It promised to be the game of the round, and there was drama galore in Suns-Crows - the type that could spark a rivalry.

Plus the maligned trade that may be working, the missed trade that isn’t, and the big bump that left many in footy puzzled.

The big issues from Round 4 of the 2025 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!

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‘DIDN’T HAVE THE RUNS ON THE BOARD’: WAS SUN’S BEHAVIOUR ‘CRAP’ OR BRILLIANT?

The fiery ending to the Suns’ thrilling win over Adelaide proves Damien Hardwick is putting his “stamp” on Gold Coast, with two premiership winners disagreeing over Mac Andrew’s behaviour.

The Crows’ impressive tall forwards of Riley Thilthorpe, Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty combined for 12 goals to nearly lead their team home but Andrew and his fellow defenders got the very last laugh.

Being placed on Thilthorpe in the final minutes, Andrew teased the emerging superstar about a free kick and then when he got a fist in to spoil the ball in the final moments, rubbed it in the Crow’s face.

The pair continued to trade words after the final siren with teammates pulling them apart in a moment that promises to spark a new footy rivalry.

It was reminiscent of the often unsociable Richmond teams under coach Damien Hardwick, who almost always gave away more free kicks than other teams as they toed the line of good behaviour.

“There’s a bit of nasty about the Suns, and this is Damien Hardwick’s stamp. He wants them to have an edge about them and embrace these confrontations,” David King said on Fox Footy.

“Look, Mac was probably being a bit of a tool to be fair, Riley had kicked five goals and lit the game up.

“It had everything. It had a bit of spite and bit of feeling at the end, a bit of passion.

“No doubt there’ll be a sit down had between him and the coach because I think Mac had four or five kicked on him, to be fair, Tex Walker and the talls, Riley Thilthorpe and the Fog, they kicked 12 goals between them.

“Damien would be wrapped that they’ve shown this sort of spunk. It’s a huge win for this football club, undefeated now.”

But Tigers great Jack Riewoldt argued Andrew was in the wrong and in fact believes Hardwick would’ve been against the late-game behaviour.

“Mac Andrew didn’t have the runs on the board on the day to do that,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.

“100 per cent it is disrespectful for mine, and I don’t think Dimma would like it. And I think he’d knock it on the head.

“I like the idea around taking it up and growing up and being tough, but I just don’t see that as tough.”

He added: “The after the siren stuff I think’s crap to be honest. Be a humble winner.

“Daniel Rioli said the word humble after, we want to be humble. And that doesn’t look like humble to me.”

But King hit back on that point, saying Andrew playing on the edge was exactly what allowed him to help seal the game.

“I’ll tell you what happened with Mac - he’d been beaten on the lead three or four times by Tex Walker on the day, and he basically gave him five metres and never gave any ground,” King said.

“As soon as he engaged with Riley Thilthorpe, that next context was the big one, and he said I’m not gonna let him slip away on the lead. He knuckled down and because he was on the edge of that nastiness that I loved, he gets a fist in.

“If he doesn’t do all the other stuff, I don’t reckon he’s as invested in defeating the guy on the lead. That’s why I think it’s a good thing; because it puts your whole day on the line, that next contest you’re all in.

“It’s a learning curve with maybe the after the siren stuff, but you know what? You win and you learn is a lot better than losing and learning.”

IS MALIGNED MAGPIES DEAL NOW PAYING OFF?

When you go from one of the AFL’s least-exposed clubs to the biggest, and at the cost of a first-round pick, you’re bound to cop criticism if you struggle.

So it’s safe to say Lachie Schultz’s stint at Collingwood hasn’t gone exactly to plan thus far.

The pressure forward, who the Magpies brought across from Fremantle at the cost of a late second-round pick and a future first, only had a few strong games in his first year at the club.

And while according to the AFL Player Ratings, his four-goal bag against North Melbourne last year was his best in black and white, most Pies fans would pick last Thursday night when he claimed the Richard Pratt Medal in a win over Carlton.

Schultz had just four games above 11 player rating points last year; he already has three in 2025, with his performance against the Blues (two goals and nine score involvements in a low-scoring affair) the best of the lot.

So the question becomes whether he’s now showing he was worth the high price - or if he still needs to do more.

“He was outstanding in the win over Carlton ... there’s been a lot of criticism of the Lachie Schultz trade over the last year and a half,” journalist Jay Clark said on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.

“Collingwood gave up a future first-round pick. Will there be some people eating their words, he played probably his first game in the black and white stripes on the weekend?”

North Melbourne dual premiership player David King, who has been critical of Schultz at times, replied: “He’s got to play a lot more like this, in simple terms.

“You give up a first-rounder for a player like this, you want this every third or fourth week, simple as that. You just can’t have one hitout against Carlton and say all’s forgiven.

“He had some opportunities he could capitalise on, did a great job, but they want more of this now the Pies.

“He’s gonna be a significant member of their forward line, no doubt.”

‘PHONE WOULD BE BUZZING’: DO DEES, TRAC REGRET ABANDONING BOMBSHELL TRADE?

Seven months ago, the AFL media landscape went into full-blown meltdown at the thought of Christian Petracca leaving Melbourne after a tumultuous end to 2024.

Now standing at 0-4 after their first four weeks of this season, could both the Demons and Petracca be thinking twice about their commitment to each other?

The 2021 Norm Smith medallist did not hide his disappointment after Friday night’s 39-point loss at the Cattery, with television cameras capturing Petracca literally tearing his hair out as he and his Melbourne teammates walked off the ground.

Petracca may have been thinking he should have been playing the night before as he was rumoured to be interested in exploring a trade to big Victorian clubs Collingwood and Carlton last year.

He was one of his side’s best on Friday night, booting two goals from 21 disposals, but as the Demons enter rebuild territory, their list management staff could be forgiven for thinking they may have benefited from having several top draft picks running around instead of Petracca.

Before his horrific injuries sustained on King’s Birthday last year, Petracca was undeniably one of the best players in the competition and would command a serious haul of prized draft picks in a trade.

The Demons remarkably had 15 premiership players take the field against Geelong, but appear in urgent need of regeneration.

On Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live, three-time Richmond premiership star Jack Riewoldt urged Melbourne to be very cautious in managing Petracca and warned the Demons that they run the risk of blowing up the relationship between player and club.

“It’s a balance between the love that was the messaging right across the pre-season, (but) now there is clearly this frustration about the fact that they sit where they sit - they haven’t won a game in 2025,” Riewoldt said.

“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, you’ve got to figure out what these conversations look like from a (football club) point of view.

“It’s honest conversations, but it’s got to come from an element of trust. Trust is what you build any organisation from, especially a football club off, because you get feedback constantly.”

“They just have to be really careful that these conversations don’t just blow up, and then all of a sudden it’s a blame game.”

In the same discussion on Super Saturday Live, Herald Sun chief football writer Jay Clark responded by saying just about every club would be monitoring the situation very closely.

“I’m fascinated in what is happening behind the scenes; tell me every club in the country isn’t calling Christian Petracca’s manager Robbie D’Orazio to dangle that carrot, and tempt him into that move to a big club … the phone would be buzzing,” Clark said.

“Collingwood’s so restricted by picks, but that was where the drums were beating the loudest last year.”

Riewoldt added: “From the Petracca camp, there really would only be a few suitors that he would fell comfortable going to. He’s obviously on a big salary and he wants to play in front of big crowds, so there isn’t a lot out there. You’d probably want to stay in Victoria.

“He suits anyone, but you’ve got to fit him in, and you’ve got to had the picks to trade for him too.”

‘THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY’: DOES BEVO CALL AFFECT BONT’S FUTURE?

With doubt around who will be coaching the Western Bulldogs in 2026, there’s a level of uncertainty around superstar skipper Marcus Bontempelli’s future.

While so much talk at Whitten Oval has surrounded Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s situation, Bontempelli is out of contract and eligible for free agency in a curious backdrop to the Dogs’ season not garnering much attention.

While there’s no suggestions the six-time All-Australian and one-club champ is even considering his options, it’s an interesting subplot given the Dogs and long-time coach Luke Beveridge could part ways.

What sort of impact could the 2016 premiership coach’s circumstances have on Bontempelli?

No one expects Bontempelli to leave the Dogs and for a new deal to be a fait accompli. But the 29-year old would clearly be the best free agent available if he were to hit the market.

“The Western Bulldogs are waiting for his signature. Do you think he should have to wait for clarity on the coach’s future before he recommits?,” Chief Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark posed on Fox Footy.

“He is the superstar captain. Does he jump before the big decision? Or does he hold on?

“You just wonder what’s going to happen, there is some uncertainty.”

Dual premiership Kangaroo David King added: “He’s entitled to sit back and assess what’s in front of him like anyone else.”

Bontempelli has historically taken his time to re-sign, so it’s not out of the ordinary he remains without a deal for 2026 several weeks into the season.

The Dogs skipper, who’s currently sidelined with a calf issue, in February said he was “confident and comfortable” where his contract situation sat.

Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt fully expected Bontempelli to eventually sign on at Whitten Oval.

“If you want to stay there, sign. You’re the captain of the football club,” Riewoldt told Fox Footy.

“I can’t see Marcus Bontempelli in another’s team jumper. I think the fact he’s had success at the Bulldogs, they’re going to pay him what he’s worth.

“I think the Bulldogs are going good enough … it’s on his terms, he’s not waiting for Beveridge to sign.”

Things are far from rosy at Carlton and Melbourne right now, but Collingwood great Nathan Buckley is not writing them off yet.

With the Blues and the Demons winless after the first month of the season, both clubs are in dire straits.

But with Carlton facing West Coast and North Melbourne in the next fortnight, and Melbourne having Essendon, Fremantle (at the MCG), Richmond and the Eagles in their next four, some wins could be on the horizon.

Buckley looked back at recent teams to start the year poorly, only to find their groove to reach September, famously premiers Brisbane and surprise packet Hawthorn last year.

“It’s a little bit of the one-two punch, Carlton and Melbourne. Didn’t finish the back end of last year very well at all and despite the opportunity to go and re-plumb, re-wire and fix some of those issues and come out fresh in the new year, both zero and four,” Buckley said on Fox Footy after Melbourne’s loss to Geelong on Friday night.

“It’s a troubling position to be in. We have seen in previous years, the Lions last year were zero and three,” he added.

Three-time Brisbane Lions premiership hero Jonathan Brown chimed in by saying “the Hawks last year”, while Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley jumped in with the caveat of “but only good teams do it”.

“But did they look like good teams then?” Buckley responded.

“The Hawks didn’t look like a great team but we now know them to be a great team. There are things that can be done but there’s a lot of work to do.

“It’s a difficult time to go and take the press conference when you are zero and four. There’s not a lot of positivity that you can give. There have been incremental improvements from both teams but the same problems afflict them and that might not be a quick fix thing. There is time in the season.”

The following day on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live, North Melbourne great David King pointed the finger squarely at two of Melbourne’s most high profile on ballers.

The Demon’s ball use out of the middle of the ground has been a glaring problem, and King believes change must be made to their midfield set up to turn things around.

“I think Simon Goodwin has gone to market and bought cattle, and expects them to lay eggs,” King said.

“They are what they are. You can’t change these players.

“So last night for example, Clayton Oliver’s in at 17 centre bounces and he’s the 44th ranked player for ball use on the ground. That, unfortunately, is Clayton Oliver.

“Jack Viney, he’s in for 12 centre bounces and he’s the 45th ranked player on the ground for ball use.

“They are what they are. In my opinion, you can’t play Jack Viney in the middle anymore. You just can’t.

“I’m saying they’ve got two guys in there that win clearance and the actual clearances doesn’t help them. They surge the ball forward, basically back to the opposition and you have to defend from there.

“Their midfield now is last in the competition for points differential from clearance. -60 points so something’s got to give.

“The opposition know that (they’re playing into their hands). As soon as they drop that extra behind the ball, they’re going to pray on that surge ball out of there because they don’t come by hand.

“They don’t have the modern, aggressive clearance break.

“It’s not personal because these guys have been terrific warriors for this footy club but right now, they are the problem. The way they play is the problem.”

If we were working with a ‘gutfeel’ system, Dan Houston’s suspension arguably wouldn’t have passed the sniff test. And recently-suspended players might’ve looked on puzzled.

But the reality is the Match Review Officer can only work in the matrix provided, which is why Collingwood is set to be without its star recruit for crunch games against Sydney and Brisbane.

The Magpies’ 17-point win over Carlton on Thursday night came at a cost, with Houston handed a two-game ban for collecting Carlton’s Lachie Fogarty in the head in the second quarter.

Houston’s rough conduct charge was graded as high contact, careless conduct and, importantly, high impact.

Fogarty went off the ground for an HIA assessment, but crucially returned to the field to continue playing.

“He (Houston) is very lucky a concussion wasn’t involved, because I would’ve thought that nearly would’ve doubled the penalty,” seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley told Fox Footy.

Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said many fans would’ve questioned whether “the punishment fits the crime” on face value.

“This has been assessed as high impact. Michael Christian judged that there was a play on the ball, so it was assessed as careless. If you were Rhyan Mansell or Jackson Archer, you’d be aggrieved at that,” Ralph told Fox Footy on Friday night.

“I would suggest the ball went so far over that it could’ve been (assessed as) intentional. But the AFL would suggest he was in there trying to make a play on the ball, but at the last minute the ball bounces high and he follows through.

“They also said it was a bump, rather than an elbow. Again we’re splitting hairs, but that’s why it comes back as two weeks.

“But it’s not a perfect system.”

Despite doubts around how the incident was assessed, Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley declared the ‘high impact’ trading from MRO Michael Christian “couldn’t have been ramped up any higher”.

“It sits at ‘high’ on the ‘potential to cause injury’ – at face value it is medium – so the MRO has done his work by lifting that as a caution,” Whateley told Fox Footy. “But if there’s no concussion, you can’t reach the severe threshold.”

Ralph said Christian “did the right thing”.

“For those who have perceived injustices about it, the AFL’s view would be: ‘We can scrap the entire system and go back to gutfeel, or we’re going to have this matrix system - and there’s going to be times when we’ll think that’s a week light or a week heavy,’” Ralph said.

“(Houston) did get five weeks last year when there was a concussion with Izak Rankine, so we probably got the full tote odds last time and potentially unders this year.”

Asked if he could foresee a time where the AFL returned to a ‘gutfeel’ system, Whateley said: “No. We will tinker with the matrix over time, but we won’t go back to the way it used to be. People forget just how random that used to be.”