Kane Cornes wipes Port Adelaide and Carlton from AFL finals race after ‘line-in-the-sand' Round 8

7NEWS05-05-2025

Kane Cornes has declared the top seven teams in the AFL have already shown enough to be 'certain' of playing finals, while he has wiped Port Adelaide and Carlton out of the race.
An intriguing Round 8 saw Brisbane secure top spot with a win over top-four hopefuls Gold Coast after Collingwood lost a thriller to perennial contenders Geelong.
Hawthorn, Adelaide and the Bulldogs all solidified their places in the top eight with big wins over bottom-10 sides.
Among the top eight, only GWS truly lowered their colours with a loss to a Sydney side that entered their derby on a three-match losing streak.
And now the Giants' place in the top eight is the last up for grabs, according to Cornes.
'They talk about moving day in golf — Round 8 is moving round in the world of AFL football,' he said on Kane's Call.
'I think it's separated the best from the rest. The Giants are maybe the only vulnerable team in the top eight now. I think the rest play finals, I would be certain of that.'
If that proves to be the case, it would be a significant shift from the 2024 race.
Last year only five teams sitting in the top eight after Round 8 went on to reach the finals, after Brisbane, the Bulldogs and Hawthorn surged while Fremantle, Essendon and Melbourne collapsed.
Before that, six teams had held their spots and two had dropped out in each season since 2016 — when the top eight did not change after Round 6.
In 2011, seven teams in the top eight after Round 9 (when 13 of the 17 teams had played eight games) made the finals, though Essendon briefly dropped out during a losing streak before salvaging eighth place.
But not since 2010 has the race for the finals proved to be for just one spot this early in the season.
That year, seven of the top eight were set after Round 7 and the top eight did not change after Round 11.
While GWS could yet make it a 2016-style top-eight lockout, seven of the current bottom-10 teams will still hold out hope of making the 2025 finals.
Fremantle and St Kilda sit eighth and ninth after playing off against each other on Friday night, with the Saints coming up trumps.
Essendon sit 11th after winning four out of their past five but all came against fellow bottom-10 opposition.
The Bombers do, however, hold a positive win-loss record and still have a game in hand after their Opening Round clash with Gold Coast was postponed.
Below them, Port Adelaide and Carlton suffered heavy defeats in Round 8 despite entering on three-match winning streaks that included wins over Hawthorn and Geelong respectively.
The Blues' cause is helped by a 108.6 percentage, more than 10 points better than any other bottom-10 side and only 6.4 shy of the Giants.
Sydney and Melbourne, now on their own three-match winning streak, are the last sides in the mix.
'There's probably one spot up for grabs for the likes of Fremantle or the Saints if they make a charge, Sydney if they can do the same,' Cornes said.
'Not sure about Melbourne, I don't think Carlton are good enough. But this round's separated the best from the rest.
'Fremantle weren't good enough. Port Adelaide not good enough so we've seen that and that's been on full display. Adelaide too good, Carlton not good enough.
'I think we're going to look back at this round as a pivotal line-in-the-sand moment and say 'gee, this round separated the best from the rest'.
'Long way out, I get it, but you can see the quality rising.'