There are a number of teams that are fighting for a finals berth this year as seemingly year-on-year the list grows of teams that can sneak into the eight.

Richmond, West Coast, Geelong, Brisbane and Port Adelaide loom as the most likely to dominate top four discussions, but who are the boomers coming from the cellar for a top eight slot?

The trend with most teams in this cluster is that consistency isn't their best friend, hence why they finish just about square at the ledger.

So, we have decided to take you through why each team in this group can, and maybe more importantly, can't make finals.

2. Collingwood

Why they can

The Pies had a disastrously poor off-season and it has seen many people write them off on-field as well. However, it isn't as black and white as losing key players and falling out of the eight. Collingwood still have a good list with a real quality about it.

Their midfield still goes incredibly deep and they are a very well coached unit. Very rarely is Nathan Buckley outcoached and that is a massive weapon in the Collingwood arsenal.

They posses one of the game's top two ruckmen in Brodie Grundy, who wasn't at his best last year, they the Magpies still reached the eight. If he can find his best form it will go a long way to keeping Collingwood in the finals picture.

Why they can't

It seems hard to cover the loss of players like Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips with draftees. In time the new faces may be anything, but right now it's unlikely they are ready to have the same impact on a midfield group as the two departed stars.

Then you look at the Magpies' forward line and the question still burns, where are the goals coming from? Mason Cox and Darcy Cameron aren't kicking 30+ anytime soon and Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliot can't seem to get enough time on the park to create any continuity.

2020 Marsh Community Series - Collingwood v St Kilda
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 08: Jordan De Goey of the Magpies looks dejected after a loss during the 2020 Marsh Community Series match between the Collingwood Magpies and the St Kilda Saints at Morwell Reserve on March 08, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Pies don't have a forward they can bank on. De Goey might be a game-winner but he is yet to prove he can do it week in and week out and it seems unlikely this year will be the year he does so after an injury interrupted pre-season.