The AFL season is not yet half done, but already it's a case of September dreaming for two of last year's finalists.
Richmond and Carlton, who faced off in an elimination final in 2013, both suffered miserable round-11 losses and remain locked outside the top eight.
The Tigers were steamrolled by Essendon on Saturday night in a performance so poor it had coach Damien Hardwick questioning the club's personnel.
"We're going to have to find some players who are willing to play the Richmond way, because at the moment we're a long way short," Hardwick told radio station 3AW the day after the 50-point loss.
Richmond are 3-7 and 13th on the ladder, one spot below Carlton who have tallied four wins from their 10 matches.
The Blues' inability to defeat bottom-placed Brisbane the week after downing Adelaide is an example of the sort of stark inconsistency that is not seen by teams occupying the top half of the table.
The Lions kicked the final four goals of the game to win 14.14 (98) to 13.13 (91) at the Gabba on Saturday night.
"We built some reasonable momentum up over the past four or five weeks," defender Michael Jamison told the Nine Network.
"To lose that one, honestly it probably just shows where we're at as a club.
"I don't think we've earned the right to think about things in the long term (like finals)."
Port Adelaide skipped two games clear atop the ladder after rallying late to beat Melbourne by 20 points in Alice Springs on Saturday.
But despite having lost only once this season, the Power were unable to earn the mantle of premiership favourites after their seventh straight win.
That title was bestowed on Sydney at the SCG on Thursday night when they ripped Geelong apart by 110 points.
The Swans' pressure was relentless and they can create more of a buffer over Gold Coast when they tackle the Suns next Sunday at Metricon Stadium.
Hawthorn (second), Sydney (third), Collingwood (fourth), Gold Coast (fifth) and Geelong (sixth) all have 7-3 records as they jostle for a double chance in the finals.
The Magpies mauled St Kilda by 86 points on Friday night, while the Suns suffered a 32-point defeat to the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
In Sunday's other fixtures, Fremantle posted a 38-point win over Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium, while the Hawks flirted with disaster against GWS before prevailing by seven points.
North Melbourne consolidated their place in the top eight with an upset 38-point win over West Coast in Perth.
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