Collingwood v Melbourne, Lions v Kangaroos, Swans v Carlton, Geelong v GWS, Power v Suns: AFL round 23 live

Collingwood, Sydney, Geelong and Port Adelaide all claim wins that help shape the top eight as the home and away season begins to take shape.

Catch up on all the action with out ScoreCentre.

Home final awaits Cats after stunning poor Giants

Geelong has secured second spot on the AFL ladder and a home qualifying final after belting Greater Western Sydney by 44 points at Kardinia Park.

After trailing briefly early in the opening quarter, the Cats were never behind again and they went on to win 15.13 (103) to 8.11 (59).

If Richmond beat St Kilda on Sunday they will rise to third place and take on the Cats in the opening week of the finals at the MCG.

A Tigers' loss against the Saints would set up a repeat clash for the Cats against the Giants in two weeks' time, with that fixture almost certain to be scheduled at the MCG — despite Geelong's clear preference for it to take place on its regular home ground.

Saturday night's clash was in the balance at half-time when the Cats led by just seven points.

But it was pretty much one-way traffic in the second half.

Geelong kicked six goals to one in the third quarter to lead by 40 points at the final break.

The worst moment of the third quarter for the Giants came when big Rory Lobb lost his bearings in the defensive goal square and inexplicably failed to get a hand on a speculative long-range shot for goal from the impressive Jordan Murdoch.

Any slight chance of a Giants comeback was snuffed out in the first couple of minutes of the final term when Murdoch kicked a clever snap to blow the margin out to 47.

The Cats shared the load in attack, with 10 individual goalscorers, led by Sam Menegola with three.

He finished with a game-high 34 possessions and was well-supported in the midfield by superstar Patrick Dangerfield and Mitch Duncan.

Jed Bews did a good job limiting the influence of Toby Greene, although the dangerous Giants forward still managed to kick three of his team's eight goals.

GWS was best served by co-captain Callan Ward and Dylan Shiel.

But former Cats Steve Johnson and Shane Mumford were both largely ineffectual for the visitors, with the 34-year-old Johnson's position in the GWS lineup for the final series now in some doubt.

Port Adelaide humiliate dismal Suns to move into top four

Port Adelaide has hammered a depleted Gold Coast by 115 points to hold a coveted AFL top-four spot — for now.

Power forward Sam Gray kicked six goals in Saturday night's 20.15 (135) to 3.2 (20) victory, the Suns' meagre total is a club-record low.

Port's massive margin — its second-biggest win in the AFL — lifted it to fourth, a ladder slot held by three clubs on one day.

Richmond started there, then Sydney took it before Port, though the Tigers can reclaim it entering the finals by beating Fremantle on Sunday.

Gold Coast's miserable 20-point tally is less than its previous low of 34 points against the Western Bulldogs in 2012.

The Suns didn't score for two entire quarters in a display which threatens the chances of interim coach Dean Solomon keeping the job next season.

Gold Coast's troubled season ends in 17th place with and the prospect of losing megastar Gary Ablett to Geelong.

The Suns were missing 13 injured players — mainly from their top shelf, including Ablett — and were scoreless from 26 minutes into the first quarter until the first minute of the final term.

Gold Coast's Matt Rosa (24 possessions), Pearce Hanley (22 disposals) and Jarrod Harbrow (24 touches) battled gamely and Peter Wright kicked two goals but Port tuned up in style for its first finals campaign in three years.

Power livewire Gray was the chief scoring source and ex-Sun Charlie Dixon booted four goals, while Ollie Wines (32 disposals), Darcy Byrne-Jones (25 touches), Travis Boak (24 possessions) Chad Wingard (20 touches) were influential.

Buddy goes bananas as Swans destroy Blues

Lance Franklin has one hand on a fourth Coleman medal after booting 10 goals at the SCG, where Sydney warmed up for AFL finals with a crushing 81-point win over Carlton.

Franklin's most productive game in the red and white lifted his season tally to 69 goals, also ensuring the Swans made it 14 wins from their past 16 games.

The Buddy blitz included bombs, a couple of belters from deep in the pocket and even a back-heel in the goal square.

Franklin became the 10th player in VFL/AFL history to kick 850 goals, helping Sydney prevail 21.12 (138) to 8.9 (57).

Franklin outscored the opposition and ruthlessly dominated Liam Jones on Saturday.

The 30-year-old's bid for a fourth Coleman medal will be decided on Sunday, when Essendon young gun Joe Daniher (60 goals) and West Coast's Josh Kennedy (64 goals) have a chance to overhaul him.

"It was nice to hit them well tonight. It's always nice to kick a bag," Franklin told Fox Footy.

"We got off to a terrible start to the season ... we've got a lot of work to do."

Sydney had already made history before the opening bounce, becoming the first club in VFL/AFL history to start a season with six straight losses then qualify for finals.

Ruckmen Kurt Tippett and Callum Sinclair threw a major scare into the Swans' camp on Saturday, when they limped off during the first half with ankle injuries.

Tippett and Sinclair both spent a long time in the rooms but returned to the fray late in the second quarter.

The Blues lifted in the absence of the big men, especially Matthew Kreuzer, and reduced the hosts' lead to five points late in the second term.

The visitors' hopes of an upset eroded after half-time, when Luke Parker, Zak Jones, Josh Kennedy and Jake Llloyd won plenty of the ball and helped Franklin put on a clinic.

Brisbane v North Melbourne

The Brisbane Lions will finish the season with the wooden spoon after losing to North Melbourne by 51 points at the Gabba.

The battle between the bottom two sides at the start of the final round was unsurprisingly lacking in quality but the Kangaroos' superior desire saw them run out 19.16 (130) to 11.13 (79) winners in front of a crowd of 15,416.

Ben Brown was the star man kicking seven goals for North Melbourne to move within one of Coleman Medal leader Josh Kennedy of West Coast.

The Kangaroos will now likely finish the campaign in 15th spot on the ladder, leapfrogging Carlton and Gold Coast.

The Lions will have the first pick in the AFL draft for the first time in 19 years, after selecting second after the past two seasons.

Despite their lowly position, Brisbane has received plaudits for its improved play this season.

But there will be little for Chris Fagan to take from this match which was likely the worst of their campaign.

Their malaise was epitomised by a boundary throw-in which their smallest player Dayne Zorko was left to contest and the first 10 minutes of the third quarter when they mustered only 14 disposals.

The Kangaroos dominated clearances and territory early on but got little reward scoring 1.8 against the Lions' five goals straight from just nine Inside 50s.

The second quarter was a role reversal as the Lions could only muster 0.5 and the visitors kicked 4.2, including two from Brown.

The Lions came out of the long break even more lackadaisical and their scoreless run went on until the 18 minute-mark of the third term.

In contrast the Kangaroos kicked nine straight goals to all but seal the game, ending the quarter 33 points in front.

Debutant Kangaroo Ben McKay had a horror early end to his AFL bow when he was carried off on a stretcher in a neck brace after a collision with teammate Sam Durdin late in the third quarter.

He will be taken to hospital for precautionary scans.

Dees to sweat on results as Pies pull off upset

Melbourne faces an anxious wait to learn if it will qualify for the AFL finals after suffering a shock 16-point loss to Collingwood.

Needing a win to confirm the end of an 11-year wait for finals football, the Demons lost 14.15 (99) to 12.11 (83) to Nathan Buckley's Magpies.

Brayden Maynard was a revelation in Collingwood's midfield, Taylor Adams put in a strong shift and Jamie Elliott kicked three goals.

Melbourne was lacklustre for most of the afternoon but came alive at the death with seven of the last nine goals.

With luckless forward Jesse Hogan sidelined again with a hamstring issue, the Demons were unable to reel in the strong-starting Magpies and now lose control of their finals fate.

They must hope either Essendon or West Coast lose (or the Eagles fail to beat Adelaide by enough to go ahead of Melbourne on percentage) on Sunday — and St Kilda fail to win by 100 points — to play in September.

But on the evidence of the first three quarters, Simon Goodwin's side would not last long.

Collingwood slammed on six first-quarter goals to one for its best opening term of the season.

Josh Daicos kicked his first AFL goal as the Magpies ran rings around their higher-ranked opponents.

Two mark of the season contenders from Jeremy Howe and Elliott before another goal showed the difference in vitality between the sides.

In a damning indictment of their effort, it took Melbourne 11 minutes to lay its first tackle.

Jeff Garlett started the Demons' engine after the break, finishing a flowing move to announce their arrival in the match but their momentum stalled with a string of behinds.

Elliott made the Demons pay with a stunning snap, maintaining Collingwood's control.

Its lead peaked at 42 points in the third term before four straight majors gave Melbourne a glimmer of hope.

The late charge continued, with Cam Pedersen putting the Demons remarkably within eight points with 10 minutes remaining.

Will Hoskin-Elliott slammed the door shut with the final goal of the game after a madcap goal scramble.

As Melbourne waits to learn if its season is over, Collingwood's attention will turn to Buckley's future.

The Magpies legend is out of contract as coach, with the club's board to decide his fate within days.

AFL ladder

AAP/ABC