Round 5 of the Australian Football League kicked off on Wednesday with Collingwood's win over Essendon and finally drew to a close with the Sunday twilight game and Fremantle scraping home in a one-point thriller against Adelaide.

The match was one of the most exciting and closely fought matches of the season so far. Little separated the sides from beginning to end and the lead changed nine times in the first three quarters in the low scoring tussle with the Dockers holding a narrow two-point lead at the final change. Troy Cook extended the Dockers buffer with the first goal of the final quarter but the Crows managed to bring the scores level minutes later, thanks to a Scott Stevens goal.

Former Dockers captain Peter Bell put his side back in front with his only goal of the match, only for Ian Perrie to bring the Crows back level in the 24th minute. The scores remained level until, with 30 second left on the clock, full forward Chris Tarrant won a decisive ruck tap down to teammate Luke Webster whose snap at goal may have missed the target but was enough to register a behind and give Fremantle the win.

Sydney, as expected by most tipsters, recorded an easy victory over still winless Melbourne, cruising to a 49-point win at the Sydney Cricket Ground. While the win itself came easily for the Swans it did come at a high price. Tadgh Kennelly dislocated his knee and is likely to miss up to six weeks, Luke Ablett hyper-extended his knee and is doubtful for the Swans next encounter against the Kangaroos.

Reigning Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes won't be repeating that achievement this year, ruling himself ineligible for this year's award after being handed a one-match suspension for charging Melbourne's Simon Godfrey. Melbourne's horror season shows little sign of improving. The Demons were smashed in the first quarter which set up the Swans win, jumping to a 30-point lead by the first change and were able to take their foot off the accelerator in the middle two quarters. One positive to come out of the game for the Demons was the impressive debut of Ricky Petterd who collected 20 possessions and was among Melbourne's best on the night.

Adam Simpson was the star for the Kangaroos in their shock 16-point win over Geelong at Kardinia Park. The Kangaroos captain led from the front with 41 touches of the football as the Kangaroos' determination and hardness exposed a weak Geelong side, especially in the first half. So poor were the Cats that coach Mark Thompson didn't bother making excuses for his side in his post match press conference, telling media “We had a poor attitude, a lack of respect for the game and the opposition."