THE QUANTITY AND quality of players who have succumbed to injury early in 2015 has been a prominent talking point this season.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos summed up the feeling in his press conference on Monday.
"It seems like every game you're watching and all the quality players (are going down)," Roos said.
"There's certainly a lot of injuries across the board."
AFL.com.au has put together a team of the best players who are sidelined by injury or in doubt to play round four.
Taking a look at the talent within the team you begin to understand Roos' point of view.
The absence of Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett and St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt emphasises the star power missing this season.
Ablett (shoulder) has been ruled out indefinitely, while Riewoldt was a late withdrawal from St Kilda's team that faced Collingwood on Friday night with a calf complaint.
The configuration of the backline was met with much conjecture. Collingwood's Ben Reid was considered, but it was decided he had not played enough game time in the past two seasons to warrant selection.
Developing Eagles backman Jeremy McGovern (knee) deserves his spot down back after covering for injured teammate Eric Mackenzie, who ruptured his ACL in the NAB Challenge.
James Frawley (pectoral) is another high-profile defender to be sidelined for a number of weeks.
Despite recruiting star pair Dayne Beams and Allen Christensen, the Brisbane Lions midfield has been decimated by the losses of Pearce Hanley (hip) and Tom Rockliff (ribs).
However, the suggestion is that Rockliff is not too far away from resuming.
Port Adelaide's early season form has also been affected by the absence of star ruckman Matthew Lobbe (quad). The challenges keep coming for the Power, with young star Ollie Wines (wrist) set to miss up to a month.
Jonathon Patton and Jack Darling's 2015 campaigns have also been interrupted by injury. The Giants are still unsure when Patton will return after he ruptured his ACL in August last year.
Darling is still 5-6 weeks away from a return after experiencing foot soreness in the pre-season.
INJURY BEST 22
B: Jeremy McGovern, Eric Mackenzie, Andrew Mackie
HB: Brett Deledio, James Frawley, Jimmy Bartel
C: Pearce Hanley, Tom Rockliff, Steele Sidebottom
HF: Marcus Bontempelli, Nick Riewoldt, Daniel Wells
F: Ollie Wines, Jonathon Patton, Jack Darling
R: Matthew Lobbe, Tom Liberatore, Gary Ablett
IC: Nick Dal Santo, Bradley Hill, Adam Cooney
Sub: Jaeger O'Meara
