There are just five rounds to go until the finals start and the final eight is just about set, or is it?
While many punters have claimed the finals positions have locked for some time, St Kilda and Port Adelaide are hot on the heels of the under siege Kangaroos, who have lost five of their past six.
North Melbourne was top of the ladder and undefeated after the opening nine rounds and now find themselves hanging onto to their spot in the eight for dear life. However, beat the Saints this week and it should be enough to cement a spot in the finals. The Roos are currently $1.55 favourites to beat the Saints with William Hill, the best place to bet on AFL on your mobile device.
While they are currently two games clear of the ninth placed Power, they have an incredibly difficult run home.
They face four top eight sides in their final four games of the season, with three of those teams currently in the top four.
However, in their favour, are inconsistent St Kilda and Port Adelaide sides.
The Saints have been exhilarating at times this season, beating several highly fancied opponents, including Geelong and the Western Bulldogs in recent weeks.
However, as is often the case with such a young list, competing at a high level week in, week out, is not easy and they are bound to a few off weeks, as was the case when they faced the Suns at Metricon Stadium.
Even if St Kilda can shock the Roos and record an upset win this week, it is not inconceivable to see them losing to one of the Blues, Tigers or Lions in the final four rounds, which would shatter their dreams of an unlikely finals birth.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide do not have an easy run home, with likely losses to Sydney away from home and Adelaide set to rule them out of contention.
