There\u2019s no crying in baseball and there\u2019s no justice in football, we all know that.<\/p>\n
But heading into the final week of what has been one of the most even AFL seasons I can ever remember, there are nine teams trying to squeeze into eight spots.<\/p>\n
The top five \u2013 Sydney, Port Adelaide, GWS, Geelong, and Brisbane \u2013 are all going to make it in some order so they aren\u2019t interesting to talk about this week.<\/p>\n
More interesting battle is between the teams sitting six through nine \u2013 the Bulldogs, Hawthorn, Carlton and Fremantle.<\/p>\n
Both Hawthorn and the Bulldogs could either finish in the top-4 or out of the eight entirely, Carlton and Fremantle are currently separated by two points in Carlton\u2019s favour and three percentage points in Fremantle\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
It could not be tighter.<\/p>\n
Mathematically the Pies could still make it but given percentage I have a better chance of marrying Sydney Sweeney.<\/p>\n
Max Laughton of Fox Footy does a great job analysing the data in this column to outline what needs to happen for each team to make it so that\u2019s not what I\u2019m doing here. I\u2019m going to rank each of the four teams playing for those last three spots based on who deserves to make it.<\/p>\n
What are the criteria?<\/p>\n
I was thinking about this, and I came up with this:
\n\u2022 Game style,
\n\u2022 Recent form, and
\n\u2022 Chance to actually win the whole thing.<\/p>\n
Based on that, this is how I rank the four teams vying for those last three spots.<\/p>\n
\nROLL TIDE pic.twitter.com\/z4LExUcsQo<\/a><\/p>\n
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) August 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n