In many ways it felt like a return to normality after round three's inexpediencies. The weekend kicked off with a finals-like encounter on Thursday night in West Coast’s win over Sydney and continued strongly on Good Friday in a pulsating affair which saw the Western Bulldogs narrowly defeat North Melbourne.

Melbourne discovered life will be tough without star ruckman Max Gawn, losing a nail biting clash with Fremantle at the MCG.  Adelaide, Geelong and Richmond continued their dominance as the only trio left undefeated, while Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Sydney are all still searching for their first win.

Sydney is suffering its worst start to a season in 24 years, while Hawthorn have never started this poorly under Alastair Clarkson. North Melbourne completely contrast their early season form from 2016, where they went undefeated up until Round 10.   

THE GOOD

Pride of South Australia

We may only be four weeks into a long season, but there appears to be a new juggernaut in town. The Adelaide Crows are the current heavyweight of the competition. After manhandling Essendon on Saturday night by 65-points, the undefeated Crows’ tails are well and truly up. Many pundits backed the Giants or Swans to be the big dog in 2017, however a trip to Adelaide Oval to face the Crows daunts as the most feared task in football.  

Eddie Betts is leading the Coleman Medal race with 16 goals, whilst Rory Sloane continues to rise the elite midfield ranks as a genuine Brownlow Medal contender. The luckless Andy Otten has revitalized his career, Tex Walker is leading sensationally and Rory Laird has emerged as the premier half back flanker in the competition.

Dom Pyke is pushing all the right buttons and clearly has an astute footy brain. Adelaide boasted the most All-Australian nominees in 2016, indicating that they possess the necessary talent for a premiership tilt.

Tall timber

Who said the key forward was a dying breed? Gold Coast’s Tom Lynch almost single handily defeated Carlton on the weekend with a bag of seven goals. Johnathan Patton enjoyed a career-high six goal haul against the Power, whilst Tex Walker looks to finally have put his injury troubles behind him, bagging 5 goals against Essendon.

Tom Hawkins also leads the goal kicking race with 16 majors and along with Jeremy Cameron (14 goals), are producing All-Australian form in 2016. West Coast’s Josh Kennedy (15 goals) has been his destructive self and will challenge strongly for a third consecutive Coleman Medal.

Houston, we have a player

There’s a lot to like about the Power’s renewal in 2017, a young kid named Dan Houston nearly tops the list. Houston was drafted from the Oakleigh Chargers with pick 45 in the 2016 Rookie Draft.  He debuted in The Power’s Round 1 defeat of the Swans this year and he hasn’t looked back since. 

His strongest performance came on the weekend against GWS, where he had 19 disposals and nine marks. This will see him earn the Round 4 Rising Star nomination. The young defender possesses an elite kick and strong running power. Houston and teammate Sam Powell-Pepper will bid strong cases to win this year’s Rising Star Award.