September has officially arrived, and every team remaining will naturally have optimism.
Fremantle appears to be the clear front-runner for the flag; Brisbane's experience holds it in good stead, and Hawthorn and Geelong are among the challengers.
So what does every club need to focus on?
Western Bulldogs
Defending key forwards
The Bulldogs' backline has been viewed as the Achilles heel all year, and it must be stated that, in the late stages of the home-and-away season, the Dogs' backline was tremendous, led by James O'Donnell and Buku Khamis.
But in its Wildcard Round win over Collingwood, Dan McStay was arguably his team's best player on the ground, with his ability to get on top of O'Donnell critical in giving Collingwood a chance to snatch it late.
Tim Membrey taking a contested mark to give the Pies a shot after the siren was another example of the Dogs' talls not winning important moments, so opposition marks inside 50 will be a watch.
The issue for the Dogs is that if O'Donnell is beaten, there is no clear lever to pull to try and make it tough for opposition backlines, with Rory Lobb, Bailey Williams and Buku Khamis all viewed more as interceptors.
The pressure around the ground is another area to watch - but was strong against the Pies - and would help alleviate pressure off the backline
