• The run home: Seven teams, three finals spots
• Nine things we learned from round 19
• Forecast the final eight with the 2014 ladder predictor
• Fantasy round review: Every call matters
• Around the state leagues: Big Roo rising

THE RACE for the top four is the tightest in years, and with 12 teams in finals contention with just four rounds to play, this shapes as an August to treasure.

But what is also worth enjoying about this season is that battle at the other end of the ladder. There is a wooden spoon to be handed out and an almighty battle is underway to avoid it.

The Brisbane Lions pretty much took themselves out of discussions for the spoon this year with their barnstorming 23-point win over Melbourne on Sunday. Seemingly every football pundit in the land piled misery on the Lions after their 0-5 start to the year, but they've won six of 13 since and now sit two games clear of the bottom of the ladder.

It's now a race in three between St Kilda, Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne, who between them have wins over Fremantle, the Sydney Swans and Adelaide (away) to boast about. More to the point, the bottom three teams have each won four games, the sort of return we used to get from the wooden spooners before the expansion era and before then, the priority picks that proved too tempting to ignore.

And nor can the bottom three be faulted for their endeavour. The Saints worked feverishly all evening against Gold Coast, but butchered the ball. The Giants were awful in the second quarter but feisty and competitive for the remainder. The Dees were blown away late by the Lions; again one bad quarter and their conversion (6.15) killed them; but it can't be said that they're not putting in.

The battle for the spoon will likely come down to two matches – St Kilda hosting the Western Bulldogs next Sunday, followed by Melbourne hosting the Giants seven days later.

The Saints will be souped up for Lenny Hayes' last home game. Leigh Montagna has been on the radio selling the commemorative caps, scarves and the Lenny Hayes' end of the ground. The emotion will be enormous (if you barrack for St Kilda there is no excuse to miss this game) and the young Bulldogs are showing signs of fatigue. Do it for Lenny? If they can, they'll be off the bottom of the ladder.

The Giants are having the sort of season they hoped for. Leon Cameron's express wish at the start of the season was not necessarily for more victories, but to win more quarters and to be competitive in games for longer. That unquestionably has been the case this year and it will hold the Giants in good stead against Melbourne, which has lost its last six but generally has been nowhere near as woeful as seasons past. Melbourne fans keep on coming to the footy.

All of which suggests that the stigma about the wooden spoon might be back in 2014. It will be unwanted and quite possibly undeserved, and will sit most uncomfortably with whichever team has the misfortune to 'win' it. Which is how it should be.

Golden response after Bluey's bake

Given how insipid Gold Coast's opening quarter was against the Brisbane Lions last week, surely the most basic plea from coach Guy McKenna against the Saints was one of the most basic in football – head over the ball.

And to the credit of the Suns, that's what they did on Saturday night against St Kilda at Metricon Stadium. Granted, it took until the final quarter for the Suns to put the game away but a beautiful set of numbers awaited McKenna as he made his way down to the interchange bench at the first break, even though the lead was just eight points.

Clearances: Gold Coast 11, St Kilda 7. Last week: Brisbane Lions 18, Gold Coast 6 Inside 50s: Gold Coast 14, St Kilda 10. Last week: Brisbane Lions 22, Gold Coast 3.

A 40-30 edge in contested possessions on Saturday night also suggested the Suns had their heads in the game and helped propel them to their first win without the great Gary Ablett in the side.

So after a week after being all but written off, they are back in the finals race thanks to Adelaide's inexplicable loss to West Coast.

Deserving finalists? We'll see. Carlton (a), Port Adelaide (h), Essendon (a) and West Coast (h) is a tough run home. If they get in on the back of that, they'll be worthy.

QUESTION TIME

Should Lindsay Thomas be charged with staging?
It's the question of the week. It looked terrible and is a blight on the game and even coach Brad Scott, who defends his players till the end of the earth, called him out on this one. I'm not sure he will join Leroy Jetta and Ryan Crowley with respects to being charged with staging but a letter from HQ with a warning would do no harm.

WATCH: Thomas takes a dive against the Cats
Is Travis Cloke the most important player at Collingwood?
Collingwood's top shelf midfielders have always been among the best in the competition, but Cloke got them over the line on Sunday – 10 marks and three goals in a game where 11.10 was the winning score. He needs some help, though. Ben Reid is still finding his groove – he's actually a fair bit off it to be frank – and Jesse White is not really the answer, so Cloke is carrying the load. He's on the big bucks and for now, deservedly so.

Are we putting a fork in Port?
I think so. The Power have been worked out to a degree – close down their outside run and they become just an average side. They're a game outside the top four and with the Sydney Swans (h) and Fremantle (a) still to come, it is hard to see them bridging the gap. They'll be hard to knock over in a home elimination final, but that might be about it.

Ashley Browne: Having spent a week embedded with the umpires last month, there is no shortage of ideas and enthusiasm to try something new. The vanishing spray we saw during the FIFA World Cup has merits with shots for goal on an angle, such as the James Podsiadly shot last week at the MCG in which a bunch of Collingwood players appeared to encroach into his protected area. The issue with that one would be whether applying the spray would hold up the match for too long. My understanding is that Hot Spot doesn't come cheap and as it is, goal posts have a far greater surface area than do cricket stumps.



AB: I really liked the way Murphy worked his way through the Crowley tag on Thursday night. It hasn't always been the way for the Carlton skipper because the hard tags have got him in the past. Are the umpires onto Crowley? I think they always have been. Is he done? I'm not going there just yet, but like his team, he faces a massive fortnight with games against his various nemesis from Geelong and Hawthorn. He seems to get under the skin of the Cats but not so much the Hawks.

Watch the last two minutes from Thursday night's Freo-Carlton thriller


AB: Not here. He has been Richmond's best player for the past 10 years, a bright spot when the Tigers have been lousy (most of that time) and a barometer for the side more recently when they've been playing well. Damien Hardwick must wish he had two Brett Deledios, one to play behind the ball and the other in attack.

WATCH: Showreel - Brett Deledio bosses the Giants


AB: Strange opticals at Etihad on Sunday with the fans seemingly sardined into one end of the ground, and room to swing a cat throughout the rest of it. Not sure why they didn't let Melbourne members, as the home team, just fill up all the best seats on the wing. As for the roof open/closed debate, there will always be an issue at Etihad while the goals run north south as they do, but on those crisp and sunny afternoons as we had on Sunday, as long as there's no chance of rain, then I'm for keeping the roof open. Last time I checked, it is an outdoor game.

WATCH: Open roof causes problems at Etihad Stadium


AB: Very, very odd. Can you imagine such a thing happening at Geelong or the Swans? Last week's effort by Ty Vickery was poor. You would think that a red flag goes up at Punt Road during the week to ensure there were no more brain fades. But then Conca goes and does what he does in the most heavily-trafficked and most-watched part of the ground. Clearly no MENSA candidate is our boy Reecey. The Tigers are making an improbable charge to the finals but they need every man standing in order to get there. No Vickery and presumably no Conca in the matches to come is no help whatsoever.



AB: In order of most diabolical:
3 – Conca
2 – Lake
1 – Vickery.



AB: Pies CEO Gary Pert may have talked up the top four as an expectation at the start of the year, but I suspect the football department at Collingwood believes the side is tracking at about where they expect, given the age and shape of the playing list. Finals would be nice but not a disaster at Collingwood this year if the Pies miss out. It might be a different story in 12 months time, though.