Brisbane’s electric small forward star Courtney Hodder in action for the Lions. Photo: AFL MEDIA

There’s nothing quite like a teaser trailer to whet the appetite for a down-the-track, highly anticipated visual spectacle with an equally compelling storyline. That’s what AFLW Round 4 may very well have in store, with its blockbuster Melbourne-Brisbane match.

With no disrespect to reigning premier Adelaide, could fans be witnessing a grand final preview?

Brisbane has badly bruised all three of its foes so far, building a stratospheric percentage of 401.8, outscoring the opposition 225 to 56. Melbourne, last season’s runners-up, already avenged its grand final loss by defeating the Crows on their home patch.

Melbourne hosts this clash at its Casey Fields home, where the footy deities seem to always blow the notoriously swirly winds devilishly to its advantage. At least it’s been that way since 2019, as the Dees have won 13 straight matches at Casey since then, the longest current AFLW winning streak.

The Dees, though, will be playing without spearhead Tayla Harris, due to a one-week suspension for a dangerous tackle from last round. As if all that’s not enough intrigue, by virtue of the league’s fixturing of this late Sunday afternoon match, fans must wait until all eight other games are completed to watch it.

Elsewhere, a sure-to-be entertaining Collingwood-Adelaide clash is on the cards, while expansion side Essendon gets a chance to add to its already solid reputation against an established club, Richmond, winless Fremantle has, in reality, a must-win contest against Carlton to have a decent chance of continuing its finals appearance streak, and Port Adelaide are likely in the frame to bank its first-ever victory.

NORTH MELBOURNE v GEELONG (UTAS Stadium, Friday 5.10pm local time)
The Cats so far have proven to be the hardest side to score against, conceding a league-lowest 27 points. But they’ve also kicked a third-lowest, 53 points. North Melbourne boasts an experienced, hardened midfield led by Ash Riddell and Jasmine Garner, a backline driver in Emma Kearney, a tall marking target in Tahlia Randall, and a strong supporting cast. Add all that to playing in Tasmania, at one of its home grounds, and the Kangaroos would be very hard for the young, but vastly improving Cats, led by stars Amy McDonald and Georgie Prespakis, to beat.
GIL TIPS: NORTH MELBOURNE

GWS v WEST COAST, (Giants Stadium, Saturday 11.10am local time)
The Giants have the wind in their sails after recording their first victory of the season — a blowout of their archrival, first-year Sydney Swans — while the Eagles are reeling from two straight poundings, from one coast to another. While the Giants got goals from players other than their stalwart, Cora Staunton, including their star midfielder Alyce Parker, the Eagles were shredded last round on their home deck by expansion side Essendon, which looked as if it were running training drills. West Coast must cross the country again this time to face GWS and the fatigue from the zigzagging plus their poor form puts the Eagles at a massive disadvantage. This one threatens to get ugly for West Coast.
GIL TIPS: GWS

GOLD COAST v ST KILDA (Great Barrier Reef Arena, Saturday 12.05pm local time)
Queensland’s South Mackay plays host to this contest, which features an inconsistent Suns squad facing a Saints side that beat up on two expansion clubs before being given the harshest of reality checks last round by Melbourne. The Saints sorted themselves for the better part of three quarters against Melbourne, but that was after the Dees jumped them for 36 points in the first quarter and then effectively put the cue in the rack. The Suns have shown they can match it against the bottom sides but get blown to smithereens by the top ones. This should be a fairly even contest but playing at home should prove the difference for Gold Coast to get the chocolates.
GIL TIPS: GOLD COAST

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PORT ADELAIDE V SYDNEY (Alberton Oval, Saturday 1.10pm local time)
All signs point to the Power recording their maiden victory in this match. While Port Adelaide brass have taken the stockpiling veterans approach to expansion club building, the Swans brain trust has opted for loading up on young talent, with an eye towards the future. For the young Swans, that means short term pain for long term gain, and they certainly weren’t expecting some of that hurt to include losing their top draft pick, Montana Ham, to a knee injury. While Ham is a chance to return for this match, it’s not the case for Sydney young gun Cynthia Hamilton, who’ll miss due to concussion. Port Adelaide’s star recruit Gemma Houghton is on the sidelines for the long term, with a syndesmosis issue. Logic says Port Adelaide’s experience will triumph — comfortably — over Sydney’s youthful exuberance.
GIL TIPS: PORT ADELAIDE

FREMANTLE v CARLTON, (Fremantle Oval, Saturday 2:05pm local time)
With a shock 0-3 start to the 10-game AFLW season, it’ll well and truly be panic stations for the Dockers, concerning any finals aspirations, if they drop this match. The Blues, meanwhile, are trying to find their way back into post-season contention after years of absence from finals. It doesn’t bode well for Carlton, which has underachieved for years, that it managed only a draw last round, with expansion club Port Adelaide and barely held on defeat another, Essendon. It bodes worse for Fremantle that it has found no avenues to victory, whether at home or away, or playing against a flag fancy such as Brisbane, or a developing side, like Geelong. The Dockers are missing several key players, creating a chasm on their list between highly experienced stars and newbies finding their feet, while the Blues’ list is more experienced. Back in the experienced side here, the Blues, even though they’re playing on the road.
GIL TIPS: CARLTON

HAWTHORN V WESTERN BULLDOGS (Box Hill City Oval, Saturday 3.10pm local time)
Just as the lyrics to their club anthem go, the Doggies have come out snarling this season, with three wins on the trot and sitting in the top-four of the ladder. Kirsty Lamb and Ellie Blackburn have been instrumental in their club’s success and last round the Doggies saw the promise of young gun Rylie Wilcox, who kicked a crucial goal in a win over the Dockers and earned a Rising Star nomination. The expansion Hawks are just taking flight and while they have some established talent on their list, such as Tilly Lucas-Rodd, Sarah Perkins, and Kaitlyn Ashmore, they’ve struggled mightily to put points on the board. Expect more growing pains this round for Hawthorn, as the Doggies’ bite will continue to match their bark.
GIL TIPS: WESTERN BULLDOGS

COLLINGWOOD V ADELAIDE, (Victoria Park, Sunday 12.10pm local time)
For as stingy as Geelong has been in conceding points to opponents, Collingwood has been almost equally miserly, giving up just 43 points in its first three games. The Pies bat deep, as they’ve adequately covered for the loss of two of the best midfielders in the competition, in Brianna Davey and Britt Bonnici, but Jaimee Lambert is touch and go this week with an ankle complaint. They’re at home this round, taking on the mighty Crows, who’ve shown great resilience this season in rallying from score deficits, malaises, and lapses, to win two of their first three matches. Adelaide can be ferocious and focused, and their brightest ball-winning stars, Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard go far in driving the team into its attacking end. But last round, both the Crows’’ goalkicking guns, Ash Woodland and Abbie Ballard didn’t dent the scoreboard with any goals and this round they’ll have Pies’ defensive aces Stacey Livingstone and Ruby Schleicher to contend with. The difference will likely lie in Adelaide’s strengths in clearances and contested possessions.
GIL TIPS: ADELAIDE

ESSENDON V RICHMOND (ETU Stadium, Sunday 2.10 pm local time)
The Tigers last week, playing without spearhead captain Katie Brennan, routed the Hawks, but will have no such ease this round against the Bombers, so far easily the strongest of the competition’s expansion clubs. While Brennan is a test this week, Richmond will be at a disadvantage without back six pillar Bec Miller. Essendon’s Maddy Prespakis is in red-hot form, showing she’s every bit the player she was in 2020, when she won the league’s best and fairest award, and teammates Steph Cain and Bonnie Toogood are playing inspired footy. While a potential mouth-watering matchup between Prespakis and Tigers’ superstar midfielder Mon Conti is possible, the Bombers — who last round poleaxed West Coast and in the previous one came within a whisker of knocking off Carlton — are primed for a comfortable win over the Tigers.
GIL TIPS: ESSENDON

MELBOURNE v BRISBANE (Casey Fields, Sunday 4.10pm local time)
This will be the week the Dees’ long unbeaten streak at Casey Fields ends and the Lions avenge last season’s preliminary final loss to the Dees at the MCG. The Lions are an offensive juggernaut, with forwards Jess Wardlaw and Greta Bodey fresh from kicking bags of four and three goals, respectively, last round, and plenty of other options, including the electric small Courtney Hodder and second-year star, Zimmi Farquharson. While the Lions arguably feature the comp’s best forward line, the Dees will be missing both key forward Harris and another goalkicker, Maddi Gay. The star-studded match will have the likes of Dees such as Karen Paxman, Eliza McNamara, and Alyssa Bannan all hunting the footy, going up against the Lions’ Emily Bates, Orla O’Dwyer, and Ally Anderson. But not even Casey’s infamous, bedeviling winds will be enough to keep Brisbane from kicking straight — and kicking straight often.
GIL TIPS: BRISBANE