The defending champion Sydney Swans remain unbeaten after three rounds and are in dominating form to start the Australian Football League season.
The Swans were slow starters on Saturday at Hobart on the island state of Tasmania, trailing by 14 points at halftime. But Sydney kicked an almost unheard of 11 goals in the third period — six of them in eight minutes — to beat North Melbourne 20.11 (131) to 13.14 (92).
Ben McGlynn booted three goals and co-captain Jarrad McVeigh two in the Swans' comeback spurt, extending North Melbourne's winless streak against Sydney since 2007. The Kangaroos have not won in three Australian Rules matches this season.
Swans coach John Longmire said his side simply shut down the Kangaroos in the third period.
"They're a pretty hardened team, our blokes," he said. "We want to make sure we're always in the game and I thought our second half showed that. We were still able to maintain our structure and our discipline and I thought our goals flowed from that."
Geelong remained unbeaten with an 18.11 (119) to 15.13 (103) over Carlton. The Cats trailed by as much as 17 points in the second quarter before staging their third consecutive comeback win.
Essendon, also 3-0, kicked only one goal in the opening half and trailed by 36 points but recovered to boot seven unanswered goals in the third period for a 10.12 (72) to 9.14 (68) victory over Fremantle.
The West Coast Eagles won their first match of the year and handed Melbourne its third loss in a row, beating the Demons 27.15 (177) to 13.5 (83).
David Amitrage kicked four goals to lead St. Kilda to a 21.14 (140) to 10.8 (68) victory over Greater Western Sydney. Brisbane, led by captain Jonathan Brown's five goals, held off a fast-finishing Gold Coast in a southeast Queensland derby, beating the Suns 13.16 (94) to 13.14.
In matches on Sunday, Richmond takes on the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood and Hawthorn play in another city derby at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.