We’re now in a situation where 8 teams have a better than 60% shot at the Finals, and a ninth team, Essendon, still has an almost 50% shot. Five teams now also have about a 1 in 2 or better shot at a Top 4 finish. It’s beginning to look a lot more like musical chairs …

Let’s, for the second time this season, simulate the Final series by applying the methodology described here to the 50,000 final ladders produced by our original simulations.

We’re now down to just 7 teams with a 1 in 2 or better shot at the Finals, but six teams with (roughly) a 1 in 3 or better shot at a Top 4 finish.

So far this season the simulations have ended at the conclusion of the home and away season. Today we'll extend the simulations to include the entirety of the Finals series.

With Essendon putting a large dent in their Finals hopes last weekend, we’ve now only 9 teams with a 1 in 2 or better shot at the Finals, but still five teams with (roughly) a 1 in 3 or better shot at a Top 4 finish.

After last week’s results there are now 10 teams with (roughly) a 1 in 2 or better shot at the Finals, and five teams with (roughly) a 1 in 3 or better shot at a Top 4 finish.

We’re starting to see some winnowing of the teams this week, with only 10 now with at least at 1 in 3 shot at the Finals, down two teams compared to last week, and only four teams with a 1 in 3 or better shot at a Top 4 finish.

We’re starting to see some winnowing of the teams this week, with only 10 now with at least at 1 in 3 shot at the Finals, down two teams compared to last week, and only four teams with a 1 in 3 or better shot at a Top 4 finish.

The likely battle for the lower half of spots in the Final 8 is possibly best highlighted by the fact that, in the most-recent simulations, 7 teams are expected to record between 10.5 and 12.3 wins, and 12 teams have a least a 1 in 3 shot at finishing in a Finals position.

The results of the latest 50,000 simulations appear below.

The results of the latest 50,000 simulations appear below.

The results of the latest 50,000 simulations appear below.

Is it really only Round 6 and am I, honestly, proffering opinions about the end of the home-and-away season in a year where even the bookmakers have been only slightly more useful than a coin in tipping winners? As I kid, I reckon I was pretty steadfast in the face of relentless peer pressure (yeah, I was a geek the too), yet here am I, at my age, guessing into the wind about games to be played in August …

The latest simulations of the home and away season appear below.

We’re four rounds in, so it must be time to start simulating the remainder of the home and away season to investigate, at this very early stage, how MoSHBODS sees the teams faring from here.

After a four from four performance in tipping winners in Week 1 and a two from two performance in tipping winners in Week 2 of the Finals, MoSHBODS returns with its thoughts about the remaining three contests. These come by way of the latest simulation outputs (which use the methodology described here but, again, with no perturbation of the current offensive and defensive ratings) a summary of which appears below.

MoSHBODS was right about all four games in Week 1 of the Finals, and its thoughts about the remainder of the Finals series are embodied in the latest simulation outputs (which use the methodology described here but, again, with no perturbation of the current offensive and defensive ratings) a summary of which appears below.

MoSHBODS is no fan of Sydney or Hawthorn, and this fact is evident in the latest simulation outputs (which use the methodology described here but with no perturbation of the current offensive and defensive ratings) a summary of which appears below.

Time to update our views on how, according to MoSHBODS, this year's finals might play out.

Updated final home and away ladder simulations appear below.