So, here we are. After 22 rounds, the top eight is just about set in stone, with nearly every match this round set to shape the final ladder from second all the way down to 17th.

The West Coast Eagles’ loss to Melbourne last Sunday has all but confirmed that Richmond will finish on top of the ladder, therefore rendering its clash against the Western Bulldogs as a dead rubber.

Down at the wrong end of the ladder, Carlton is confirmed to finish last and will also have nothing to play for when they face off against the Adelaide Crows at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

And a modern-day rivalry will also decide who finishes with the double chance, with the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn to go to war at the SCG on Saturday night for a possible shot at Richmond in the first qualifying final.

Here is your full preview to Round 23.

Port Adelaide versus Essendon
The final round of the regular season starts with Port Adelaide hosting Essendon in what will be the final match at the Oval for the year.

While Port Adelaide remains in finals contention despite dropping five of their past six matches, the looming reality is that they will very likely miss the finals for the third time in the past four seasons.

That’s because the Geelong Cats will start favourites against the Gold Coast Suns in the first match on Saturday afternoon, but as we have seen a few times this season, miracles can happen.

Ken Hinkley’s men were flying after Round 16, at which point they had an 11-4 record, but with only one win in the past month-and-a-half, have only themselves to blame for their current predicament.

Now they will be playing for pride against an Essendon side that also have themselves to blame for being in the position they are in.

Having landed some big fish in Jake Stringer and Devon Smith during last year’s trade period, a lot was expected from the Bombers this season, however a horror start to the season, during which they lost to lowly Carlton, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs, has proven to be very costly.

Not even wins over quality opposition in the Geelong Cats, GWS Giants, West Coast Eagles and Sydney Swans, to name a few, have been enough to resuscitate the club’s season.

While the club’s focus will now turn towards 2019, the Bombers will want to play this season out and a win on the road against the Power will go a long way towards righting the wrongs of 2018.

But at home, Port should be too strong.

Prediction: Port Adelaide by 24 points.

Geelong Cats versus Gold Coast Suns
The first match on Saturday afternoon should all but see the Geelong Cats lock up the top eight for season 2018 when they welcome the Gold Coast Suns to GMHBA Stadium.

To say the very least, this season has not panned out the way their supporters would have hoped, with the club hovering above the finals cut-off line for most of the season.

Despite this, they managed to string together a record-equalling 23 straight goals as they thrashed Fremantle by 133 points at home last weekend, after they had trailed at quarter-time.

Their inconsistent form comes despite the return home of Gary Ablett Jr from his seven years on the Gold Coast, with many believing that he, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield would together create some havoc on the competition this year.

Instead, the best they can achieve this season is seventh place on the ladder, which is where they will finish if they do beat the Suns as expected, and Melbourne loses to the GWS Giants at home the following day.

As for the Gold Coast Suns, their season from hell just can’t come to an end quite soon enough.

As expected, it has been a tough first year for coach Stuart Dew, who has had to deal with a compromised fixture caused by the Commonwealth Games as well as the looming departure of key forward Tom Lynch at season’s end.

Given the circumstances, however, they have done well to win four matches, including wins over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in Round 5 and an upset against the Sydney Swans at the SCG in round eighteen.

However, they will be given next to no chance of toppling the Cats at Kardinia Park, where their last visit ended in an embarrassing 120-point defeat in 2016, on the very same day fellow expansion side the GWS Giants dealt triple-reigning premiers Hawthorn a 75-point thrashing in Sydney.

The prospect of another triple-figure margin is indeed on the cards, and you’d expect that the Cats will show no mercy as they look to close up shop on the top eight for 2018.

Prediction: Geelong Cats by 75 points.

Richmond versus Western Bulldogs
With the minor premiership all but secured, Richmond can now sit back, relax and do as they please when they host the Western Bulldogs at the MCG in the second match on Saturday afternoon.

The West Coast Eagles’ 17-point loss to Melbourne last Sunday confirmed that the Tigers will finish top of the ladder for the first time since 1982, and given how impressively they have performed this season, it would take more than a calamity for Damien Hardwick’s men to not go back to back.

They were expected to be given a stern test of its premiership credentials by Essendon last weekend, but still did enough to notch its 20th consecutive win at the MCG – a streak that dates back to the middle of last season.

Twenty four months have also now passed since the Tigers suffered defeat against a Victorian team, when it lost to St Kilda in Round 22 of the 2016 season.

They will warm up for their premiership defence against a Western Bulldogs side which has found form in the past few weeks, winning their past three matches to salvage something out of another disappointing year.

The Bulldogs, who will become the first side since the Adelaide Crows in nearly two decades to miss the finals in consecutive seasons after winning the flag, shook off a determined Carlton side last Sunday to win by 17 points and all but hand the wooden spoon to the men from Princes Park.

Now they will have the chance to finish the season by doing what no Victorian team has been able to do for two years – beat Richmond at the MCG.

While it would sabotage the Tigers’ finals warm-up, it would be a good way for the Bulldogs to finish the year and provide their fans some glimmer of hope that a return to better times won’t be too far away.

But I just can’t see it happening, and the Tigers should prevail.

Prediction: Richmond by 30 points.

Fremantle versus Collingwood
After a record humiliation against the Geelong Cats last Saturday, no doubt all the heat will be on coach Ross Lyon as his Fremantle side crashes to a third straight season without finals football.

They did well to lead at quarter-time, but that was where their resistance ended as they coughed up a record 23 consecutive goals to go down by 133 points – marking the worst defeat in the club’s 24-year history.

Now, they will be hoping to end another wretched season on a high note when they welcome finals-bound Collingwood to Optus Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Pies secured their first finals berth since 2013 when they broke free of Port Adelaide in the final quarter last week to win by 51 points, and they’ll be hoping to secure the double chance, and a possible return trip to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles, with a win against the Dockers on the road.

Their return to the finals has vindicated the board’s decision to retain Nathan Buckley as coach, after he had overseen a worrying regression following their premiership win in 2010.

It was this time last year many believed he would be sacked, but a final round win over Melbourne, which was to deny the Dees their first finals berth since 2006, proved more than enough for the board to keep their former captain as head coach for another two seasons.

Now it remains – how deep can they go in September?

Prediction: Collingwood by 35 points.

Sydney Swans versus Hawthorn
The first of two matches on Saturday night will be the most important of all – with two rivals to go head to head for the last remaining place in the top four.

Written off after a humiliating loss to the Gold Coast Suns at home in Round 18, followed by a dismal performance against Essendon the round after, the Sydney Swans have done well to rebound from their troubles, winning three matches in a row to secure another finals berth with one round still to play.

They have defeated Collingwood, Melbourne and the GWS Giants, teams that will play finals this season, with the win over the Giants last Saturday night standing out among the best.

Their eleventh win in fifteen matches against their cross-town rivals was led by Buddy Franklin, who kicked five majors to keep alive his chances of a fifth Coleman Medal and take another significant step towards the 1,000 goal milestone, which he is on target to achieve early in the 2020 season.

The Swans will get another chance to test their credentials when they face Hawthorn, whom they haven’t beaten at the SCG since 2010.

Alastair Clarkson’s men did just enough to edge out St Kilda by four points at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night, with the master coach conceding that his side should not have won the match.

But somehow they did, and now they head to Sydney with the chance to finish in the top four for the seventh time in the past eight years.

They’ll be buoyed by a good recent record against the Swans in the Harbour City, which contrasts with no wins from three matches against the GWS Giants at Spotless Stadium, including an eleven-point loss in Round 15.

As has been the case in recent years, another close tussle is expected, but I have the Swans taking the points by just.

Prediction: Sydney Swans by six points.

Carlton versus Adelaide Crows
The second match on Saturday night looms as a mockbuster for a variety of reasons, with neither side able to impact the ladder.

One is that regardless of the result, Carlton is guaranteed to finish on the bottom of the ladder, and therefore hold the first pick in November’s draft.

Another is that just twelve months after finishing on top of the ladder, and reaching the grand final where it lost to Richmond by 48 points, the Adelaide Crows’ season is almost certain to be over by 10:00pm this Saturday night.

The Blues’ season from hell has seen them win just two matches, making it a clear sign that despite the season-long absence of defender Sam Docherty due to a knee injury he suffered 40 days before Christmas last year, the club has not made any progress under coach Brendon Bolton.

Their predicament has threatened to put a stain on the season, with fears that it will take a very long time before the Blues become a competitive force once more.

Last week, however, they were able to match it with the Western Bulldogs for three quarters, before capitulating in the final quarter to go down by 17 points and all but take out its fifth wooden spoon since 2002.

The Adelaide Crows, meanwhile, appear to have already started turning their focus to 2019, defeating North Melbourne by nine points at home last week and salvaging something from what has been a disappointing season.

Having had the AFL’s deadliest attack in 2016 and 2017, the Crows have struggled to regularly score heavily this season, having not kicked over 100 points since Round 17 and not kicked more than 20 goals since last year’s preliminary final.

Not only did they lose their best defender in Jake Lever to Melbourne at the end of last season, they have also been beset by injuries to key players this season, with captain Taylor Walker, his deputy Rory Sloane, and both Crouch brothers among those to spend some time on the sidelines.

With both the Blues and Crows desperate to put this season behind them, expect nothing but a scrap.

Prediction: Adelaide Crows by 28 points.

Brisbane Lions versus West Coast Eagles
They had the chance to ramp up the pressure on Richmond in the chase for the minor premiership, but last week’s loss to Melbourne has suddenly put their top two chances in serious jeopardy.

In similar scenes to their Round 14 loss to Essendon, the Eagles were put right on the back foot at home against a Melbourne side which was determined not to repeat the heartbreak of last season when it missed the finals by the narrowest of percentage margins.

Now, Adam Simpson’s men must make the longest trip in the AFL just to keep alive their chances of a top two finish, with the certainty they will be overtaken by Collingwood (which plays Fremantle in Perth) on the live ladder by the time they have their dinner in Brisbane on Saturday night.

While they have won their last seven matches against the Lions, including the last four at the Gabba, they will not want to underestimate a side which has made some clear progress this season.

With the help of prized recruit Luke Hodge in defence, the Lions have notched up five wins this season, matching their win tally from last year.

Significantly, though, their percentage is 89.9, a massive improvement on the 74.3 they finished with last year.

It is proof that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel for a club which was once the dominant force of the AFL, capturing a hat-trick of premierships between 2001 and 2003.

Last Saturday night, they withstood a furious comeback from the Gold Coast Suns to win by four points and almost certainly guarantee that they will finish 15th on the ladder, regardless of the result this Sunday.

While there is no doubt they will want to finish the season on a high, the stakes will be higher for the West Coast Eagles, who as mentioned above will very likely start the round in third place on the ladder but will have the chance to reclaim its place in the top two with a win.

That being said, the Eagles should take the points here.

Prediction: West Coast Eagles by 18 points.

Melbourne versus GWS Giants
With a finals berth confirmed for the first time since 2006, Melbourne will play for a home final when they face the GWS Giants at the MCG in the second match on Sunday afternoon.

Their 17-point win over the West Coast Eagles in Perth ended more than a decade of misery, which included numerous heavy defeats, the sackings of two coaches and just about everything wrong that could possibly happen.

However, the appointment of Paul Roos in September 2013 saw the club steadily improve on and off the field before Simon Goodwin was handed the keys at the end of the 2016 season.

After finishing ninth last year, the former Adelaide Crows captain has become the first coach since Neale Daniher in 2006 to take the Dees to the finals, where they’ll be hoping to make whatever impact they can.

They’ll have the perfect chance to warm up against a GWS Giants side which has defied a horror injury toll to turn its season around and qualify for its third consecutive finals series.

After languishing in 11th place on the ladder with four wins, one draw and five losses from their first ten outings, many believed that the Giants would struggle to replicate the success they’d enjoyed in the past two seasons.

Their finals chances then took a sledgehammer blow when full forward Jeremy Cameron was slapped with a five-match suspension for knocking out Brisbane Lions fullback Harris Andrews in Round 14.

However, they would win four of those five matches without him, and another two wins saw them secure their ticket to September for the third straight year.

But in recent weeks, the recent injury crisis which has taken place since Cameron’s return has started to take its toll, with injuries to Phil Davis and Ryan Griffen, as well as the absences of Toby Greene and Josh Kelly, all telling the story as it lost to the Sydney Swans by 20 points last Saturday.

The result saw them drop to sixth on the ladder with one round still to play, and if they are to have any chance of playing at home again this year, they simply must beat the Dees on the road this Sunday.

Otherwise, they will face an away elimination final, but there is the chance it could be against the Sydney Swans at the SCG, should the Swans lose to Hawthorn at home the previous night.

In the end, Melbourne’s strong form should get them home here.

Prediction: Melbourne by 20 points.

St Kilda versus North Melbourne
The final match of the regular season will also double as the final match to be played at Etihad Stadium before it is renamed Marvel Stadium from September 1.

It will be a case of history repeating for St Kilda, who also played in the last matches under the Colonial Stadium and Telstra Dome banners in 2002 and 2008 respectively, in addition to being the first club to play under the Etihad Stadium banner when the Docklands venue was renamed in 2009.

Sadly, thouh, Etihad Airways will bow out of the ground with a whimper with St Kilda and North Melbourne facing off in the most meaningless match of the round, with pride to be the only thing they will play for on Sunday night.

The Saints, one team many expected to improve this season, have crashed to only four wins for the season as it struggles to adapt to life after Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna, who both retired last season.

This has seen the pressure ramp up on fifth-year coach Alan Richardson, who has yet to take his side to September since taking on the job at the end of the 2013 season.

His position, however, appears to be safe for now, but he could find himself under the firing line if the club doesn’t make the progress many expect they will in 2019.

While North Melbourne will miss the finals for a second straight season, they have actually exceeded expectations, with many believing they would be contending for the wooden spoon at the start of the season.

Full forward Ben Brown remains in contention for the Coleman Medal despite being held goalless last week, trailing Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt by just two goals and being ahead of Sydney’s Lance Franklin by just one.

With both Riewoldt and Franklin, as well as Geelong’s Tom Hawkins (56 goals), all playing their matches on Saturday, Brown will know how much goals he will need to kick if he is to become the club’s first Coleman Medallist since John Longmire in 1990.

There is also the chance that the Coleman Medal could be shared for the first time since the award’s inception in 1981, such is the tightness at the pointy end of the leaderboard.

The Roos will need a huge performance from Brown if they are to finish their season on a high, and set a platform to return to the finals in 2019.

Prediction: North Melbourne by 10 points.

If the matches unfold as I have predicted, the first week of the finals will look like this:

First qualifying final: Richmond versus Sydney Swans at the MCG
Second qualifying final: West Coast Eagles versus Collingwood at Optus Stadium

First elimination final: Melbourne versus Geelong Cats at the MCG
Second elimination final: Hawthorn versus GWS Giants at the MCG or Marvel Stadium*

* If two Melbourne finals are scheduled for the Saturday, the Hawks versus Giants match will be the one moved across town, as it is expected to draw a lower crowd.