Those who believe that the present AFL finals system is a sop to mediocrity have more evidence to support their argument at the end of round 11, which formally marks the halfway point of the season - Hawthorn is in the eight.

That's correct. A team that at one stage this season distinguished itself with a six-game losing streak is sitting in eighth place on the ladder.

The Hawks have a percentage of less than 100, have lost more games than they've won (with West Coast and North Melbourne among those to have beaten them) yet right now, are placed better than half the competition.

When the ladder was flashed on to the screen at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, just minutes after the slogging 11-point win over Port Adelaide, many of the 20,000 or so Hawthorn fans at the ground let out a rousing cheer. The rest could barely believe their eyes.

The Hawks might have won four straight, putting them near the form ladder, but on exposed form, they're not deserving finalists. With Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and Brisbane still to come, there would need to be a marked improvement from Alastair Clarkson's team to make the finals.

Yet if the finals started now, they'd be playing Carlton in the first week, an illustration that this is a season in which pretty much every team has at least one obvious flaw. Except, perhaps, for Geelong.

Scan through the ladder and the case can be made for why every side is not premiership material. The Magpies are second, but lack star power and has been shown a few times, don't have enough scoring options against the very best teams. St Kilda needs Nick Riewoldt back and has question marks over its pace. The Dockers are exciting, but a year away.

The Doggies? They're clearly are off the boil and still haven't sorted out their forward line. Fancy falling eight goals behind Collingwood in a game of such importance to their season. Disregard the late comeback. The Bulldogs lack the hardness and the maturity to win the flag. As we wrote last week, they haven't handled the expectation all year.

And so it goes. Carlton has a great midfield, but is Setanta O'hAilpin a premiership-calibre key forward? Sydney is banged up, Essendon is inconsistent, Hawthorn is coming from too far back, Port Adelaide is flaky, North Melbourne's worst is as bad as anyone's and Melbourne is now a game too far back to mount any sort of finals challenge.

Right now, it all points to Geelong, which appears to have fewer flaws than every other side in the competition. But that's not to say reports of a 'hot spot' in Tom Hawkins' foot can be easily glossed over. And will Gary Ablett continue to be a distraction?

And which team appears most likely to be vanquished by the Cats on grand final day? Dare we say it, but it might be the Saints once again. But that's OK. On the evidence to date, they don't deserve to win it.

And to think that within a couple of years, the AFL would like to have even more teams in the finals.

No thanks.