It’s a fact of AFL life that the top eight is often pretty much set in stone by midway through the season.

But a strong argument can be raised that - after just five rounds - the current top eight will still be in place at the end of the 2010 home and away season.

That sounds a big statement given the strong signs of evenness in the competition over the first month and a bit of football.

But a glance at the sides comprising that top eight shows that six of them - St Kilda, Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Carlton and Geelong - were in the finals in 2009.

So while they have been a bit up and down, they are generally on track to make it again.

The two sides to have jumped into the upper reaches are Sydney and Fremantle, replacing Essendon and Adelaide from last season.

The Crows and the Bombers have won just one game out of 10 between them and face an uphill battle to rise a long way up the ladder.

Freo and the Swans look to have improved significantly, and if their form keeps up (both have a 4-1 winning record), they would be expected to progress to September.

The main threats for a place in the eight will probably come from Port Adelaide and Melbourne, given their good results thus far.

Hawthorn is another with the talent to get right to the top of the ladder but luck seems to have deserted them again this year.

While the top eight looks likely to be drawn from those eight to 10 sides, there doesn’t appear much between many of them.

In fact, the competition looks tantalisingly even in 2010. Corey Enright alluded to it on geelongcats.com.au this week. Enright said he noticed the improvement in the other sides in many aspects - particularly skills, stamina and physical pressure.

And he said the speed had increased and the intensity of the hits was even higher.

It seems the other sides have raised the bar to match the standout teams from 2009 - Geelong, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs.

And best of all, most are playing an attractive brand of football.

Melbourne’s jump from the bottom to become a thrilling running side, taking chances and charging through the corridor has been a highlight of the year.

And the Cats have seen first-hand the exciting renaissance of Fremantle and Carlton.

Which augurs well for some terrific football ahead this season.

David Reed is an award-winning journalist who worked as a sports writer for major newspapers on both sides of the country and voted on the 2005 Norm Smith Medal. David will write extensively for geelongcats.com.au this season. The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.