Finals are where the best meets the best, but how have the best fared against each other across the first 23 rounds of the home-and-away season?
Using only the matches where top 10 teams have played each other, Fremantle, unsurprisingly, is leading the way in performance.
The Dockers have won 11 out of their 13 matches against top 10 teams, with the two losses coming against Geelong at GMHBA in Round 1 and Melbourne at the MCG in Round 22.
While Fremantle has shone, Victorian powerhouses Collingwood and Carlton have struggled. The Pies sit on a record of 3-2-8, while the Blues are marginally better on 4-8.
The other seven sides, made up of Sydney, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Geelong and Western Bulldogs, are where the stats become intriguing.
Six of the seven sit with a record of between five to seven wins and five to seven losses, highlighting the close nature of the premiership race outside of the Dockers' dominance.
Geelong - sitting in seventh on the actual ladder - holds the second-best record against top 10 sides, with eight wins and five losses.
Two of Collingwood's victories have come against arch-rivals Carlton, leading to questions being fairly raised about the Pies' prospects come September.
However, Craig McRae's men are playing a different brand of fast and high-scoring football in the second half of the year, and their defence remains rock solid no matter who is playing.
Top 10s record against the top 10
1st: Fremantle: 11 wins, 2 losses
2nd: Sydney: 6 wins, 5 losses
3rd: Hawthorn: 5 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses
4th: Brisbane: 6 wins, 6 losses
5th: Adelaide: 6 wins, 7 losses
6th: Melbourne: 6 wins, 5 losses
7th: Geelong: 8 wins, 5 losses
8th: Collingwood: 3 wins, 2 draws, 8 losses
9th: Western Bulldogs: 5 wins, 9 losses
10th: Carlton: 4 wins, 8 losses
