THE BRISBANE Lions will face an in-form but potentially distracted Fremantle at the Gabba on Sunday, with Freo having defeated Adelaide in a one-point thriller but losing star forward Jeff Farmer for at least the next eight weeks to a club-imposed suspension.

Fremantle was able to grind out a hard-working win over the Crows at Subiaco thanks to Luke Webster's snapped behind in the final minute, but most of the post-match media questions centred around Farmer.

Arrested on an assault charge relating to an nightclub incident on Saturday night, Farmer, who was due to finish a six-match suspension for eye-gouging after the Lions clash, will now be sidelined until at least round 13 - at which point he will be required to front the club board and explain why he should remain a Fremantle player.

"It's a distraction we didn't need," Fremantle chairman Rick Hart said after the game.

"It was a disappointing thing to have happen for Shaun McManus' 200th game and also to take away from a great win by this footy club. Knowing Jeff, he's a pretty strong character, so hopefully he can now prove he is a great person as well as a player."

Fremantle coach Chris Connolly is looking forward to meeting the Lions on the back of his side’s second successive win, after the club’s 0-3 start to the season.

"We're now four points off third spot," Connolly said.

"We always knew we'd have a tough start to the season and you can see the evenness of the competition. It was good to get a win but we've got to get over this game and get prepared to play Brisbane."

The Lions will go into the match in sixth spot with three wins and a percentage of 109.48. Fremantle, on the other hand, are 12th, with pair of victories and a percentage of 97.77.

Fremantle escaped the game without fresh injury worries, but Adelaide, which travels to the Gabba to play the Lions in round seven, will sweat over the fitness of Brent Reilly, who did not re-appear after quarter-time because of an ankle injury. Brett Burton also limped off in the final term.

In Sunday's other games, the Kangaroos were inspired by captain Adam Simpson and his 41 possessions in beating Geelong by 16 points, while ex-Lion Jason Akermanis and the Western Bulldogs accounted for Hawthorn by 17 points.

Richmond was brave again but, alas, not good enough to get a win, going down to table-topping West Coast by 23 points on Saturday and Melbourne also remains winless, having lost to Sydney by 49 points at the SCG. Port Adelaide thumped St Kilda by 53 points in a Friday night mismatch at AAMI Stadium, with Collingwood's 16-point Anzac Day triumph over Essendon having provided the start to an elongated round.

As far as performance of the week goes, it's impossible to ignore that of the Lions' own Jonathan Brown. The big forward roamed all around the Telstra Dome surface on Saturday night in the win over the Blues, accumulating 27 possessions, pulling in 15 marks and kicking three goals. More importantly, he directly set up five goals for his teammates in a brilliant display.

Heath Shaw was enormous in Collingwood's Anzac Day triumph over Essendon and thoroughly deserved his medal for best-on-ground. Adam Selwood and Andrew Embley were outstanding in West Coast's 23-point win against Richmond, while, if there was an award for the most consistently good player on a losing team, young Tiger Andrew Raines might receive it. Excellent versus the Western Bulldogs in round four, Raines - son of ex-Bear, Magpie and Tiger Geoff Raines - was once more very good in another non-victorious cause.

Roos skipper Simpson is another candidate, having been in real danger of suffering from leather poisoning in his side's morale-boosting win over the Cats.

Collingwood 12.23 (95) d Essendon 11.13 (79)

Essendon and Collingwood showed they will be tough adversaries when they meet the Lions in rounds eight and nine respectively - but it was the Magpies who emerged victorious from an engaging Anzac Day clash. The annual fixture is must-watch viewing for neutrals along with fans of each club and Collingwood improved its season record to 4-1 with an impressive 16-point win. The Magpies, with young backman Heath Shaw named best afield, weathered an early Bombers storm and made Essendon pay for some crucial errors, most notably Kepler Bradley's ill-advised chip across goal deep in defence. Essendon's much-vaunted forward pairing of Scott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd were well-held but youngster Alwyn Davey again provided spark with his electrifying pace and goal sense.

Port Adelaide 14.12 (96) d St Kilda 6.7 (43)

Port Adelaide gave the best indication yet it is more than an early season wonder, giving an injury-hit St Kilda a 53-point touch-up at AAMI Stadium. The Saints lost Lenny Hayes with a suspected broken collarbone, Andrew Thompson to a knee problem and Nick Riewoldt temporarily following an accidental kick to the head in the second quarter - but it is the final result that will be of more concern to coach Ross Lyon. Port Adelaide was in control of the contest from the outset, with skipper Warren Tredrea belying saturated conditions that wouldn't normally favour tall forwards to boot three goals and Chad Cornes and Shaun Burgoyne also influential. St Kilda was best served by evergreen Robert Harvey and ex-Lion Brett Voss provided half of the Saints' six goals. Tough Port Adelaide defender Michael Wilson tore a pectoral muscle and could miss up to two months.

West Coast 14.15 (99) d Richmond 11.10 (76)

It was another case of so near yet so far for Richmond and its supporters, after the still winless Tigers went down to unbeaten ladder leader West Coast by 23 points at the MCG on Saturday. Richmond led by as many as 21 points early in the second quarter and, after the Eagles gained ascendancy through terms two and three, the home side closed within four points in the final stanza. But West Coast, as it habitually does, was able to grind out a result, with Ashley Hansen among the Eagles capitalising on some wayward Richmond kicking for goal and posting an important last quarter major. Adam Selwood, Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley were among the best for West Coast, whose only concern from the match is likely to be Tyson Stenglein's report for making forceful front-on contact with Richard Tambling. For the second week in succession, former Fremantle key position utility Graham Polak was amongst Richmond's best.

Kangaroos 18.10 (118) d Geelong 15.12 (102)

The Kangaroos continued the form they displayed against the Lions last week, holding off a late Geelong rally to run out 16-point winners at Kardinya Park. Captain Adam Simpson was superb for the Roos, gathering a whopping 41 possessions, the majority of them won in and around the packs. The Roos, with three important first-quarter goals from another veteran on-baller in Brent Harvey, led by 45 points in the third quarter but the Cats kicked eight of the next 11 goals to at one stage get back within 10 points. Cameron Mooney, however, missed a set shot that would have really made it "game on" and Kangaroos speedster Daniel Wells goaled on the siren from 45m for the eventual margin.

Sydney 17.7 (109) d Melbourne 8.12 (60)

Sydney's charmed run with injuries came to an end of sorts, as the Swans accounted for Melbourne by 49 points at the SCG. Both Tadhg Kennelly and Luke Ablett went down with what initially appeared to be serious injuries during the win but there was better news after the match. Ablett was revealed to have "only" hyper-extended a knee and is rated some slim chance of taking the field next week. Kennelly, meanwhile, dislocated a kneecap but, subject to further scans, looks to have escaped serious ligament damage. The injury worries took some of the gloss off an otherwise solid performance that was punctuated by Barry Hall's four goals. Life isn't getting any easier for Demons coach Neale Daniher, who was again without key forwards David Neitz and Russell Robertson and remains without a win for the season. Melbourne got a promising debut from Broadbeach product Ricky Petterd but faces Port Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and West Coast in the next three weeks.

Western Bulldogs 16.14 (110) d Hawthorn 13.15 (93)

The Western Bulldogs made it two wins on the trot by accounting for the in-form Hawks by 17 points, with ex-Lion Jason Akermanis named among the best players for the first time at his new club. The final margin of less than three goals flattered the Hawks, who trailed by more than five goals at three-quarter-time but managed to kick three majors in the final term while keeping the Bulldogs goalless. Scott West was again outstanding in the midfield for the Bulldogs, his hard work capitalised on by Robert Murphy and up-and-coming forward Shaun Higgins, both of whom kicked three goals. With gun forward Mark Williams sidelined by a knee injury, Lance Franklin played a brave lone hand in attack for Hawthorn, kicking six goals.

Fremantle 7.16 (58) d Adelaide 8.9 (57)

On a day when one of the club's favourite, if not always best behaved, sons found more trouble, Fremantle’s nail-biting one-point win over Adelaide at Subiaco proved oddly anti-climactic. Luke Webster's snapped behind with less than a minute to play gave Fremantle the points. Most of the questions at the post-match media conference revolved around Jeff Farmer, who will serve a club-imposed suspension until at least round 13 after a nightclub incident on Saturday night. Veteran Shaun McManus' 200th game as a Docker was an arm-wrestle from the outset, with the unlikely figure of Troy Cook bobbing up to kick three crucial goals and David Mundy one of Fremantle's best with his reading of the play and run from half-back.