Matty
When predicting final 8 for following years here are a few points worth considering. History normally never lies.
Since the final 8 began, a team from outside the top 8 has made the top FOUR the next year every single season.
1994: Richmond (9th) finished 3rd in 1995
1995: Sydney (12th) finished 1st in 1996
1996: Adelaide (12th), St.Kilda (10th) and the Bulldogs (15th) finished 4th, 1st, and 3rd on the ladder respectively in 1997
1997: Melbourne (16th) finished 4th in 1998
1998: Brisbane (16th) finished 3rd in 1999
1999: Melbourne (14th) finished 3rd in 2000
2000: Port (14th) finished 3rd in 2001, Richmond (9th) finished 4th in 2001
2001: Collingwood (9th) finished 4th in 2002.
2002: Sydney (11th) finished 4th in 2003
2003: Geelong (12th) finished 4th in 2004, St.Kilda (11th) finished 3rd in 2004.
2004: Adelaide (12th) finished 1st in 2005
2005: Fremantle (10th) finished 3rd in 2006
2006: Geelong(10th) finished 1st 2007, Port(12th) finished 2nd 2007, Roos (14th) finished 4th 2007
It is also true that in that time at least one team from the top 8 has dropped out to finish in the BOTTOM FOUR every single year
1995 - Haw 6th in '94 to bottom 4
1996 - Foots 5th in '95 to bottom 4
1997 - Ess 6th in '96 to bottom 4, Haw 8th in '96 to bottom 4
1998 - Bris 8th in '97 to bottom 4
1999 - Adel 5th in '98 to bottom 4, Melb 4th in '98 to bottom 4
2000 - WCE 5th in '99 to bottom 4, Port 7th in '99 to bottom 4
2001 - Kang 4th in '00 to bottom 4
2002 - Carl 5th in '01 to bottom 4, Rich 4th in '01 to bottom 4
2003 - Melb 6th in '02 to bottom 4
2004 - Coll 2nd in '03 to bottom 4
2005 - Ess 8th in '04 to bottom 4
2006 - Kang 5th in '05 to bottom 4
2007 - Melb 7th in '06 to bottom 4, Bulldogs 8th in '06 to bottom 4
Now the trends for both these phenomenas have continued unabated for 13 consecutive years.
However, when people make predictions generally they dont follow history instead then make the conservative predictions a vote for minor changes.
