WHAT'S left to play for if your team's not making the finals this season?

With four rounds to go, we can fairly safely say the bottom six teams have no chance of seeing action in September.

That's one third of the competition with nothing tangible to play for (12th-placed Hawthorn would also be long odds to sneak into the eight).

What can they get out of the rest of 2017?

"Pride" is one word that usually comes up when speaking to players, coaches or club officials.

Another favourite is the notion that finishing one season strongly can set up a better campaign the following year.

So, is there any truth to that?

Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade summed it up quite well at his weekly media conference on Thursday.

"It can be a bit of rhetoric, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"I think you get more individually.

"If you perform well as a team, by extension of that, some players are going to play well.

"You get more impetus for players going into pre-season with confidence.

"So, by extension, you can be right."

AFL.com.au trawled back over the past 20 seasons to see how teams that finished one season strongly – but missed the top eight – fared the following year.

The criteria was simple: win three of your last five matches – a decent finish for a non-finalist – and check out the results the next season.

Since 1997, a total of 34 non-finalists have ended their season with a three-of-five (or better) finish.

Surprisingly, 16 of those teams have then catapulted themselves into the top eight the following year. Not a bad ratio.

You might remember the Sydney Swans in 2002, winning their final four games under caretaker coach Paul Roos and then making a preliminary final in 2003.

St Kilda made the prelim final in 2004 and Fremantle did likewise in 2006 after finishing the previous seasons strongly (well, Freo lost its final match to drop out of the eight in 2005, but still won three of its final five).

The most remarkable rise was Neil Craig's Adelaide, who finished 12th in 2004 after he'd taken over from Gary Ayres mid-season, to then vault to the minor premiership just 12 months later.

The big finish to a poor season can transfer to a better follow-up year.

Each example has reasons, whether it's a new coach, a high draft pick making an impact, trades or young players maturing, but facts are facts.

The number of examples have dried up in the past decade though. Of 15 non-finalists that have won three of their last five games, only three – Adelaide in 2010/11, Richmond in 2011/12 and North Melbourne in 2012/13 – have kicked on to play finals the next year.

Melbourne and St Kilda can add to that list if they make the top eight this season.

So, although it's becoming less likely as the years roll on, it seems there's some merit to the notion that a strong finish can set your team up for a better crack the following year.

Plenty of reason to keep cheering for those bottom six (or seven) in the final month.