And to think the AFL is considering introducing a final ten once Gold Coast and Western Sydney join the competition.
If there was ever any doubt that even a top eight rewards mediocrity it was eliminated in Round 17 when the results showed once again that whoever manages to finish in seventh and eighth spot this season will be merely making up the numbers come September.
But then what else is new - no team from outside the top four has ever won the flag since the current finals system was introduced in 2000 and indeed no team that has ever finished seventh or eighth has ever reached the preliminary final, let alone the grand final.
However this year the gulf between the legitimate premiership contenders - of which there are five - and those that will be making up the numbers in September appears wider than ever.
Even Fremantle - which sits in fifth place but has no chance of winning the premiership - is finding out how true that old phrase is that an AFL season is a marathon, not a sprint.
The young Dockers, widely tipped to finish amongst the bottom four at the start of the season, have now lost four of their past seven matches - the latest an 82-point flogging at the hands of the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, a result which meant the NAB Cup winners leapfrogged the Dockers into fourth spot.
Hawthorn might be a game and a half adrift of Fremantle in sixth spot but which of Fremantle or Hawthorn do you reckon the top four sides in Collingwood, St Kilda, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs would rather face in September.
After winning just one of their first seven games, the Hawks have now won eight and drawn one of their past ten matches.
And the 2008 premiers have shown - unlike Fremantle on Sunday - that they can more than match it with the top teams after drawing with the Saints on Friday night to follow on from their recent three point win over the Bulldogs and two point loss to Geelong; the Hawks' only loss since Round 7.
The Bulldogs too are sending a message to Collingwood, Geelong and St Kilda - who have dominated the competition all season - that they are peaking at exactly the right time.
After also making a slow start to the season like Hawthorn, the NAB Cup winners have now won five of their past six games - the loss was to the Hawks - with four of those wins coming by ten goals or more.
And in destroying the Dockers on Sunday, the Dogs showed they have the mental toughness needed to win finals in September as they responded magnificently to the criticism they have received for sacking the outspoken Jason Akermanis.
But while Collingwood and Geelong - both huge winners this weekend against battling teams - as well as St Kilda, the Bulldogs and Hawthorn - are all capable of winning the flag, although whichever one finishes outside the top four will find it tough and the other three finalists won't be hanging around long.
At least Fremantle deserve to be there on the basis of its entire season to date but unfortunately injury and the toll of a long season on its many talented youngsters is beginning to show but even under the former final six system, the Dockers would still be playing finals this season.
But as for whoever falls into seventh and eighth spot, it really is hard to argue they deserve the glory of playing in the finals - which really should only be about the best facing the best and not about raising more gate money and television revenue for the AFL by playing more finals matches.
Carlton is in seventh spot with nine wins from 17 games but has only just recorded its second win in the past six matches and even then it had to come from behind against bottom-placed West Coast.
Eighth-placed Sydney has just suffered a 73-point loss to a Melbourne side that has won the past two wooden spoons and although on the improve, in beating the Swans the Demons won for only the third time in the past 12 rounds while ninth-placed North Melbourne has a percentage of just 86 and has lost more games (nine) than it has won (eight) and has just gone down to an Essendon team that had lost its past six matches.
And even Adelaide, which was being tipped as the 'smokey' of this year's finals, after winning its past four matches, now looks certain to miss out on the September action following its loss to Port Adelaide - which was on a club record nine-match losing streak and had even sacked its coach.
It's hardly the best advertisement for the top eight and it's frightening to think just how bad some of the finalists will be in coming years if the AFL does decide to go with a top ten and further demean September action.