The AFL's top end of the ladder has developed into a shootout between sides outside the game's heartland after some landmark round six results.

Reigning premier Brisbane continued its undefeated run with a 14-point win over Geelong and is already a game-and-a-half clear of the rest of the pack.

While Collingwood, Melbourne and Essendon were those teams tipped among the Lions' biggest rivals this season, it's three non-Victorian teams that are doing the chasing for now.

Adelaide is second after turning Friday night's Wayne Carey-inspired grudge match against the Kangaroos into a cakewalk, West Coast is third courtesy of a rare win away from Perth, and Port Adelaide rounds out a non-Victorian top-four.

The Power beat a gallant Richmond (four wins, two losses), which is the only Victorian side with a positive record.

The weekend's results were significant because all six teams based outside Victoria won.

For only the second time in AFL history and the first time since round 13, 1998, every non-Victorian side triumphed, with Sydney's win over Collingwood, the Eagles' victory over Melbourne and Fremantle's 31-point win over Essendon the stand-outs.

Further proving the competition will be hotly contested right across the country in 2003 is Sydney's resurgence after three successive losses, which takes it to seventh.

Fremantle (10th) is outside the eight only on percentage.

Ironically, on a weekend when the results proved how national the game has become, one of the all-Victorian clashes produced a stoush reminiscent of the suburban VFL battles of the 1970s.

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