North Melbourne and Collingwood have paid a heavy price for their failures to beat bottom four sides in Round 22 by being condemned to knockout finals on interstate soil as the top eight was turned on its head in the last round of the season.
And Adelaide suffered the heartbreak of being pipped for fourth spot by St Kilda after the Saints - needing to beat Essendon by at least 94 points on Sunday to grab the double chance - conjured an amazing 108 point win over the Bombers.
That result - combined with the Roos' shock loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday and Collingwood's loss to Fremantle on Friday night - means Adelaide and Sydney will host home elimination finals next week.
But for the first time since 2000 four Victorian clubs have filled the top four positions - meaning that all finals will be played in Melbourne after this week.
The finals action begins on Friday night with second-placed Hawthorn hosting the third-placed Western Bulldogs at the MCG in the first of two qualifying finals while the other qualifying final will be minor premiers Geelong and the Saints.
That match will be played on Sunday afternoon at the MCG.
The two elimination finals will both be played on Saturday with the Crows hosting Collingwood at AAMI Stadium in the afternoon match while in the evening clash the Swans will host North Melbourne at ANZ Stadium.
The winners of the two qualifying finals will earn a week off and direct passage to MCG preliminary finals while the two losers will play the two winners of the elimination finals.
The two losers of the elimination finals will make an early exit from the September action.
And right now it is the Kangaroos and the Magpies that face the toughest task to survive beyond the first week of September.
But it was all so different from both clubs heading into round 22 as the Roos only had to beat 13th placed Port at the MCG to sew up fourth spot and the double chance while the Pies only had to beat 14th placed Fremantle - admittedly in Perth - to be assured of at least finishing fifth and enjoying a home elimination final.
The Kangaroos incredibly went down by 76 points while the Magpies three game winning streak ended at the most inopportune of times.
The Swans enjoy a 6-2 winning advantage in home finals in Sydney while the Kangaroos have only ever played one final on interstate soil - last year's preliminary final when they were humiliated by 87 points by Port Adelaide.
In contrast a road trip in the finals holds less fears for the Magpies - the only Victorian club besides Hawthorn to have won two finals on interstate soil.
The Pies not only beat West Coast in an extra-time thriller in the semi-finals at Subiaco last year but also scored a boilover victory over minor premiers Port Adelaide in the 2002 qualifying final - the last time they went to Adelaide for a final.
The Crows' record in AAMI Stadium finals matches stands at 5-2 but they did lose their first-up final there against St Kilda in 2005.
The two qualifying finals are equally fascinating contests with Hawthorn and the Bulldogs - a match-up that has been known for weeks - to clash in their first final since 1985.
The Hawks have never lost to the Bulldogs in three finals games and will start warm favourites against a side that has lost five of its last seven matches.
As for the Saints and Geelong - this is the clash everyone has been waiting for since the two clubs first emerged as a force simultaneously in 2004.
The pair almost played off in the grand final that season - both losing narrowly in preliminary finals - while both also suffered heartbreaking finals losses in 2005.
But while the Saints missed the finals last year, the Cats ended a 44 year premiership drought and have gone on this year to become only the second club (after Essendon in 2000) to win 21 of 22 home and away games since the 22 round season first began in 1970.
The Cats have won a record 40 of their last 42 matches - the best streak by a club in history - but the Saints will at least go into Sunday's qualifying final - the first finals meeting between the two clubs since 1991 - with plenty of confidence having won eight of their last ten matches.
And they performed miracles to grab fourth spot on Sunday - having begun the day some 4.7 percent behind the Crows.
But by half-time they had cut that gap to 2.5 percent then to just 1.6 percent by the last change before ultimately finishing nearly a percent ahead of the unlucky Crows as they wracked up the equal sixth biggest victory in their history.