THE FINAL spot in the top eight will be a race in three between Melbourne, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, while Collingwood's premiership defence won't make it to September, according to our reporters.

AFL.com.au's team of eight journalists have used our ladder predictor to tip the final make-up of the top eight, with the Magpies and Port Adelaide unanimously expected to miss finals having finished in the top four last year.

>> SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL PREDICTED LADDER

The Magpies' season is expected to finish with a whimper, with Craig McRae's side tipped to drop as low as 13th by the end of the home-and-away season.

Essendon's recent patchy form hasn't scared our reporters off, with all eight tipping them to finish between fifth and seventh on the later.

The Bombers are one of six sides to get unanimous support to finish in the top eight, along with Sydney, Carlton, Geelong, Brisbane and Fremantle, while Greater Western Sydney got support from six of eight reporters.

WHO MAKES FINALS? Play the Ladder Predictor NOW

The most intrigue lies in which team will fill the final spot in the eight, with Melbourne (three of eight reporters), Hawthorn (three of eight), the Bulldogs (three of eight) and Gold Coast (one of eight) backed to play finals.

The race for the top four also looks set to go down for the wire.

While the Swans and Blues had unanimous support to finish in the top two and host a qualifying final, the final two spots were split between the Lions (seven of eight), Cats (six of eight) and Dockers (three of eight).

AFL.com.au's predicted final ladder*

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

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

* Our eight 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