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.

THE BAD

Harley sours Dockers triumph

Harley Bennell is again in the news headlines for all the wrong reasons. Bennell was escorted from a flight from Melbourne to Gold Coast due to being under the influence of alcohol. He had been granted leave by the club.

Once one of the most prized young players for the Gold Coast Suns, his tenure at Fremantle has been nothing short of disastrous. Since moving to the Dockers at the end of 2015, he has failed to play a senior game due to persistent calf injuries, which currently has him sidelined. It appears unlikely that Bennell will play senior footy in 2017, if ever again.

Bumps and bruises

Jack Ziebell’s big hit on Travis Cloke during the Good Friday clash has sparked plenty of discussion about the the spirit of the game. Ziebell blatantly ran through Cloke after he kicked the ball, leaving the former Magpie with broken ribs and a four-six week stint on the sidelines.

Given Ziebell didn’t make contact with Cloke’s head, the bump was fair. However, Ziebell’s intention was clear and the severity of Cloke’s injury suggests it was an overly aggressive attack. The MRP found Ziebell not guilty. 10 years ago this would have been a non-issue, however the AFL has recently expressed a bigger concern over the safety and welfare of the players.

Nomination nightmare

We return to an incident from the Good Friday clash, with what was undoubtedly the most controversial umpiring decision of 2017.

Inside the Bulldogs forward 50, Todd Goldstein engaged in a ruck contest with Marcus Bontempelli, who nominated himself by raising his hand. Andrew Swallow and Josh Dunkley wrestled in their own contest nearby, where the umpire awarded Dunkley a free kick as Swallow blocked Dunkley from ‘rucking’. This resulted in a Bulldogs set shot at goal.

Whilst you aren’t allowed to block a ruckman about to compete, Bontempelli had clearly already nominated himself for that particular ruck contest, not Dunkley. This raised a gawking grey area the AFL faces with its adjudication of the new third man up rucking rule. It must be resolved promptly.   

THE UGLY

From bad to ugly

What’s worse than getting belted by 86-points to a rebuilding Gold Coast team? Getting belted by that exact same margin, 86-points, one week later against an old rival on the big stage. Geelong decimated Hawthorn at the MCG in their traditional Easter Monday clash and upturned the pressure on the winless Hawks, whose recent unprecedented glory has almost certainly come to an end.

Heading into 2017, Hawthorn possessed the 4th oldest team on average age. Luke Breust, Jack Gunston and Cyril Rioli are all struggling to carry the batton for the new look Hawks. Luke Hodge was their best player in the loss, who at 32-years old is concerning. Jarryd Roughead (30), Shaun Burgoyne (34) and Josh Gibson (33) aren’t getting any younger either, the latter two are nearing retirement, which will further leave gaping holes.

They’re attempting to play an uncontested brand of footy that this team simply can’t execute and questions are being asked of Alastair Clarkson’s future beyond 2017. For many of us, Hawthorn’s three-peat team is the greatest we’ve ever witnessed. That team is now ancient history.