Port Adelaide virtually sealed the minor premiership with a thrilling four-point win over Hawthorn this afternoon. Port has now opened up an eight-point break at the top of the table with just four rounds remaining. But round 18 action wasn't without its shocks. West Coast was humbled by St Kilda and the bottom-of-the-ladder Western Bulldogs downed a disappointing Melbourne. Essendon is now in the final eight, replacing the Kangaroos who went down to Brisbane.

Fremantle got a fright at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night before rallying to record an important 23-point win. The Dockers were led brilliantly by skipper Peter Bell who capped off his best-on-ground performance with three goals. Troy Cook and Roger Hayden also performed well for the winners while on-ballers Kane Johnson and Mark Coughlan were best for the Tigers.

The Western Bulldogs produced one of their best performances of the season to down Melbourne by 21-points at The Dome on Friday night. It was the usual suspects for the winners - Nathan Brown, Scott West, Luke Darcy and Rohan Smith all having a big influence. Chris Heffernan and Clint Bizzell did best for the losers.

Brisbane returned to its best, belting the Kangaroos by 54 points and sending them tumbling out of the final eight. Alastair Lynch kicked five goals for the winners and capitalised on the good work of Simon Black and Blake Caracella further up the ground. David King started on the bench but finished with five goals to the best player for the Kangaroos.

Collingwood overcame a dogged Geelong, winning by 24 points and pushing into the top four. Geelong started well with the likes of Paul Chapman and James Rahilly leading the way. But Collingwood turned up the heat in the second half with Scott Burns and Anthony Rocca leading the way. Rocca finished with five goals.

St Kilda produced some its most dazzling football of the season to trounce the highly-rated West Coast by 61-points. Robert Harvey was brilliant for the Saints and must be an outside chance to make it three Brownlow Medals. Young guns Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke were other good players. Ben Cousins was outstanding for West Coast.

Adelaide looked to have its game against Sydney well and truly under control midway through the second quarter but things tightened up considerably from that point on. In fact Adam Goodes had a kick for goal in the dying seconds of the game that would have seen Sydney steal a famous win. As it was, Adelaide hung on to win by four points. Adam Goodes and Jude Bolton were excellent for Sydney. The home side was best served by Wayne Carey and Mark Bickley.

A brilliant late goal from Byron Pickett ensured Port Adelaide got over the line against a gallant Hawthorn by four points. Pickett and Roger James were the standouts for Port Adelaide. Richie Vandenberg and Nick Ries battled very hard for the losers.