THE NAB League reaches its home-and-away crescendo this weekend with the last round of matches before the finals – and there are still many permutations that can take place.

The competition’s finals format sees the top three teams earn a week off next week for the Wildcard Weekend, with the other 10 teams to play knockout games to fill the last five spots in the top eight.

Then it is a straight knockout right through the finals, with the four quarter final winners progressing to the semis and then those two winners playing for the flag.

Let’s take a look at where each team could finish entering the business end of the season.

Xavier Lindsay of the Gippsland Power in action during the NAB League Boys match between Gippsland and Greater Western Victoria at Shepley Oval on August 07, 2022. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

GIPPSLAND POWER

1st, 10-2, 140.30%

RECENT FORM: Lost 2 out of 3 after being 9-0

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to GWV (12); def Northern (100); lost to Tasmania (11); def Oakleigh (6); def Sandringham (5)

ROUND 16: v Dandenong Stingrays, Friday, 7.30pm, Skybus Stadium

IF THEY WIN: Will claim the minor premiership.

IF THEY LOSE: Should still finish top, unless they lose by enough to drop the 8.84% lead they have over Tasmania – roughly seven goals. A 15-goal loss could see the Power slip to third.

PREDICTION: 10-3 (1st)

Mitchell Nicholas of the Tasmanian Devils kicks the ball during the match between Tasmania and Calder at Twin Oval on July 31, 2022. Picture: Steve Bell/AFL Photos

TASMANIA DEVILS

2nd, 10-3, 131.90%

RECENT FORM: Won 4 in a row and 6 out of 7

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Northern (34); def Calder (83); def Gippsland (11); def Bendigo (69); lost to Dandenong (80)

ROUND 16: Bye

SUMMARY: Will finish first if Gippsland loses by about seven goals, or second if the Power lose by less or win. Can’t drop below second because if Dandenong wins by enough to catch them, the Power will cop a big enough percentage hit to fall below.

PREDICTION: 10-3 (2nd)

Taj Campbell-Farrell of the Dandenong Stingrays in action during the round five NAB League match between the Geelong Falcons and the Dandenong Stingrays at Queen Elizabeth Oval. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos)

DANDENONG STINGRAYS

3rd, 9-3, 114.90%

RECENT FORM: Won 6 out of 7

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Bendigo (7); lost to Eastern (8); def Murray (3); def Oakleigh (12); def Tasmania (80)

ROUND 16: v Gippsland Power, Friday, 7.30pm, Skybus Stadium

IF THEY WIN: Can finish first if they win by about 15 goals, second if they win by more than seven goals or third if the margin is closer.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish third if GWV loses, but can slide to fourth if the Rebels win, with the percentage differential between the teams equating to about 11 points.

PREDICTION: 10-3 (3rd)

Tristan Maple of the GWV Rebels kicks during the round five NAB League match between Murray Bushrangers and GWV Rebels at Queen Elizabeth Oval on May 01, 2022. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

GWV REBELS

4th, 8-4, 113.70%

RECENT FORM: Won 3 in a row and 5 out of 6

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Gippsland (12); def Eastern (33); def Western (46); lost to Sandringham (17); def Northern (14)

ROUND 16: v Geelong Falcons, Sunday, 2pm, Queen Elizabeth Oval

IF THEY WIN: Will finish third if Dandenong loses and they make up roughly 11 points in percentage, otherwise they will be fourth.

IF THEY LOSE: Will drop at least to fifth behind the Falcons, sixth if Eastern wins and seventh if Sandringham also wins. Could also drop to seventh with a Dragons loss if Oakleigh can make up the percentage gap.

PREDICTION: 9-4 (4th)

Joe Pike of the Geelong Falcons handballs during the round five NAB League match between the Geelong Falcons and the Dandenong Stingrays at Queen Elizabeth Oval on May 01, 2022. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

GEELONG FALCONS

5th, 7-4-1, 109.90%

RECENT FORM: Lost 3 out of 4

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Western (2); lost to Sandringham (22); def Bendigo (25); lost to Murray (18); def Calder (42)

ROUND 16: v GWV Rebels, Sunday, 2pm, Queen Elizabeth Oval

IF THEY WIN: Will finish fourth.

IF THEY LOSE: Will drop to sixth behind the winner of Sandringham and Oakleigh and seventh if Eastern also wins.

PREDICTION: 7-5-1 (7th)

Sahaf Ali of the Ranges handballs during the NAB League match between the Western Jets and the Eastern Ranges at Avalon Airport Oval on July 10, 2022. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos

EASTERN RANGES

6th, 7-5, 124.90%

RECENT FORM: Won 5 out of 6

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Sandringham (77); lost to GWV (33); def Dandenong (8); def Western (52); def Calder (36)

ROUND 16: v Calder Cannons, Saturday, 3pm, RSEA Park

IF THEY WIN: Will finish fifth unless the Sandringham or Oakleigh beats the other by enough to haul in the big percentage gap, otherwise sixth.

IF THEY LOSE: Will fall to seventh behind the winner of the Dragons and Chargers or eighth if Murray wins. Small possibility of dropping to ninth, but that would mean dropping a massive chunk of percentage.

PREDICTION: 8-5 (5th)

Harry Sheezel of the Dragons kicks the ball during the round 13 NAB League match between Sandringham and Geelong at RSEA Park on July 23, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS

7th, 7-5, 114.30%

RECENT FORM: Won 4 out of 6

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Eastern (77); def Geelong (22); def GWV (17); lost to Gippsland (5); def Western (40)

ROUND 16: v Oakleigh Chargers, Saturday, 12.30pm, RSEA Park

IF THEY WIN: Will finish fifth if Eastern loses or sixth if the Ranges win.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish eighth, or ninth if Murray wins.

PREDICTION: 8-5 (6th)

Oakleigh Chargers' Braden Andrews in action during the NAB League Boys match against Tasmania Devils at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on May 22, 2022. Picture: Jonathan DiMaggio/AFL Photos

OAKLEIGH CHARGERS

8th, 7-5, 109.70%

RECENT FORM: lost 4 out of 5

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Western (37); def Murray (5); lost to Gippsland (6); lost to Dandenong (12); lost to GWV (25)

ROUND 16: v Sandringham Dragons, Saturday, 12.30pm, RSEA Park

IF THEY WIN: Will finish fifth if Geelong and Eastern both lose but can still get that high if GWV loses and they make up the 3.91% difference, otherwise they will be sixth. If Eastern wins, they will most likely finish seventh – again percentage pending.

IF THEY LOSE: Will stay in eighth spot if Murray loses or drop to ninth if the Bushrangers win.

PREDICTION: 7-6 (9th)

Toby Murray of the Murray Bushrangers takes a mark during the round five NAB League match between Murray Bushrangers and GWV Rebels at Queen Elizabeth Oval on May 01, 2022. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

MURRAY BUSHRANGERS

9th, 6-6, 121.50%

RECENT FORM: lost 3 in a row and 5 out of 8

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Calder (11); lost to Oakleigh (5); lost to Dandenong (3); def Geelong (18); def Bendigo (10)

ROUND 16: v Bendigo Pioneers, Sunday, 11.30am, Queen Elizabeth Oval

IF THEY WIN: Given their strong percentage, they will finish seventh if Eastern loses or eighth if the Ranges win.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish ninth.

PREDICTION: 7-6 (8th)

Jaelen Pavlidis of the Western Jets looks to pass the ball during the NAB League match between the Western Jets and the Eastern Ranges at Avalon Airport Oval on July 10, 2022. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos

WESTERN JETS

10th, 4-8, 83.50%

RECENT FORM: Won 2 in a row after losing the previous 6

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Oakleigh (37); def Geelong (2); lost to GWV (46); lost to Eastern (52); lost to Sandringham (40)

ROUND 16: v Northern Knights, Saturday, 10am, Preston City Oval

IF THEY WIN: Will finish 10th unless Calder wins and makes up a huge 13.13% deficit, then 11th.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish 10th if Calder loses or 11th if the Cannons win.

PREDICTION: 5-8 (10th)

Rye Penny of the Calder Cannons takes a mark during the match between Tasmania and Calder at Twin Oval on July 31, 2022. Picture: Steve Bell/AFL Photos

CALDER CANNONS

11th, 4-8, 70.40%

RECENT FORM: Won last game after losing previous five in a row

PAST FIVE MATCHES: def Murray (11); lost to Tasmania (83); lost to Northern (41); lost to Eastern (36); lost to Geelong (42)

ROUND 16: v Eastern Ranges, Saturday, 3pm, RSEA Park

IF THEY WIN: Will finish 10th if Western loses, otherwise 11th. Can get to 10th if both win and the Cannons make up 13.13% - which equates to about 150 points.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish 11th.

PREDICTION: 4-9 (11th)

Michael Kiraly of the Bendigo Pioneers kicks during the NAB League match between Dandenong and Bendigo at Shepley Oval on August 07, 2022. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

BENDIGO PIONEERS

12th, 2-9-1, 81.40%

RECENT FORM: lost 4 out of 5

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Dandenong (7); def Northern (1); lot to Geelong (25); lost to Tasmania (69); lost to Murray (10)

ROUND 16: v Murray Bushrangers, Sunday, 11.30am, Queen Elizabeth Oval

IF THEY WIN: Will finish 12th.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish 12 if Northern loses and 13th if the Knights win.

PREDICTION: 2-10-1 (12th)

Ty Kitchell of the Northern Knights in action during the NAB League Boys match between Northern Knights v Eastern Ranges at Preston City Oval on June 18, 2022. Picture: Jonathan DiMaggio/AFL Photos

NORTHERN KNIGHTS

13th, 2-10, 72.00%

RECENT FORM: lost 10 out of 11

PAST FIVE MATCHES: lost to Tasmania (34); lost to Gippsland (100); lost to Bendigo (1); def Calder (41); lost to GWV (14)

ROUND 16: v Western Jets, Saturday, 10am, Preston City Oval

IF THEY WIN: Will finish 12th if Bendigo loses or 13th if the Pioneers win.

IF THEY LOSE: Will finish 13th.

PREDICTION: 2-11 (13th)

NAB LEAGUE LADDER ROUND 15, click here

THIS WEEK

ROUND 16: Friday, August 19: Dandenong Stingrays v Gippsland Power (Skybus Stadium, 7.30pm). Saturday, August 20: Northern Knights v Western Jets (Genis Steel Oval, 10am) ; Sandringham Dragons v Oakleigh Chargers (RSEA Park, 12.30pm); Eastern Ranges v Calder Cannons (RSEA Park, 3pm). Sunday, August 21: Bendigo Pioneers v Murray Bushrangers (Queen Elizabeth Oval, 11.30am); GWV Rebels v Geelong Falcons (Queen Elizabeth Oval, 2pm). Bye: Tasmania Devils.

NEXT WEEK: August 26-27: Wildcard Round: 4 v 13, 5 v 12, 6 v 11, 7 v 10, 8 v 9

THEN: September 2-3: Quarter-Finals: 1st v lowest ranked Wildcard winner; 2nd v second-lowest ranked Wildcard winner; 3rd v third-lowest ranked Wildcard winner; fifth-lowest ranked Wildcard winner v fourth-lowest ranked Wildcard winner

(All games are streamed live on the NAB League app except for the Herald Sun games, which are on that website).

NAB LEAGUE LEADING GOALKICKERS

Gippsland wunderkind Zane Duursma is the favourite to be the NAB League leading goalkicker. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos

29: Zane Duursma (Gippsland) bye
29: Brandon Leary (Tasmania) bye
28: Aaron Cadman (GWV) bye
27: Will Splann (Tasmania) bye
26: Logan Morris (Western) bye
23: Brady Wright (GWV) bye
22: Harry Sheezel (Sandringham) bye
21: Ingo Dammersmith (Oakleigh) bye
20: Euriah Hollard (Geelong) bye
20: Jovan Petric (Western) bye
19: Beau Tedcastle (GWV) bye
18: Tom Gillet (Geelong) bye
17: Charlie Clarke (Sandringham) bye
17: Brayden George (Murray) bye
17: Fletcher Hart (Murray) bye
16: Bailey Humphrey (Gippsland) bye