The Brisbane Lions will play in their second AFL Grand Final in as many years, after defeating Geelong by 10 points in a thrilling preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday.
The Lions will face 2022 Grand Finalists the Sydney Swans, who won through on Friday after taking care of business against Port Adelaide.
Here's three things we learned from the game:
Brisbane's best football is the best in the competition
Okay, I'm not saying Brisbane is the best team in the AFL, though it may well prove that next Saturday. But I am prepared to say the Lions' optimum level isn't just irrepressible, it's a furious wave of run and gun which I'm not sure even Sydney can execute with the same devastation.
Brisbane has proved it two weeks in a row now, and under the most difficult of circumstances, backs to the wall and facing deficits of first 44 points against the Giants, then 25 points on Saturday evening against the Cats.
Clearly, these Lions are resilient. But their "never die wondering" mindset has on both occasions enabled them to not just chip away at those leeways, but mow them down in a flash.
Brisbane booted five goals from just 18 kicks in one short spell against GWS, and against the Cats kicked seven of the next eight goals once Patrick Dangerfield put Geelong more than four goals up in under three minutes of the third term.
Stoppages and centre bounce takeaways were relatively all square at half-time, but the Lions took over in that facet of the game when it mattered most, winning the third term numbers game 13-8 around the ground and 6-1 at the bounces, Lachie Neale damaging with six clearance wins of his own in a 10-possession quarter.
Cam Rayner (11 touches for the term), Kai Lohmann (nine) and Dayne Zorko (eight) were also on fire as the Lions upped the ante on pressure, forced normally-sure Geelong players to turn the ball over repeatedly, and capitalised on the results, Brisbane kicking nine goals to four after half-time.
Sydney might be the AFL's highest-scoring team in 2024, but even the Swans will struggle to hold back the Brisbane tide if the Lions are given too much latitude. The Cats certainly paid a hefty price for allowing it.
Victoria is big enough to handle a Grand Final without any of its 10 teams. In fact, we're big enough to say it's 'good for football'.
Yeah, really. It's 20 years since we first hosted an all out-of-state premiership playoff at the MCG when Port Adelaide beat Brisbane. The following two years produced two of the best Grand Finals of all time between Sydney and West Coast.
And now we're the setting for the first Grand Final clash between Sydney and Brisbane. It really is a great story beyond that, too.
Why? Firstly, because it confirms that the once-hostile-to-Australian-football northern markets are not only alive but thriving, with the Swans and Lions both playing in a second Grand Final within the past three seasons.
Who could deny either side a win next Saturday given how regularly they've kept going to the Grand Final well hoping for a sip from a premiership cup?
Second, because there's a nice historical symmetry about the match-up, with both these clubs having worked very hard in recent times to embrace their Victorian roots of former local incarnations.
As Brisbane coach Chris Fagan noted after the game, you can call the 2024 Grand Final a clash between South Melbourne and Fitzroy if you really need to and not be howled down as an overly-parochial dinosaur.
And finally, and most importantly, because not only are these two great teams deserving of their shot at the title, but they're arguably also two of the best teams in the AFL to watch.
The Swans are powered by a slick, effervescent midfield group led by Isaac Heeney, Errol Gulden, Chad Warner, their slingshot rebound from defence a joy to watch. Brisbane's explosiveness and its unpredictably brilliant forwards like Joe Daniher, Charlie Cameron and Cam Rayner are a must-watch.
Whatever the result next Saturday, the one thing of which you can be almost certain is that this Grand Final will not be dull.
This might be one of the few years when nobody starts penning Geelong's obituary
Last year, when the Cats missed finals after having won a long-awaited flag the year before, sure, the eulogies seemed appropriate. But how can you possibly do it 12 months on?
Geelong might not have ended up in a Grand Final, but the Cats have regenerated their list superbly, and already have a significantly different look to the outfit which 12 months ago took early leave for once.
Even in defeat, and as inspiring as Patrick Dangerfield was yet again, it was the Cats' kids coming to the fore as they have whenever Geelong looked at its best this season.
Max Holmes, who'll most likely win the club's best and fairest this year, was arguably their best again, his run and ball-getting capacity crucial, and his absence for much of the second half after straining a hamstring perhaps the fatal blow to Geelong's hopes of a Grand Final berth.
Even in bitter defeat, Geelong coach Chris Scott could smile about the sort of influence Holmes could exert on the competition over the next decade given he has only just turned 22.
It was key forward Ollie Henry's late couple of goals and four for the game which kept the Cats right in the hunt despite superstar Jeremy Cameron being well-held by Brisbane's Ryan Lester.
Gryan Miers' football smarts were at the heart of the inventiveness Geelong showed to forge its early lead. And while he seems like a veteran of this team after 131 games and six seasons, he's still only 25.
Ollie Dempsey is the Rising Star for 2024, and small forward Shaun Mannagh and running defender Lawson Humphries have both been instrumental in Geelong's damaging late-season performances.
The Cats this season were still the second-oldest list in the AFL. But one which is at the end of the road? You've got to be kidding.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.