As the halfway mark of the 2008 AFL season nears the race for the premiership is far from a two horse race between just Hawthorn and Geelong.
The Hawks and the Cats might still be the pacesetters after ten rounds but three definite challengers are emerging in Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane.
All three enjoyed significant wins in round ten with the Dogs' inflicting Hawthorn's first defeat, Brisbane demolishing another top eight contender in North Melbourne while Collingwood backed up its shock 86 point win over Geelong in round nine by humiliating West Coast by 100 points at the MCG.
And with Adelaide and Sydney again winning this weekend, seven of the eight finals positions already look secure with eighth spot now a three way race between the Kangaroos, St Kilda and Port as the last two put their seasons back on track with wins over Melbourne and Fremantle on Sunday.
Hawthorn might have been due for a loss when it took on the Bulldogs in Tasmania on Saturday, considering it was coming off nine straight wins and was without several key players, but that should not detract from the Bulldogs' performance.
Even with the Hawks' exciting key forward pairing of Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead kicking nine goals between them, the Dogs had too much run and firepower.
And while the Dogs' shrewd coach Rodney Eade might keep insisting his team does not yet deserve to be bracketed alongside the Hawks and the Cats - the facts are the Dogs are just half a game behind that pair, have beaten the Hawks and are yet to face the Cats.
The Dogs' improvement this year has come about for two main reasons - firstly the growing maturity of their young brigade such as Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross and secondly because of the huge impact made by experienced recruits from other clubs in Jason Akermanis, Ben Hudson and Scott Welsh.
This trio has given the Bulldogs the added experience and hard bodies so missing during their 2006 finals campaign when the club first announced itself as a rising force.
And remember the Dogs have done it this year without either Scott West or Brad Johnson - their two best players over the past decade - having much impact with West battling knee problems while Johnson has kicked just 12 goals in the past eight games.
The Lions meanwhile have now destroyed St Kilda and the Kangaroos in successive weeks at the Gabba and it's becoming more obvious by the week that - along with Roughead and Franklin at Hawthorn - they have the best key forward pairing in the AFL in Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw.
The two giants booted six goals each for the second successive week on Saturday night and now have kicked 76 between them for the season - just six short of Franklin and Roughead's combined tally at Hawthorn.
The Lions' effort to rebuild their champion team of 2001-04 in just four years is also a credit to the genius of coach Leigh Matthews and makes a mockery of the myth teams need to finish last and gain early draft picks to rebuild considering the Lions have finished 11th, 13th and 10th since the end of their golden era in 2004.
But the Lions have been able to rebuild so quickly because