• Nine things we learned from round four
• Around the state leagues: Who shone in your club's twos?
• Fantasy form watch: round four

THERE might have been some typical pre-season hyperbole attached, but there were those over the summer who declared Tom Lynch, of the Gold Coast variety, the best player in the competition.

It was a call based as much as anything on potential and excitement, but there were times on Saturday night against Carlton when he did look the best player in the competition.

It was men-against-boys stuff as he kicked five goals in the first half and was influential throughout, finishing with a seven-goal haul, a career-best.

Lynch was brilliant on the lead and there wasn't much poor Sam Rowe could do. It was a powerful performance and it helped explain, why despite all the trials and tribulations of the last few years, there remains genuine optimism around the Suns.

WATCH: Lynch's career-best night against Blues

It was a good weekend for gun forwards. Jon Patton returned from a hip injury to kick six goals for Greater Western Sydney in the win over Port Adelaide. He took some time to find some form, but he moved beautifully the longer the game went on. Good signs ahead of the derby game at the SCG on Saturday, one of the few remaining venues where the Giants have yet to win.

And then there was the spectacular demonstration of firepower by Adelaide on Saturday night. The Crows put 24 goals past Essendon, with 10 goalkickers all up, spearheaded by six from Eddie Betts and five from Taylor Walker. All this, with both Mitch McGovern and Josh Jenkins watching on.

For now, the Giants are the favourites in the premiership betting. But the Crows are closing in fast and with good reason. 

'Good-ish' Friday

The first Good Friday game is in the bag and there is a bit to digest.

The Western Bulldogs got home against North Melbourne by three points in a game that was tawdry before half-time and electric afterwards, as the Dogs chased down a 29-point deficit early in the third quarter.

It wasn't a great day for the milestone men, either. In his 250th game, Travis Cloke left the ground with broken ribs courtesy of a bump from Jack Ziebell, the legality of which sharply divided many commentators over the weekend. Put me in the 'okay' camp, with the qualification that it wasn't great to watch.

What would the commentary be if say, Jordan Lewis, or one of his former 'unsociable Hawks' teammates had issued the bump?

Cloke's redemption at the Bulldogs has been one of the stories of the season and the shame for player and club is that he won't play again for up to six weeks. Three wins from four makes for a sound start to the premiership defence for the Western Bulldogs and they'll be 4-1 at the end of this week after celebrating Bob Murphy's 300th game in appropriate style with a win over the Brisbane Lions.

It was another narrow loss for the Kangaroos, the 14th in 18 games under Brad Scott that were decided by less than a goal. North's own milestone man, Lindsay Thomas had a day that was, well, very Lindsay Thomas-ish. He flashed in and out of play, and could have been the hero a couple of times but, ultimately, just quite wasn't.

The first chance came with 30 seconds to go when he won the ball outside 50, and didn't see (or chose not to) a pair of teammates in marking position closer to goal. He bombed away, only for Jason Johannisen to take a relieving mark. The Kangas set up exceptionally well however and the Norm Smith medallist had to kick down the line to a contest, which North crumbed and got the ball to Thomas, whose flying shot from 55 metres, which is just outside his range, sailed through for a point on the siren.

The Kangas are 0-4. They could, and probably should be 2-2.

WATCH: The final thrilling minutes of NM v WB

Off the field, the 42,814 crowd was probably at the lower end of expectations. A North home game between the two clubs last year drew 47,622 but that was a night game not played at the start of a long weekend. The Channel Seven broadcast drew 482,000 and the number crunchers at the network will do the maths to determine how that figure compares a) to Friday night football and b) the usual TV audience for the Royal Children's Hospital Appeal between 4pm and 7.30pm.

The feeling here is that the Kangas probably did enough to earn another Good Friday game next year, with an opponent still to be determined.

Comeback kings

Given his game plan has long been based around a defence-first philosophy, there used to be a couple of assumptions you could take to the bank about teams coached by Ross Lyon.

The first was that if they jumped out to an early lead, they were mighty hard to reel back in. The converse also applied – if teams got the jump on them then they usually weren't engineered for the high-risk, high-reward style of play to get back into the game.

All of which makes Fremantle's last fortnight all the more interesting. The comeback from 14 points behind at three-quarter time to beat the Western Bulldogs last week was the biggest in Lyon's five and a bit seasons in charge.

Then on Saturday they spotted Melbourne a 21-point lead at half-time (it was 27 points before a Lachie Neale goal right on the siren) before a magnificent seven-goal third term that paved the way for a terrific two-point win. Again, it was the biggest second half comeback in Lyon's time at the club. (A shout-out to Channel Seven stats guru Josh Kay for those figures.)

Lyon praised his players' character for the excellent win as well as smarter, more disciplined footy. But the injection of new talent into the side perhaps allows the coach to tweak the gameplan. They know not of the dour, defensive Dockers until now.

And you would have to be hard of heart not to have enjoyed Cam McCarthy's toe-poke match winner for the Dockers. These haven’t been the best of times for the Freo forward, who cooled his heels home in Western Australia all of last year rather than play for Greater Western Sydney. It is moments like those on Saturday that would make the stress and loneliness of 2016 start to feel worthwhile. 

Other observations

1. North Melbourne coach Denis Pagan famously made a beeline for suspended pair Glenn Archer and Wayne Schwass in the aftermath of the 1997 preliminary final, which the Kangaroos lost to St Kilda by 31 points. "You cost us the game," he snarled at them, with a few more colourful phrases added in for good measure. It's unclear where Demon pair Jordan Lewis and Jesse Hogan were on Saturday evening, but they would have been well-advised to steer clear of coach Simon Goodwin. Their absence was keenly felt against Geelong last week and even more so against the Dockers. It was the experience and cool head of Lewis that was sorely missed during Freo's barnstorming third quarter, while having Hogan playing out of the goal square would surely have helped tip a tight game Melbourne's way. Hogan returns for the huge Anzac Day Eve game against Richmond and owes his team plenty. Lewis still has one more week of suspension to serve.

2. Can't imagine a day at the footy gets much sweeter for the Cats than belting the Hawks as they did in the traditional Easter Monday game. They were the better team for most of the first three quarters, and really, only poor kicking kept the Hawks in it. But they put on a spectacle in the final term, with a ridiculous 11 straight goals. How good are they? Well, they only beat the bottom team, but the Saints will give them a sterner test next week at Etihad. What's great for the Cats is that they are piling up the wins on neutral territory before they return next month to their beloved home turf at Simonds Stadium once the next stage of the redevelopment is complete.