With six weeks of the marathon run, the line between contenders and pretenders is becoming much more opaque.
Although 94.4% of the competition's 18-teams have now put a win on the board, the gap between first and last is still chasmic.
As we edged toward the end of the season's second month, the question marks surrounding every side – whether they are leading the league or languishing – are still aplenty.
With Round 7 set to start this Friday night, we have cast an eye across each of the league's combatants and have sought to answer the key questions facing each and every one of them.
West Coast
How do they cover the potential loss of nearly 1,200 games of experience?
Succinctly, they can't.
Should Adam Simpson and his selection panel be forced to, they will find that it's just not possible to replace a current captain, a former captain, one of the league's best defenders and one of the league's best key forwards in one week.
Games experience named on this week's @AFL website injury list
1191 - WCE
1119 - STK
1046 - SYD
984 - GWS
924 - RICH
874 - HAW
862 - NTH
808 - COLL
743 - GEEL
636 - ADEL
541 - ESS
523 - BRIS
505 - FREM
498 - CARL
447 - GCS
430 - WBD
246 - PORT
137 - MELB— Swamp (@sirswampthing) April 27, 2021
And that's all before you throw in other names like Yeo, Petrucelle, Venables and Ryan.
Building a roster like this is why teams go to the draft and trade table year upon year, and it is why I can't see the Eagles defeating the Dockers for the 11th time in a row.
Sorry, West Coast fans.
