Given how dependent the various Fund algorithms are on MARS Ratings it's either an enormous concern or a testament to MARS' efficacy that we find ourselves with a wagering profit and with MARS Ratings that depart so radically from ladder position.

The teams Rated 1st through 3rd on MARS collectively occupy ladder positions 5,6 and 10, while the team sitting 2nd on the ladder fills only the 9th spot on MARS Ratings and the team that's 8th on the ladder is Rated only 13th.

That said, Essendon and Adelaide are doing all they can to most rapidly align their MARS Rating with their ladder position. Over the past 5 rounds, Essendon has snatched almost 17 Ratings Points (RPs) from its opponents, while Adelaide's grabbed 15.

Sydney, Hawthorn, Richmond, Collingwood and the Dogs form the next tier of accumulators, each having wrested about 5 to 7.5 RPs from opponents over the same five-round period.

At the same time, Freo and the Giants, the only other teams to have acquired Points, have gained about 1 each.

Chief amongst the RP donors have been Carlton, Melbourne and the Suns, who've each tithed between about 12 and 13.5 RPs to those they've encountered. The Saints, Port and the Roos have been slightly less generous, pledging only 5 to 7 RPs apiece, while the Eagles, Lions and Cats have given up least, but still been net contributors in handing over between about 1.5 and 3 RPs each.

All told then, nine teams have accumulated RPs and nine have shed them. Of the teams currently in the top 8 on the competition ladder, six have accumulated RPs and two, the Eagles and the Blues, have surrendered them.

Only two teams not currently in the top 8 on the ladder have been net accumulators of RPs: the Tigers (13th) and the Dogs (11th).

The Colley and the Massey Systems are still scratching their imaginary heads too, trying to settle on an ordering for the 18 teams. Based on the most recent results, the Colley System has re-ranked 12 of the teams, most dramatically the Blues which it's dropped from 4th to 7th, and the Hawks which it's elevated from 8th to 5th.

Massey also re-ranked 8 of the teams based on Round 8 results, including dropping Carlton five places from 1st to 6th and the Saints three places from 6th to 9th, as well as lifting the Crows by three places from 8th to 5th and the Hawks by three places also from 4th to 1st.

Looking across the Systems' rankings, the greatest disparities are for: 

• Collingwood: rated 11th by Colley and 2nd by MARS
• Adelaide: rated 9th by MARS and 2nd by Colley
• Geelong: rated 12th by Massey and 3rd by MARS
• Essendon: rated 7th by MARS and 1st by Colley

With all this confusion amongst the incumbent Rating Systems I've been thinking that what we need is another opinion. So, I've been investigating the Offense-Defense Model, more about which in a night or two ...