With September looming, we're about to start hearing a lot more about finals experience. According to conventional wisdom, teams with the most finals under their belts will have a big advantage when it comes to the intense, high-profile September stage. But the stats suggest conventional wisdom is wrong, and fans of clubs without a lot of finals experience shouldn't panic.

Which teams are most experienced?

If finals experience mattered, Richmond fans would have cause for concern. Between them, only 13 of the 22 players who took the field for the Tigers in Round 23 have played in a final before, for a total of 34 games of finals experience between them. That's easily the lowest of any team in the top eight, with Port Adelaide and Essendon the next least experienced.

Sydney have the most experience, with 19 of their players having taken the field in a final before, for a total of 220 games of experience. These figures include all finals played by a team's players - for example, Lance Franklin's finals for Hawthorn count towards the Swans' total.

Ideally, we'd measure teams' experience based on the actual sides that will take the field in the first week of finals. But, lacking a crystal ball, it's tricky to figure that out. Adelaide's figure will likely go up a little - if Daniel Talia, Taylor Walker and Hugh Greenwood return for Kyle Hartigan, Paul Seedsman and Wayne Milera, for example, then a net seven games of finals experience will be added to their total. Similarly, Joel Selwood's 23 finals will add to Geelong's total if he returns.

Does finals experience matter?

The Western Bulldogs outfit that took the field against West Coast for the second elimination final last year had played only 56 finals between them. They were less experienced than the Eagles, Hawks and Swans teams they steamrolled on their way to the flag - GWS was the only opponent the Bulldogs faced that had less finals experience. The Bulldogs' experience in 2016 certainly demonstrates that inexperienced teams can triumph in September.