AFL round eight Sydney vs GWS, St Kilda vs North Melbourne ...

Oh my word, sweet mercy from Tyson Stengle with a goal of the year contender in the Cats and Demons game.

Zach Guthrie takes a beautiful mark to intercept about 60m out and hammers it into the forward line.

Stengle gets it, twists, turns, tries to get on his right, decides he has to kick on his left, and nails an absolutely beauty.

It's the Mona Lisa hanging in a derelict house and I can't take my eyes off it.

Tanner Bruhn is out of the game and Gary Rohan is in.

Bruhn had looked like he was struggling with some kind of shoulder injury.

This will be interesting for Geelong's structure.

Thank the football gods, it finally happened.

Chandler just barely squeezes it in from a 40m set shot and the Demons take a via handy 14-point lead.

The Cats have missed several chances in the meantime.

Now that's a stat. Todd Goldstein becomes the first player to reach 10,000 hit outs.

That's about 1,500 ahead of the next best, Aaron Sandilands.

Also, Langford and Wright have both kicked goals to give the Dons a mini break.

The Eagles are providing some sweet mercy with some lovely footy in Perth.

Waterman has kicked his goal, and Yeo has just belted one through the big sticks to give West Coast the lead!

Meanwhile, Harrison Jones has headed down under the ground but whatever it is doesn't look like it's going to keep him out of the game.

When everything is falling apart on the field, you can trust that SirSwampThing will through for us off the field.

We went one merciful season without a goalless quarter.

It was a good year.

This one has been a battle as well.

The Bombers have been the better team but kicked 2.5 to keep the Eagles in it.

Nic Martin has 11 disposals. And if we're doing Harley Reid watch, the young gun has found the ball just three times tonight.

Just like Jack Viney, I am currently in the fetal position after that quarter of football (don't worry, Jack was OK).

It's the first goalless quarter in about two years, and it came in a match between two of the best teams in the competition.

And it's not like they didn't have their chances. Stengle and Fritsch will in particular be annoyed at their missed shots.

Maybe it's because both teams have great defences? No, that's too kind. This one hasn't been great so far.

Fingers crossed for a better second half.

Max Holmes leads all on the field with 16 disposals, while Clayton Oliver has 14.

It has been 40 minutes since the last goal.

It's been 11 consecutive behinds.

And I am cursing whoever* did the rosters that made me the one that had to watch this game for work.

(*I did the rosters).

Two-metre Peter has sorted out the muck in Perth and finally scored a major.

Bombers fans celebrate. Bombers midfielders relax. And now the Eagles pounce, as Jake Waterman kicks West Coast's first.

Meanwhile, we're still goalless in the second quarter at the MCG, with the last 12 shots going for eight behinds and four no scores.

The Cats and Demons have both missed great chances, first from Stengle putting a good look out on the full, then with Fritsch missing one from about 40m.

Meanwhile, in Perth, we've got the close one ... it's 0.1.1 to 0.3.3.

Pretty, it is not.

Well that looked bad for a second there.

Viney was down in the middle of the ground holding his shoulder and barely moving, then all of a sudden was back up and running again.

Might have just been a stinger.

And now we're in 'let's keep an eye on two games at a time territory', which is always a fun little challenge.

Can West Coast take down the red-hot Bombers?

Debutant Harvey Johnston is the sub for the Eagles, and Ben Hobbs has the vest for the Bombers.

A hot quarter that one, and I while I'll stop short of saying it has been a finals like pressure, it has been an intense start to the game.

The Demons have looked the cleaner team so far, and have forced Geelong wide when the Cats do get their shots at goal.

Tom Atkins is the leading disposal winner on the ground with nine touches. It's worth noting Geelong is the only team this year that hasn't had a player gather 30 or more touches in a game.

Will Atkins be the first?

Talking about textbook small forward work ...

Kozzy Pickett gives the Demons the lead after pickpocketing Zach Guthrie in the forward pocket as the Cat tried to get the handball off.

The pressure is intense in this one and both teams are having a massive crack.

Oliver has gone down under the ground and come back up with his knee strapped.

He looked to be moving alright throughout so more a watch and wait rather than a watch and worry.

Meanwhile the Demons have got one back through Harrison Petty.

The Cats ride the boundary all the way down to Dempsey right on the fence, who absolutely flushes it from about 40m on the tightest of angles.

With Rohan back in the team there's been plenty of questions about what this Geelong forward line will look like moving forward, but it's fair to say Dempsey has made himself undroppable so far this year.

The two teams trade behinds at the MCG, and it's worth noting it's been a while the Cats and Demons have played here.

April 2021 was their last clash at the 'G, when the Demons ran out 25 points winners.

They've since played at Kardinia Park three times, and Perth Stadium once in the 2021 finals series.

Absolute bread and butter stuff from Stengle there. Textbook small forward areas as he draws the Cats level.

Rhys Stanley flies high for the ball but drops it right at his feet, where Stengle crumbs it and curls it around beautifully.

I know it's been said 100 times before - but what a pick up Stengle's been.