• Nine things we learned from round four
• Fantasy form watch: This week's pig and Presti
• How did your team's players fare in this weekend's state leagues?

NEXT time Clarko, take the team bus.

It might be a gorgeous walk from Adelaide Oval to the team hotel, across the new footbridge over the River Torrens, but late on a Saturday night, with the locals at fever pitch after a great night at the footy, it is not the time or place for Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson to take a gentle stroll.

You can understand why he and football manager Chris Fagan wanted time and space to talk things over.

At 2-2, the Hawks' season is teetering ever so slightly with four key defenders – Brian Lake, Matt Spangher, James Frawley and rookie Kaiden Brand – on the sidelines. They are getting beaten despite a 79-43 edge in inside 50s (an AFL record for a losing team) and their first quarters have been dreadful, so there is a bit to discuss.

But if you know the centre of Adelaide at all, the AFL-accredited hotel is located on North Terrace, almost across the road from the casino and just a few hundred metres from Adelaide Oval.

The joint would have been jumping with pumped-up and well-lubricated Power fans, and Clarkson's altercation with three Port supporters was an accident waiting to happen.

It's a complex situation. There is ample security for coaches at match venues, but should that extend to team hotels? And who pays?

We like the fact that our game still has a degree of accessibility. Go to the US or to Europe and you'd be lucky to get in the same area code as the hotels where professional sporting teams play.

Clarkson had plenty of support on social media on Sunday. The video that did him in in the first place served to garner him more sympathy and support.

 

But the problem for Clarkson is that he continues to get tarnished with the 'angry' brush. He is the best coach in the AFL but to some, there will always be the "yeah, but" rider. There was the argument at a junior footy match, punching the hole in the wall of the MCG coach's box, and run-ins with journalists including AFL Media colleague Matt Thompson.

Some of these episodes were of his own doing; others were not. But they are great fodder for tabloid, non-AFL journalists who don't give a fig about the countless hours he spends doing charity work and in game development. The 'Hawks in crisis' headlines were already out and about on Sunday afternoon.

Clarkson will put this behind him quickly enough. He and his club played it well on Sunday, getting on both the Fox Footy and Channel Seven match broadcasts and giving his version of events and he presented well in both instances.

But what was annoying for Clarkson is that he was forced to waste a day dealing with all this, rather than be where his footy club needed him to be – at Simonds Stadium running a careful eye over North Melbourne, the team the Hawks didn't beat last year and who they meet at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

And where, thankfully, he can park his car about 10 metres from the change rooms and not have to deal with any riff-raff on his way there.

There's a reason the Dockers are the last unbeaten team

Thanks to the staggered starting and finishing times by virtue of the Anzac Day fixture, those fortunate enough to have a TV and one of an AFL Live Pass or a Foxtel subscription were able to witness reasonable parts of two magnificent games of football.

Port Adelaide put the defending champs to the sword to lead by 51 points at half-time. The final margin? Eight points.

Fremantle led the Sydney Swans by eight goals at half-time, having held the visitors to 1.3 in the process. The final margin? A nervy 14 points after the Swans drew to within less than a kick midway through the final term.

We'll get to Port in a bit, but for the Dockers this was a massive result. They're 4-0 with wins over Port Adelaide, Geelong and the Swans already in the bank. They still have difficult games on the slate, particularly Adelaide and the Power both away and Hawthorn in Tasmania, but there is a fair argument that their most difficult stretch of the season is done for and they've come through in brilliant shape.

Ross Lyon took a punt this pre-season, using the extra time afforded by the delayed start to the season to flog his players through the summer. No player was spared in the push to start the season 4-0 and with the draw starting to open up (the Crows at Adelaide Oval in round nine shapes as its next toughest game) Freo now has a realistic shot of getting to the halfway mark of the season with 10 or so wins. That would leave it on track for two home finals and coach Ross Lyon in a position to start rotating his squad, particularly the evergreens Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Luke McPharlin through the second half of the year, perhaps spare them from a couple of road trips and have them cherry ripe for the finals.

Thank God for Carlton

Blues coach Mick Malthouse celebrates a pretty special milestone on Friday night when he breaks Jock McHale's record and coaches his 715th AFL game.

And thanks to Carlton's win over St Kilda on Saturday, it will be a celebration, rather than a referendum on whether he should remain coach of the Blues going forward.

If Mick embraces the excitement even just a little bit, then it should be a great week leading up to the clash with Collingwood, the opponent Malthouse hand-picked for this clash.

The lead-up to the first Blues-Magpies game of the season always carries some excitement. The Saints aren't much chop but there was a bit to like from the Blues, with Lachie Henderson's five goals, four from Tom Bell and the sublime form of Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps.

And just quietly (if there is such a thing with the Magpies) Collingwood's season is taking shape nicely. Malthouse was famously attached to his player group at Collingwood, calling them "his boys" and there will still be some emotion on Friday night.

But by the week, it is becoming more apparent that Nathan Buckley is building a team that plays how he wants it – hard and team-oriented. The performances of Paul Seedsman, Jack Frost, Jack Crisp were superb given the occasion and the impression leaving the MCG afterwards remains that Collingwood's list build is fundamentally sound. Buckley is building depth in most parts of the ground and while there will be ebbs and flows this season given the inexperience in the squad, the foundations for success down the track appear to be in place.

QUESTION TIME

 



Ashley Browne: Miles off it, based on their last 11 games, of which they have lost 10. Take Gary Ablett out of their side and they battle and even if the little champ has, say, three years of footy left, the Suns appear unlikely to win a flag in that time. The Giants look really slick this year – Jeremy Cameron and Cameron McCarthy are emerging each week and the midfield is becoming top-shelf. Dylan Shiel in particular is in early All Australian form. But before we anoint them as finalists, let's look back to last year when the Suns won seven of their first nine games and also appeared certain finalists. But they came back to the field as the demands of the season took its toll on their still-developing bodies and then Ablett got hurt. I still think next year will mark the first finals appearance for the men in charcoal and orange.

 



AB: It was paid against Ben Stratton in the third quarter and it wasn't a free. Schulz fell to the ground and Stratton gently made contact to his side, so it should have been play on. In the context of the result, it was a costly decision, but like his teammates, Schulz was terrific in the first term and that's when the game was decided.

 



AB: Yes they have. What a fun team the Power are to watch when they play like they did in the opening term against the Hawks on Saturday night. And that was without the electric Robbie Gray and the pugnacious Ollie Wines. Next week's Showdown is shaping as one for the ages.

 



AB: The Power are a very fit side, and they blew the Hawks away early with their brilliant run and carry. But they're no fitter than most other sides, as their second half fadeout demonstrated. What they did when fatigued, however, was make smart decisions, as witnessed by their last few minutes of the North game last week and the Hawthorn game on Saturday night. They know they are never beaten, which is a by-product of being really fit and having confidence in that. Whether they are the fittest of all is meaningless. And how do we measure such things?

 



AB: The Demons are better. They've developed some steel in their midfield – newcomers Aaron VandenBerg and Ben Newton have helped in this regard and spearhead Jesse Hogan is clearly something special.

In three of their four games to date, the Demons have been the pacesetters in the physicality stakes, which their supporters must just love after so many years of poor football. They were also well coached on Friday night and clearly adapted better to the wet conditions. Richmond featured in most finals calculations, but has dropped home matches to the Western Bulldogs and the Demons and only now are entering the meaty part of their schedule. The 'new' Richmond likes to talk about how stable and process-driven it has become, but a meek effort like that on Friday night demands something of the 'old' Richmond, namely fire and brimstone and some blood on the carpet. And Damien Hardwick doesn't help his cause when he talks about what his men are capable of "at their best". It's his job to bring their best.

 



AB: It is worthy of discussion, but coaches generally hate the idea of the sub. If anything, there is a stigma involved for the poor fella who has to don the green jacket. Far more likely for next season is a reduction to 100 interchanges a match and four on the bench, with no substitutes.

 



AB: This time last week they were all but engraving Heeney's name on the Ron Evans Medal given his brilliant start to the season. But Cripps put on a show in Wellington on Saturday with 25 handballs, 11 tackles and a goal. His highlight reel gives us just a taste of his effectiveness. Cripps was the Rising Star tip of a few pundits before the start of the season and with the Blues now rebuilding, he should be among the first picked each week.

 



AB: Rodney Eade was asked about Malceski after the loss to the Giants and tried his best to sugarcoat things, but there is no doubt the Suns coach is pretty disappointed with the prized free agent's output to date. Malceski is giving every impression that armed with a fat, new contract, he is going through the motions. Before Sunday, Beams was averaging more possessions (29.3) for the Lions than he did last year with Collingwood (27.2), but he managed just 21 in a flat afternoon (for player and team) against West Coast on Sunday. Both players would be concerned with their output to date, but Malceski, such a super professional player with the Swans, has been a major disappointment.

 



AB: Zero chance. Football director Leigh Matthews is influential at the Lions and is very close to Leppitsch. But that won't stop the speculation. Thompson hasn't ruled out a return to coaching and his name will be linked to just about every club that might have a vacancy down the track. See Richmond above.

Twitter: @afl_hashbrowne