AFL 2023: Round Four Team Of The Week

The best 22 of round four has been named, some surprising inclusions in here.

Some new faces pop into the Team of the Week after the Edge of the Crowd AFL team put their heads together to come up with the best performed 22 from the week that was Round Two.

Full Backs

Callum Wilkie (St Kilda)

Wilkie is back in the Team of the Week after another outstanding performance for the Saints. A defensive performance that had 24 disposals, along with 12 intercept possessions, and 11 marks, three of which were contested.

Wilkie led the way for a backline that kept the Suns quiet, not allowing a multiple goalscorer, and limiting the team to just eight goals over the course of the match.

Sam Collins (Gold Coast)

Collins' team may not have got the win, but Collins was best afield for his side, and battled manfully all match. Collins had 11 marks, as many as any player on the ground, and 13 intercept possessions, more than anyone else on the ground.

Collins did all he could, and continues to grow into his shoes as one of the best young defenders in the competition. Building on his form last season, Collins has become the leader of the Suns' back end.

Jack Sinclair (St Kilda)

Sinclair is backing up his All-Australian form with another strong start to the year. He racked up 31 disposals, including nine score involvements and seven inside 50s in the Saints' big win.

His work around the ground and bringing the ball into the forward line helped keep the Saints' attack working well, despite missing Max King and Tim Membrey.

Half Backs

Nick Daicos (Collingwood)

Nick Daicos continues to build his form, as he mortgages this spot in the Team of the Week, drawing into Brownlow favouritism. Daicos had 38 disposals and two goals in a lone-hand performance, the sole player keeping the Magpies in the match at times.

Daicos particularly turned it on in the third quarter, when he was sent behind the ball, recording 16 disposals and was the architect of every forward ball movement for the Magpies.

Aliir Aliir (Port Adelaide)

Ever since he burst into the AFL Aliir has been dominating the back half of the ground. Coming up against his old side in Sydney he showed them exactly why he should never have been able to leave. Every time the ball went into Port Adelaide's back half Aliir seemed to be there to intercept the ball.

With 16 touches from the defensive end including five marks and 11 kicks to gain the Power 249 metres, Aliir is starting to find All-Australian form as Port Adelaide begins to win again.

Jacob Weitering (Carlton)

Weitering had a strong performance going both ways for the Blues. He kept Nick Larkey fairly quiet, while also having an impact of his own. Weitering had 12 marks, five intercept possessions and seven score involvements, as he helped kickstart the Blues' rebound from attack all afternoon.

Weitering has well and truly cemented his status as an elite defender, but his continued good form will be key for the Blues as they look to make a run at a finals berth, after last year's disappointment.

Centres

Tim Kelly (West Coast)

Tim Kelly was another player who played a lone hand on the weekend, with 36 disposals for the Eagles, battling hard in a midfield that proved undermanned in the end.

Kelly was in everything, with 10 inside 50s and eight score involvements going forward, and 700 metres and five clearances in getting the ball moving for the Eagles. It was the kind of performance that the Eagles recruited him for a few years ago, and with a stronger midfield around him, may have been enough to get the win.

Christian Petracca (Melbourne)

Petracca was the most effective player on the ground, racking up 29 possessions and three goals as he devastated the Eagles through the middle of the ground. It was Petracca's goal to open the scoring for the third quarter that kicked off the run for the Demons.

As he continues to show, Petracca, in combination with Clayton Oliver has become the best 1-2 punch in the AFL with their ability to take away a game from an opposition in a matter of minutes.

Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)

Dawson continues to put in strong performances week after week, as his Crows' enjoy a strong start to the season. Dawson's 27 disposals and a goal was part of a best-on-ground performance, as he led the way against the Dockers.

Dawson was a big part of his side's ball movement, with five clearances, almost 600m gained and moving at 96 per cent disposal efficiency. It was the performance of a captain leading from the front, as Dawson has stamped himself as one of the leading midfielders in the competition.

Half Forwards

Jeremy Finlayson (Port Adelaide)

There were plenty of Team of the Week forward options this week and even many more that scored more goals than Finlayson, but none had a bigger impact. It was an extremely emotional performance with his wife watching on at home going through stage four cancer treatment.

Finlayson got his hands on the ball on 18 occasions while kicking two goals. He even spent some time in the ruck when Lycett and Dixon needed a little break.

Jeremy Cameron (Geelong)

Jeremy Cameron has entered the conversation as the best player in the competition, and may be the player to disrupt the midfield dominance over the Brownlow Medal.

He had 22 disposals, seven goals, nine marks and a massive collision with a boundary umpire while celebrating, in a best-on-ground performance. Cameron's ability to get up to the wing to play a part in the scoring chain, and work back to the goal to finish it is unparalleled in the competition.

Harry McKay (Carlton)

The big tall forwards for Carlton had a day out against the undersize Kangaroos' defence. McKay had four goals, in his best performance of the year so far.

McKay clunked 14 marks in an outstanding performance, playing higher up the ground and providing the outlet for the Blues. His work rate to apply pressure and get back towards the goal was devastating for the Kangaroos.

Full Forwards

Charlie Cameron (Brisbane)

Charlie Cameron turned it up on Thursday night, with an equal-career-best six-goal haul in the big win for the Lions. Cameron laid it on thick with some outstanding individual efforts as he and his fellow forwards terrorised the Magpies' defence.

Cameron had 11 score involvements, with everything he touched turning to gold. He also was the hallmark for forward pressure, with six tackles, including two inside forward 50 to help strangle the Magpies' back six.

Charlie Curnow (Carlton)

Curnow's performance as the spearhead on Good Friday was one for the ages, as he worked in harmony with Harry McKay to kick ten goals between them, and six of his own.

Curnow moved in tandem with McKay to create space for one another, drawing the contest away from the other and showing that, in concert, they have the potential to be the two most devastating forwards in the competition.

Mitch Owens (St Kilda)

Owens had a breakout performance, and it was enough to win himself the Rising Star nomination for Round Four. Owens had 27 disposals, including 19 contested possessions.

He made sure to hit the scoreboard as well, with two goals and seven score involvements. Owens also contributed strongly in the ruck, with five hitouts and five tackles. It was the kind of performance that will keep making waves and securing a spot in St Kilda's side, even when players get healthier.

Rucks

Brody Grundy (Melbourne)

Grundy has big shoes to fill at the moment, as he shoulders the ruck load while Max Gawn is injured. On the weekend, he showed a return to the form that made him Gawn's biggest rival for a few seasons.

Grundy had 33 hitouts, seven clearances, six tackles, six inside 50s and 22 disposals. It was an all-around performance that helped lift the Demons, including seven straight centre clearances in the third quarter as they powered away from the Eagles.

Noah Anderson (Gold Coast)

Noah Anderson may have been on the losing side, but he was close to the most impactful player on the ground. Anderson had five centre clearances, ten tackles and 38 disposals, all most on the ground.

While coming into the season, many expected that Touk Miller would be the Suns' most impactful midfielder, and the one who was tagged every week, but the way that Anderson has started the season may have teams reconsidering whether the young star is the one who needs company from the opposition.

Marcus Bontempelli (Bulldogs)

Bontempelli has shown for years that he has the ability to devastate an opponent in minutes, and he showed just that in the opening quarter, when he had six clearances alone, as the Bulldogs started hot.

While he came back to the pack over the course of the match, his final stat line still included 11 clearances, 25 disposals, 12 tackles, 17 contested possessions and nine score involvement. Bontempelli was everywhere, and the Tigers didn't have the answers for him.

Interchange

Harry Sheezel, Tim English, Oliver Florent, Jake Stringer.