The big talking points after Round 4 of the AFL

Freo missing Fyfe. And Barlow and then Mundy subed of - their three best midfielders and you are winging about Goddard.

:)

The bottom five to seven teams won't be able to make finals after this week week , at least two of those teams big member clubs if they also have Sydney and Adelaide in that mix will be a long year for the afl.. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.

And Fremantle didn't have a depleted team? Fyfe, Barlow, Ibbotson, Mayne and Walters. Then losing Mundy. That's three elite midfielders and 34% of our goals - based on last year's scores. Poor Essendon. And having to play in that heat too. Life's so unfair!

And if they maintain the PA decibel level at the ear-splitting height they had it at the season opener I think I may be joining those droves after the game this Thursday.

On all points I'm with you. I think the Lions problems started way back in 2004 when Marcus Ashcroft was noble enough to retire but all the other 30 year old's wanted the glory of a fourth premiership and the club allowed them to stay on. Of course , the argument I've had many times is that they made the Grand Final and were in it until half way through the 3rd quarter and if they played St Kilda and not Port Power they would have won. When I see the bold and gusty decisions made by Chris Scott as a coach each year you can see why Geelong are still top four. In allowing 30 year plus old Paul Chapman to move on he gives the club the chance to pick up the next 18 year old Paul Chapman coming through. It's a winning and fearless approach.

Fair enough Johno – I agree that there were no expectations surrounding us this season – but if St Kilda or Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs, all of whom were around our level last year had come out and played the way we had, there’d be a lot of media attention about it, and discussions about whether or not the club was moving in the right direction etc etc. The fact the Lions can come out two weeks in a row and get smashed in the Q clash (surely the most forgettable local derby of all at the moment) and follow that up with a performance where they do a great imitation of training cones for Port Adelaide – and barely anyone bats an eyelid – indicates to me that we’re barely even a blip on the AFL community’s radar. Even MH 370’s flight recorder is broadcasting a stronger signal than our club at the moment. Meanwhile the fans continue to stay away in droves. Average attendance at the Gabba was 30,085 in 2009. Last year it was 22,909. The club won't die, but it's going to keep limping along indefinitely based on what I'm seeing at the moment.

I don't see the problem with thrashings if the teams doing it are giving masterclasses in football? Hawthorn and Geelong both had tough opponents, but did everything right to cruise to victory? I wasn't too familiar with Geelong until I watched that game and I thought they ticked all the boxes. As did the Hawks. Fremantle played a depleted team, as did Port, so they don't count. But if we actually believe the quality of matches is fading just because of the final margins, re-watch Hawthorn and Geelong from the weekend. It was anything a footy fan could want, even if you dont support them.

Whether it's 14, 16 or 18 teams, someone has to finish last. Fans will cop that. The problem is when you have the same teams constantly finishing last, or towards the bottom of the table, and the same teams consistently staying up at the top of the table. That's when you start to get issues with balance, equalisation and the like. The addition of the two extra teams has spread the talent thinner than before, and certainly the unequal draft the past few years has hurt the mid and lower table teams a lot, and entrenched the high placed teams. But we've no option now but to give it time, and hope that things sort themselves out. Certainly in the case of Melbourne, Carlton & Brisbane you could make a compelling case that they're as much to blame for their current woes as external circumstances - all 3 clubs have drafted, recruited and been run pretty abysmally the past 5-6 years.

No. I'm not in any tipping competition. Haven't been for 15 years. Reason, can't see the sense in following a team and tipping against them in a competition whilst barracking for them to win. If I I was tipster I would have got 5 or 6 correct, whereas most would have got 7 or 8 I guess. As for Melbourne, that match was no blockbuster. It was two sorry teams at the moment except Melbourne will be sorry as long as they are in Melbourne as Melbourne. They beat Essendon 2 years ago when Essendon was top of the table so anything's possible once a year. It's round 4 and the season is over for Melbourne S t Kilda Carlton and Brisbane and Richmond. Is that what the AFL want from an 18 team competition?

I wouldn't be surprised if Freo game is a blowout and Port also. Suns may win but it won't be a huge margin over the dees.

Probably a different game if Goddard isn't hurt too.

Chapman and Fletcher were both flagged as potential non starters at the beginning of the week...i think essendon prepared accordingly, but freo fronted up this week (also sans some quality players). The heat, I think, certainly didn't help essendon.

The thing is that the Lions are not unexpectedly rubbish. Their coaching debacle last year lowered everyones expectations. The last great midfielder from the Lions glory days has finally retired and the forward line cupboard in bare at the moment. The Blues and Tigers were both tipped for finals or at least to be there abouts. The Blues are rubbish and have a few top rated players looking at being trade bait come October. The Tigers are not living up to expectations. This coming weekend will through up some fascinatng contests Hawks v Cats Dockers v Swans Pies v Roos Eagles v Port Crows v GWS Dogs v Blues All of those games have a big impact on some clubs finals aspirations (except the first which is just going to be another cracker) Lions v Tigers Dees v Suns Bombers v Saints are all games that on paper look like being one sided (sorry Dees fans)

That last line has occurred to me as well, Paul. I think part of it is that a lot of people saw the Lions as being well and truly bottom four before the season. But the issues from the last couple of weeks are new ones, and the problems are getting worse. I wonder how bad things have to get before people start to contemplate whether the Lions can keep going without structural changes.

That's kind of what I'm saying too - there were a few rain affected games, that didn't help matters either. Hopefully next weekend is a bit better. Generally you'll get a few blowouts, but a couple of close games can salvage a weekend and give us something positive to talk about. There'll be better weekends I'm sure in the future. Although maybe not for the Lions.

Never said it was a good weekend, but the sky is hardly falling because of it.

I wouldn’t have gone to the lengths Michael did, but you have to admit it was a pretty ordinary weekend of AFL footy. None of the games were really that close – GWS v Bulldogs was probably the most even contest, and that blew out at the end. And Carlton v Melbourne was only saved because of schadenfreude all round, and because we love watching truly awful teams get wins over more fancied and despised opponents. The game can afford the odd weekend like that. But they wouldn’t want too many more this season – not when all the prime time evening games are such woeful contests. Unfortunately too the Lions are fast turning into an irrelevance – we don’t look being able to buy a win, and two of our best players are gone for extended periods, and we don’t even rate a mention, it’s all Carlton & Richmond at the moment. No-one cares that we’re rubbish. That’s probably the most depressing thing of all.

Wow so much crying, lemme guess you had a bad round of tipping? Funny that in one paragraph you mention Melbourne game being one of the closest and the next you are accusing them of ruining blockbusters ... It was a bad round, some would say at least the freo/ess and Gee/WCE games were bigger margins due to injuries and outs and certainly while the Lions have issues they have been ravaged by injuries.

I think this was one of if not the most the most disgraceful weekends in AFL history. Bottom two teams Melbourne and Carlton and GWS and Bulldogs being the closest results, 4 goals. The Geelong / West Coast big game and Fremantle Essendon clash both fizzers. They don't use the term "Blockbuster" anymore because it's false advertising thanks to Melbourne who turned "Blockbusters" into "NON EVENTS". The for and against this round was that the winners scored 1055 points (ave 117 points ) losers 498 points (ave 55 points) which means the losers scored 47% of winners total across the board. This is pathetic, that's not competition. The 18 team competition stinks. Clubs should have been made to relocate for the good of the game. If it was an even competition this coming weekend we'd have seven close games and maybe two with big margins, especially Essendon over St Kilda ( who won their first 2 games) but I if last week is an indication we will have blow out results in the big games. By Easter Monday we will be praying that Geelong and Hawthorn can put on their usual show because although the round looks good on paper there's 's no doubt that 2014 is the year of the massacre. Maybe before the Brisbane/ Richmond game this week they can burn a football and play for the ashes, which they should have done before the Carlton/Melbourne game last week.