St Kilda has justified its premiership favouritism and showed that it is now ready to handle the big occasion after keeping the Magpies to their lowest finals score in 25 years in easily winning Sunday's qualifying final clash at the MCG.
A best-on-ground performance from champion skipper Nick Riewoldt combined with a typically frugal defensive performance laid the foundation for the Saints' 12.8 (80) to 7.10 (52) win which puts Ross Lyon's team a significant step closer to ending a premiership drought stretching back to 1966.
The 28-point win means the Saints now have the all-important week off before facing the winner of next Friday night's semi-final between the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane at the MCG in a preliminary final at the same ground the following Friday night.
But while the Saints now have two weeks to prepare for their first crack at a grand final since 1997, the Magpies will have to do it the hard way if they are to win only their second premiership since 1958 and their first since 1990.
Not only do the Magpies now face a knockout semi-final against in-form Adelaide next week but the Crows - who annihilated Essendon by 96 points in the elimination final on Friday night - will have eight days to prepare for the game compared to the Pies' six.
And the Pies will be without star midfielder Scott Pendlebury for the rest of the finals series after he suffered a cracked fibula during the opening minutes of Sunday's game.
And even if the Pies - whose frailties in the key positions at both ends of the ground were exposed by the ruthless Saints on Sunday - do avoid going out in straight sets then they will have to face the highly-rated Geelong, which also earned the week off by winning the other qualifying final, in the preliminary final in a fortnight's time.
The Pies went into Sunday's game full of confidence with the Saints - who were carrying an enormous burden of expectation from their success-starved fans following the best home and away performance (20 wins/2 losses) in their history - having struggled in recent weeks with just one win (over bottom side Melbourne) from their last three matches.
But after a shaky opening in front of 84,213 fans, in which the Pies looked the better team in a fiercely contested opening term, the Saints reminded everyone just why they finished two games clear on top of the ladder and five games clear of the Pies' in fourth place.
And when the Saints, who booted just one goal in the opening term, needed a lift it was their inspirational skipper who stepped up in silencing those who have criticised his past finals performances.
Riewoldt booted three goals in the second term as the Saints turned an eight-point quarter-time deficit into a 10-point half-time lead while Lenny Hayes led the Saints' dominant midfield superbly with 31 touches, including a game-high 11 contested possessions.
And having taken control of the game there was no way the Saints' fantastic defence - which conceded the least amount of points ever in a 22-game season this year - was going to let the Magpies back into the match.
The Saints have conceded an average of just 64 points per game this season but the Pies could not even score that much as they were held to their lowest finals score since kicking just 5.11 (41) against Essendon in the 1984 preliminary final.
Too many of the Pies' star forwards such as Travis Cloke, Alan Didak and Paul Medhurst simply had no influence on the game as underrated Saints tagger Clinton Jones cut Didak out of the game while Sam Fisher, Sam Gilbert and tough nut Steven Baker cleaned up everything across half-back.
The Pies never stopped trying, particularly defenders such as Harry O'Brien who kept Stephen Milne quiet, but when the recalled Anthony Rocca - at 32 and playing just his fourth game all season and his first in four months - was the team's most dangerous forward then it summed up how toothless the Pies' attack was.
Indeed given the final stats - the Saints had 439 possessions to 275, 49 inside 50's to 34 and took 147 marks to 74 - it was hard to see just how the Pies got so close as those doubting whether the Saints would stand up to the finals pressure were given a rude shock.
ST KILDA: 1.2, 6.4, 9.7, 12.8 (80)
COLLINGWOOD: 2.4, 4.6, 6.8, 7.10 (52)
GOALS: St Kilda: Riewoldt 5, Koschitzke 2, McQualter 2, Schneider, Goddard, Milne
Collingwood: Thomas 2, Rocca 2, Anthony, Medhurst, Davis
BEST: St Kilda: Riewoldt, S Fisher, Hayes, Baker, Jones, Gilbert, Dal Santo, Goddard, Montagna
Collingwood: Shaw, O'Brien, Swan, Toovey, Thomas
INJURIES: St Kilda: Nil
Collingwood: Pendlebury (cracked fibula), Rocca (rolled ankle)
UMPIRES: Rosebury, Chamberlain, McInerney
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Nil
CROWD: 84,213 at MCG