Round 4 has come to a close after five days of footy action, with plenty to come out of the Easter weekend.
As always, there were some clear winners from the Round's storylines, with a Brisbane ruckman impressing, Charlie Cameron shining, and Good Friday football proving its place on the footy calendar.
The first month of the season has officially come to an end, and we're here to dissect the good and the bad around the competition after the long weekend.
Here are the winners and losers from Round 4...
Winner - Oscar McInerney
After glancing at the teamsheets on Wednesday night, 'The Big O' must have known he was in for a big one. No Cameron. No Cox. No Begg to choose from. There was no chance he was missing out here.
Selected to start in the centre for the Lions with only his old understudy and a pair of fish out of water before him, the scene was set for McInerney to play out the Gabba's suspect lights.
Naturally, the 206cm, 28-year-old dominated, dictating terms at stoppages, racking up 43 hitouts, 11 clearances, a pair of score involvements and 223 metres gained. On the other side of the line, the Magpies' motley rucking crew could only muster 25 tap wins in response, with no name in black and white creating any more than six clearances.
While McInerney dined out for a career-best 45 hit-outs against the hampered Hawks last year and took apart the Gawn-less Dees apart six weeks later, Thursday night acted as the high-water mark of his 105-game tenure in maroon, blue and gold.
The challenge of getting the better of league-leading rucks on a consistent basis still sits before McInerney, but with the scalp of former teammate Daniel McStay his to parade up and down the Brisbane River, you can bet the big man enjoyed his Easter long weekend.
Loser - Pies' biblical void
While the threads of the phrase 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' are tangled like a lantana bush, they take their roots from the New Testament, with the pair acting as two of Jesus' twelve apostles.
The maxim rang true at Collingwood last week as Craig McRae was forced to pilfer from multiple lines to find an opponent for McInerney, shifting Billy Frampton up the ground and offensive duo Ashley Johnson and Daniel McStay moving out of the arc.
Though all three stop the tape beyond the 195cm mark, the hastily assembled trio were no match for 'The Big O', with Frampton, Johnson and McStay ending the loss with six, two and 15 hit-outs respectively.
The loss, the high-flying Pies' first for the year, will have stung McStay most, with Daniel forced to wander back into the Lions' den for the first time since opting out well ahead of last year's trade deadline.
With all three of Aiden Begg, Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox still on the sidelines for the time being, Thursday night's trumped trio will be hoping for a set of swift recoveries as Rowan Marshall, Sam Draper and Reilly O'Brien all loom large on the horizon.
The Woods were probably due a curveball or two after such a fantastical 2022 season. But with the ilk of Pendlebury, Crisp, Mitchell, De Goey and the Daicos duo all requiring service, and no mid-season trading, McRae may well have sent a silent prayer for another Easter resurrection.
Winner - John Denver's estate
John Denver may not have graced a stage or a booth since October of 1997, and his $19 million estate may have taken six months to carve up, but his benefactors will be hoping to see a stream of maroon-marked royalty cheques roll in over the course of the year.
We're not sure how much the Gabba DJ, the league or the Lions themselves have to cough up every time Charlie Cameron kicks a goal, but with every single one of the moustachioed forward's home goals capped with the twang of Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads', if there is a bill sent from Colorado, it is sure to cost them a pretty penny.
So far in 2023, Cameron has kicked eight at the Gabba, including six against the Pies' overrun backline. And with the Lions still to play nine more home fixtures - North Melbourne, Fremantle, Essendon, Sydney, Richmond, West Coast, Geelong, Adelaide and St Kilda - fans can expect to hear plenty more from the 'Jitterbug' before all is said and done.
Run a rule over Cameron's numbers and you will find that the All-Australian forward has a lifetime average of 1.8 goals per game against these sides, meaning that, on paper at least, there are still at least 16 or so runs of Denver's multi-platinum hit left to roll.
Given artists, or their next of kind, don't tend to see royalties if their tracks are played in public places, it seems that Denver's kids might in fact be losers in this particular instance. But with roles in politics or private equity investment, we doubt they'll be losing a tonne of sleep.
Losers - Roos to the slaughter
No Griffin Logue, no Ben McKay and a pair of ticked-off roosters to contend with? Without trying to sound condescending, it was a fair feat that North's thinly thatched defensive unit was able to hold Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay to 10 goals.
Former Giants Aidan Corr and Aiden Bonar were left without much aid in the air, as the pair gave up height and weight to Carlton's key pillars, with more than 16 kilograms and 12 centimetres separating Bonar and 'Big H'.
On paper, it was never a fair fight - think Tyson and Lennox Lewis at the Pyramid - and with certain sects of the media deciding to sink the slipper into the big Blues this week, shoulders are sure to have slumped after Logue's suspension was upheld by the tribunal.
Being Easter and all, we'd normally make a crucifixion gag, but with Easter also acting as a time of rebirth (eggs and all that) and exoneration, we'll cut Corr and Bonar some much-needed slack.
Winners - Kids
With 49,062 in attendance at Docklands, as more than $23 million were donated by Australians from further afield, North Melbourne's Good Friday SuperClash was an unmitigated success.
It goes without saying, but the Roos' efforts to get the fixture rolling for such a great cause should be admired. It was also wonderful to see North and their opponents, Carlton, make the short trips from Arden Street and Princes Park to visit the kids during the week.
We raise our hats again to the Shinboners, as while their guernseys weren't much to look at, with 100 per cent of their auction price getting tipped into the Good Friday Appeal's kitty, we can forgive the lime green cuffs.
There may not be a particular word for something so ugly having such a beautiful impact, but we're sure the Germans do somewhere.
A pair of Jy Simpkin's boots to accompany an infectious smile ๐
Royal Children's Hospital patient Ollie McKee had a day to remember.#AFLNorthBlues pic.twitter.com/Odl2F97kNp
— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2023
Losers - Dead in the water Dockers
All at sea. High and dry. Keeled over. Capsized. Marooned. Three sheets to the wind.
You can pick any one of these nautical phrases to sum up the Dockers' display on Saturday.
Fremantle may have ended their afternoon in Adelaide +9 in clearances, but it also closed with them -46 for possessions. From 51 forward 50 entries, the exact same number as the Crows, the Dockers created just 22 scoring shots to the home side's 26, however, still managed to lose by 39 points.
This disparity had plenty to do with their cleanliness - Freo's tails were tucked with a disposal efficiency of 41.2 per cent inside 50 - and poor old Alex Pierce thrashing and flailing all afternoon in an effort to keep his head above water.
Throw in 77 turnovers, and Justin Longmuir's side required peg legs for the amount of times that had shot themselves in their collective feet.
Normally, the Dockers' defence is where they can hang their hat when the forwards are, once again, unable to kick a runaway score. But with JLo's back six leaking more than 100 points for the first time since 2021, there wasn't even a consolation prize as their ship sunk further down the table.
Opting to stay on in the City of Churches ahead of their Gather Round fixture at Norwood's Parade, those clad in purple will be hopeful of exorcising a few demons throughout the week.
Winners - The race for the Rising Starย
It was just over a month ago that pundits had all but wrapped up and shipped the Rising Star Award to Will Ashcroft's doorstep.
The young Lion, and No.2 pick, was one of the most highly talked about players in his draft year, but he was beaten to the first AFL Rising Star nomination of the season by North Melbourne's young protege Harry Sheezel.
The young Roo dazzled in his debut game, accumulating 34 disposals, six intercepts, nine marks and 631 metres gained to enshrine his status as a star of tomorrow.
Eagle Reuben Ginbey earned the Round 3 nomination after his impressive start to the season in an undermanned West Coast side, playing all four games of the season thus far to start his career. The 18-year-old No.9 pick currently sits fifth competition wide for tackles made, just two behind league leader Clayton Oliver, and is averaging 3.3 clearances per game.
Max Michalanney has announced himself down back for the Crows, claiming ten intercept possessions and five coaches votes in just his fourth game in the AFL. While at the Saints, Mitchito Owens has earned a loyal army of fans after a spectacular opening month of the season.
Owens, who made his debut in Round 1, 2022, is averaging 18.3 disposals, three tackles and two goals per game this season, kicking two goals in Round 4's breakout, and best on ground, performance.
Ashcroft now has competition with Sheezel rising as a favourite to win, leaving no doubt that the journey to crown the award has become far more interesting than many tipped before Round 1 kicked off.
Losers - Broadcast missesย
Saturday night's thriller at the SCG was the game of the round for many, but it didn't come without its faults. At the ground, the chaos of the last few minutes was thrilling, but for those watching from home, there was plenty left to be desired.
As Oliver Florent's siren-beating shot at goal fell just short thanks to some Aliir Aliir heroics on the goal line, fans were treated to broadcast angles of the back of someone's head (a la Buddy 1000), then a jubilant, quickly turned defeated, looking Florent on the ground. Port cheered, the Swans jeered, and many were left confused at what exactly had unfolded.
I donโt know whoโs in charge of these camera angles but Iโm livid! The @scg has shanked Buddyโs 1000th goal and Florentโs after the siren kick. Turn it up! #AFLSwansPort pic.twitter.com/9OOkiH8EqT
— Jeremy Budman (@jeremybudman) April 8, 2023
It took six minutes for fans watching at home to see the goal line angle to confirm what had happened at the death, leading many to vent their frustration at the broadcast on social media.
Elsewhere in Round 4, it felt like the AFL missed an opportunity with their Easter weekend broadcast, choosing to schedule just the lone twilight game for Good Friday.
The crowd at the North Melbourne and Carlton clash proved the appetite for Good Friday footy is alive and well, but with the game coming to an end just before 7pm, it seemed as if a transition into a double header would have worked well for fans and broadcasters alike.
The NRL had a doubleheader scheduled on Friday, as did the A-League, leaving the AFL with plenty to think about for 2024.
