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The Fremantle Dockers returned to winning form by harassing and pressuring the Hawthorn Hawks with four quarters of attacking football. The Dockers returned to their game style of 2022; utilizing pressure around the ball, quick handpasses, running through the central corridor and direct transitions into attack, to record their highest score since Round 1, 2019. The Hawks matched the Dockers in the midfield for three quarters but fell down with poor delivery up forward. Most of the Hawthorn errors were a direct result of Fremantle's pressure on the ball, but even when the Hawks did find space they still made fundamental mistakes to allow the Docker defenders to regain the ball.

The day after Andrew Dillon was announced as the next league CEO, all 18 club presidents voted to approve the 19^th AFL license for Tasmania. The Tasmanian government recently authorized funding for a new stadium in Hobart. With that in place, the focus can be on all the logistics of setting up the team. Tasmania has been pushing for a license for years. Hawthorn and the Kangaroos have played "home" games in Tasmania for many years and it has proved moderately successful with some ups and downs over the years.

AFL executive Andrew Dillon has been appointed the successor to AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Dillon currently is the AFL's executive general manager of football operations, legal, integrity and general counsel. He has worked at the AFL in numerous roles since 2000. Dillon will officially take over in October, but will act as the CEO-elect for now. The general manager of competition management, Laura Kane, will take on the role as acting general manager of football. The general manager of legal and regulatory, Stephen Meade, has been appointed to replace Dillon as the AFL general counsel. The process of finding McLachlan's successor has stretched out for 14 months and not all of the reasons for the long delay are clear, particularly since an internal candidate was chosen in the end.

The Carlton Blues bounced back from two consecutive losses to record a thumping victory against the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. The match was never in doubt after half time, as Carlton held ascendancy across the field and dominated on the ball. Charlie Curnow had a day out for Carlton booting nine goals and setting up several others. Patrick Cripps was powerful in the middle for Carlton, gaining 33 possessions (22 of which were contested possessions) and laying eight tackles. The Eagles tried hard in the opening quarter and pushed Carlton in the second quarter. However the home team became spectators for the rest of the match as the relentless Carlton powered to a percentage-boosting victory (Ed: percentage in this case is calculated as the ratio of total points scored divided by points against for the season; it is the tie breaker if teams have identical won-loss records).

The Western Bulldogs gave their season a timely boost with a comprehensive win against the Fremantle Dockers. The Dogs showed hunger for the contested ball and with their bigger bodies in the midfield, used their tall forwards to rip the game away from the Dockers. The home team was competitive for three quarters but ultimately were punished for the lack of connect between their midfielders and their inexperienced forward line.

The Dogs dominated much of the play in the first quarter but missed shots on goal early, which kept the Dockers in the game. The Dockers made the most of their initial forward entries, which were breakouts from defense after most of the play was in the Bulldogs' forward half. Although the Dockers were winning the hit outs the Bulldogs through Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore had the edge in clearances.

The Melbourne Demons hit the West Coast Eagles with a scorching third quarter, using their big-bodied midfielders to tackle and pressure the younger Eagles out of the game. The Eagles were forced to make seven team changes due the injury carnage sustained against Fremantle the week before; and their inexperienced replacements gave it everything they could - and more - until half time. Harassment from the willing Eagles at the fall of the ball worried the Demons out of their usual game style early in the match.

The Fremantle Dockers beat the brave West Coast Eagles, in a game that could prove pivotal for both teams. West Coast had a good outing against the GWS Giants the week before, but their ageing and wounded list was no match for the Dockers who finished full of run. Although the Eagles were expected to lose, the Dockers had been out-of-sorts in their first two outings and had lost to two teams they were expected to beat. The Eagles started brightly with Tim Kelly, Andrew Gaff and Reuben Ginbey matching Andrew Brayshaw, Jaeger O'Meara and Sam Switkowski in clearances. This was despite Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson, dominating Bailey J Williams in the ruck. Darcy finished with an astonishing 52 hit-outs, Jackson had 17 and Williams only had fourteen.

The North Melbourne Kangaroos survived a late surge by the Fremantle Dockers to record a thrilling one-point win. The Kangaroos led for the whole match and survived having a free kick against them close to the Dockers' goal, as the siren sounded. The umpires declared that a clearing kick from Norths' defense, crossed the boundary line after the siren sounded, and therefore could not be deemed a deliberate kick out of bounds. The umpire closest to the action then signaled the end of the game. The decision will be debated for some time and is similar to the conclusion of a game played by the Dockers in 2006 in Tasmania. That game is now referred to as "sirengate". The umpire in that controversial game did not hear the siren and allowed the game to continue for two extra minutes. The Dockers lost the lead in those two minutes. The AFL later overturned the result and handed the win to the Dockers on appeal. In this game the umpire signaled the end of the game after the ball crossed the line, however the siren sounded fractionally before the ball was out of bounds; and the Dockers can't have it both ways.  

In mid-March, Melbourne law firm Margalit Injury Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 60 former players, seeking compensation for the concussions they suffered during their careers and the resultant post-concussion issues they have suffered since. The players include former premiership player Max Rooke (Geelong), Shaun Smith (Melbourne), Liam Picken (Western Bulldogs) and Darren Jarman (Adelaide and Hawthorn). The widow of the late Shane Tuck has also signed on in the suit. Smith previously won a million dollar plus insurance payout due the concussions he suffered.

Outside the court, the firm's leading lawyer Michel Margalit said the firm was seeking about AUD$ 2 million (US$1.35 million) plus medical expenses per player. Margalit said it could cost the AFL close to 1 billion $AUD (US$666 million).She said it was not about "bringing down the AFL", but getting the compensation for the players, Rooke played 135 games for the Cats 2001-2010 and is the lead plaintiff. He, like many of the others sustained permanent and life-altering injuries as a result of concussion-related injuries and because of the AFL’s negligence. Margalit said, “Their careers are finished and years later they find these concussion-related injuries creeping in and affecting their ability to work, their ability to have a happy family life."