IN ROUND four, the two longest active streaks of consecutive games came to an end.

Just a week after overtaking Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett (173 consecutive games) and establishing the ninth-best streak in League history, Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes' run of 174 straight games was halted.

In a heart-breaking twist, it wasn't injury, illness or even suspension that ended Cornes' streak. The premiership player and dual All Australian was left out of the Power team to play Adelaide, proving coach Matthew Primus isn't afraid to make the tough decisions and that there's no room for sentiment in today's game.

Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly had an opportunity to take over from Cornes as the player with the longest active streak.

However, Jolly's run of 142 straight games, which started back with the Sydney Swans in round eight of 2005, also ended last weekend because of a knee injury.

The longest active streak is now held by Jolly's former teammate, Swans veteran Jude Bolton (135). Remarkably, Bolton's total ranks only fourth overall at the Swans.

Dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes played 204 games in succession before accepting a one-match ban for rough conduct against Melbourne defender Clint Bartram in round 13, 2008.

Goodes has since embarked on another streak (52), not having missed a game since the elimination final of that year.

Former Swans skipper Brett Kirk retired after 200 consecutive matches, while defender Jared Crouch made 194 straight appearances before missing a handful of games with a shoulder injury.

Melbourne legend Jim Stynes holds the all-time record of consecutive games (244) from 1987-98. Another Melbourne player, Adem Yze was on track to break Stynes' mark until he was dropped after 226 games on end.

Yze's achievement was enough for second place on the all-time leader board.

Several of the longest streaks, including Bartlett and Jack Titus (202), date back more than 40 years or, in the case of Jock McHale (191), almost a century.

Port Adelaide defender Troy Chaplin, who has played all but one of his 105 AFL games alongside Cornes, said the increased physical and mental demands of the modern game meant Stynes' record was unlikely to be broken.

"Those long streaks are a thing of the past," Chaplin said. "Its hard enough to play a full season let alone 100-200 straight games and the rule changes are going to make it even harder.

"I don't know how Stynes played 244 games without missing one. When you put it in perspective, that's 11 seasons, and some guys struggle to play 11 seasons in their career."