MELBOURNE and Port Adelaide will miss finals and Brisbane will sneak into the top four late in the season, according to our reporters.

AFL.com.au's team of nine journalists have used our ladder predictor to tip the final make-up of the top eight, and they're predicting the Demons to miss finals for the first time since 2020 and the Power to also miss out on September football.

>> SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL PREDICTED LADDER

Our team was unanimous that Sydney and Carlton will retain their spots in the top two, with Geelong and the Lions edging out Fremantle to earn a double chance.

Essendon, Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood round out the top eight in the combined ladder.

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The last spot in finals is set to come down to the wire, with the Magpies getting the nod from five of our nine reporters, with Gold Coast (two of nine) getting some support and the Western Bulldogs, the Dees and the Power getting the nod from just one reporter each.

At the other end of the ladder, our reporters were unanimous in tipping Richmond to finish last, while North Melbourne has been backed to rise to 16th by the end of the season.

AFL.com.au's predicted final ladder*

1. Sydney
2. Carlton
3. Geelong
4. Brisbane
5. Fremantle
6. Essendon
7. Greater Western Sydney
8. Collingwood

9. Gold Coast
10. Port Adelaide
11. Melbourne
12. Western Bulldogs
13. Hawthorn
14. St Kilda
15. Adelaide
16. North Melbourne
17. West Coast
18. Richmond

* Our nine reporters completed our ladder predictor and picked their expected top eight. Their responses were then tallied and averaged out to get a combined predicted ladder