This week on MARS Ratings Carlton and Hawthorn swapped 3rd and 4th, the Roos and Melbourne traded 11th and 12th, while the Eagles, Dogs, Fremantle and Essendon took part in a more elaborate position dance that saw the Dogs drop 1 spot to 8th, the Dons drop 2 places to 10th, Fremantle pick up a spot to move into 9th, and the Eagles claim 2 spots to leap to 7th.

The Ratings gap between 4th and 14th - an interquartile range of sorts - rose another couple of Ratings Points this week and now stands at a season-high 39.7 Ratings Points.

This lopsidedness is further evidenced by the statistic that the seven most highly-rated teams have each gained Ratings Points over the course of the past 5 rounds.

Together they've added almost 57 Ratings Points to their aggregate tally across these 5 rounds, much of it coming from Gold Coast, Essendon, Adelaide and the Bulldogs, despite two of these teams having enjoyed the Ratings-shelter that is the bye during that period.

Collingwood and Carlton are the big-improvers over the entire five-week period, both teams up by over 11 Ratings Points, in Carlton's case having had the opportunity to accrue Points in just 4 of the 5 rounds.

Geelong has also improved its Rating over this period, but by over 5.5 Points fewer than Collingwood, which has allowed the Pies to open up a 15-point gap to the Cats, the largest the difference in the two teams' Ratings has been all season.

The Dogs' near 15 Ratings Point decline has seen it plummet from 3rd on MARS Ratings to 8th with only a scant 1.5 Ratings Points between it and the Roos in 11th.

Their 5-spot decline is mirrored in a 5-spot gain recorded by the Eagles across Rounds 8 to 12, up from 12th to 7th. Their Rating of 1,001.3 is the highest Rating they've enjoyed all season.