the second quarter against Adelaide when they by trailed by 19-points. But the Fremantle team rallied in the second half to record its ninth win for the season. The revival started in the Engine Room thanks to Paul Hasleby and Des Headland. Fremantle ran out 12-points winners at AAMI Stadium.

St Kilda returned to the winner’s list with a 44-point demolition of Richmond at The Dome yesterday. Nick Riewoldt followed on his good form in front of goal with another strong performance. He finished with five goals and played a big part in his team’s impressive victory. Austin Jones was impressive in the middle and finished with 28 disposals.

With the Kangaroos making a surge for the finals’, their loss to Carlton could not have come at a worse time yesterday. They let a golden opportunity of moving into the top eight slip by. Nothing more than five points separated the two teams at each change and it was Carlton that held onto to win by eight points. Former Kangaroo David Teague was best on ground, finishing with 18 possessions and kicked one major.

Melbourne continued on its winning run with a 38-point win against the Western Bulldogs at The Dome today. Poor kicking by Melbourne flattered the final result for the Bulldogs. The Demons booted 21 behinds for the game. The victory was soured with a severe hamstring injury to young gun Aaron Davey and Brad Green also left the field early in the game with concussion. David Neitz booted six goals in a best on ground performance.

Geelong kept its top four hopes alive with a win against Sydney at Skilled Stadium today. It was an arm-wrestle all day, with neither side able to gain a considerable advantage at any stage of the match. Geelong held on in the end to win by 15-points.

Hawthorn’s season continues to go from bad to worse with another loss. This weekend it was Port Adelaide who dealt out a 52-point defeat. Hawthorn never looked in danger of taking the four points. Port’s lead was three goals at the first change and it increased at every interval to run out comfortable victors. Warren Tredrea kicked three goals in Port’s 12^th win for the season.