The journey is ending for more than half and not a moment too soon. In some seasons there is the late charger or the emerging youngster for whom the final round sheers off progress and promise. This is not one of those seasons.

The end is a mercy for all who have failed. And fail they have. Let us count the ways.

Richmond flatters to deceive and even its own fans are reluctant to be drawn in. Too often the Tigers have mounted a late-season flurry drawing in the faithful to trust in the next season. Too often that has resulted in only heartache as winning when the stakes are high proves illusive.

With six weeks to go Richmond fans seemed on the brink of breakdown. Their team rides momentum more fiercely than any other. For better and for worse.

The latter weeks have been commendable for the determination to buck disaster. But it hasn’t masked the myriad of gaps. At least though further reports of membership tickets being sacrificed to the microwave haven’t been forthcoming.

North Melbourne supporters will feel disconsolate as the season closes. Finding the line between pass and fail is a surveyor’s nightmare. The Kangaroos are about where most thought, just beyond the fringes of the eight.

Brad Scott set the terms of reference as performance against the better teams rather than appearing in September. On this measure they have underwhelmed. The loss to St Kilda in the penultimate round will retain a bitter aftertaste. Decision of finality might be based on what transpired.

North is in the gulf between the good and the bad. That’s a nasty place to be.

Fremantle ran out of players. It’s genuinely difficult to judge whether that was two parts bad luck and one part bad management or vice versa.

The Dockers seem to have difficulty navigating 22 games. And that’s the contract. They had more bad luck that you’re entitled but running up the white flag doesn’t cut it.

Mark Harvey proclaims this will be the making of his young time. Comprehending the logic in the rhetoric is a stretch.

Melbourne disgraced itself in 2011. The most severe condemnation should be theirs. There’s a breathtaking sense of entitlement and assumption associated with these Dees.

Having gathered the picks through being thoroughly woeful it’s difficult to miss the expectation of automatic progression.

The Demons entered the season with an inept game plan, celebrated victories with more gusto than any other then mixed in woeful losses. The actions of the players directly led to the sacking of the coach yet it didn’t stop the predictions of future Premierships. Remorse was a quality in scant supply.

Melbourne needs a dictatorial authoritarian as coach to scare its players straight and iron out the club. Good luck.

The Western Bulldogs found that instead of reaching the apex of its cycle it plummeted to the bottom. Change is sweeping through. That’s a legitimate choice. Setting the level of expectation for the next man in will be as crucial as anything.

Adelaide has shown the partial tonic change can be. Judge players on what they do not what they say. There’s a newly found freedom around the Crows released from the rigid structures Neil Craig demanded. The constant love expressed for the former coach rings hollow.

Encouraged to be proactive it has rejuvenated some and guaranteed the future services of at least one in Taylor Walker. But it won’t guarantee success if the players use Craig as a cop-out for the dismal stuff that was trotted out on the field at times.

It’s a good coaching job to land as Mark Bickley has cleaned the canvass. The new man can begin his craft anew and uninhibited.

The Brisbane Lions are a conundrum. There are those that would advocate a production line of young talent set to take the competition by storm. I’m happy to be wrong here but I can’t see it.

The Lions are all soldiers and no stars. They are well entitled to their place in the bottom four and for all the competitiveness there’s not a game they lost that they deserved to win. Four victories for the season is a dismal return.

Having paid for Michael Voss’ coaching apprenticeship - dearly it should be said - the Lions have taken the view they might as well hold on for the next two years to see if there’s a dividend to reap. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement that prosperity is at the door.

The Gold Coast has been precisely what was imagined. Three wins. A lot of development. A mile away. It’d be nice if the Suns avoided the wooden spoon.

That is a dishonor well earned by Port Adelaide. For the cot-case of the competition should have the ignominy of the spoon.

It would appear the coach and his senior players have been locked in a battle of wills that Matthew Primus is only now starting to win. That’s the picture of a dysfunctional team. If the only way the man entrusted to set the direction can prosper is to threaten the sack then that is unsustainable.

The only moment worth salvaging from the carnage is the emergence of John Butcher and until that contract is signed it could still stand as the final insult.

Gerard Whateley leads the Grandstand AFL call of Geelong v Collingwood tonight on ABC Radio