An incident-packed round five will keep the AFL tribunal busy, with Peter Everitt's injury and at least three player-umpire collisions to attract video scrutiny.

The weekend was billed as the blockbuster round and it deserved the hype.

Essendon, Richmond, Sydney and Port Adelaide scored wins that could prove season-defining, while Geelong, Melbourne and Hawthorn are now under massive pressure following embarrassing fadeouts.

Everitt will undergo surgery tomorrow for several facial bone fractures after his clash at a centre bounce yesterday with Richmond ruckman Greg Stafford.

The Tigers today publicly defended Stafford, whose right forearm hit the left side of Everitt's face in a ruck contest, as the incident attracted intense media scrutiny.

Privately, the Hawks are demanding the incident be investigated and Stafford is likely to be booked for striking on video evidence.

But the Hawks are also investigating themselves after Richmond scored the biggest comeback win in club history.

Richmond trialled by 51 points in the second term, but won by 20 - 18.7 (115) to 14.11 (95).

"The coaches are going to be under the hammer, the players are going to be under the hammer, no doubt there will be a lot of changes," captain Shane Crawford told Channel 10 today.

"It's not acceptable, we're a better side than that."

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