We've reached the conclusion of the 2022 AFL home and away season, with the final week of the competition arguably the most frantic and dramatic we've seen for some time.
A coach was sacked, the Blues bungled out of the top eight, Brisbane's skipper came under fire and Alastair Clarkson was appointed as a senior coach.
Amid all the madness, here are our 20 thoughts from Round 23...
1 - Brisbane are in trouble
The Lions put in a dismal Friday night display as they were destroyed by Melbourne by 58 points and slumped to sixth on the table.
They now find themselves in a pretty average patch of form, and come up against one of the most in-form teams in the comp in Richmond for the first week of finals.
Whilst they do have a home final to give them a bit of an advantage, a lot has to change between now and next Thursday night for them to recover and re-establish themselves as a premiership threat.
2 - Dayne Zorko should be stripped of captaincy
Perhaps the most talked about story all weekend, Dayne Zorko has come under serious fire for his comments to Melbourne's Harrison Petty.
The Brisbane captain reportedly made a vile comment about the mother of young Demons defender Harrison Petty, which left him in tears.
Brisbane have since apologised to the Demons for Zorko's comment, but many belive that the Brisbane skipper should be stripped of his title for his remarks.
3 - Melbourne's support of Petty should be admired
In the midst of the vile comments made by Zorko, an overwhelmed Harrison Petty was comforted by his coaches and teammates in the three-quarter time huddle.
Perhaps something that hasn't been talked about enough, the support shown to Petty by the club in the midst of a crucial AFL match shows that even during a game of footy, their teammate's health and wellbeing was paramount to everyone around him.
It was a brilliant sight to see and something that the Melbourne Football Club should be admired for.
4 - Sam Taylor is AA bound
All-Australian contender and GWS key-back Sam Taylor put in one final solid performance on Saturday to put his best foot forward as an AA contender for 2022.
The defender has been a shining light on what has been a dismal season for the Giants, dominating in the air and ranking elite for intercept possessions this year.
On Saturday, Taylor tallied 20 disposals at 85% along with 12 intercept possessions and a massive 10 one percenters. He also kept his opponent Nat Fyfe goalless on the day.
A first-time AA berth could possibly be on the cards for Sam Taylor.
5 - Is Will Brodie the recruit of the season?
From Tyson Stengle to Jordan Dawson, to Jordan Clark. There have been plenty of fantastic recruits in the 2022 season, but is Will Brodie the best of the bunch?
Brodie, along with Picks 19, 61 and 69, were traded to Fremantle by the Gold Coast Suns in exchange for a future second and future fourth-round selection.
This season, the midfielder has averaged 27.6 disposals, 12 contested possessions and 5.5 score involvements per game. He has also played all 22 games this season, having previously only played a total of 25 over his five years on the Gold Coast.
He capped of his terrific first season in the west with 30 touches and a goal in Saturday's win over the Giants.
In terms of 'value for money' Brodie would almost have to be the best recruit of the 2022 season.
6 - Clarko has a lot of work to do
It was once again a terrible afternoon for the Roos as they lost at home to 12th-placed Gold Coast by 67 points.
This cemented the club receiving the wooden spoon for the second straight year, however this year only amassed a total of two wins as opposed to 2021's four wins.
Alastair Clarkson has taken on a mammoth task to get this club back to the big time, and with the state of the club, it's definitely not going to happen anytime soon.
7 - Richmond are looking very dangerous
It was another dominant display from the Tigers on Saturday night as they dismantled Essendon by 66 points, but with many players in arguably career-best form, they are looking to be a very dangerous team in the upcoming finals series.
Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia, Liam Baker, Dan Rioli and Noah Cumberland are just a few Tigers names who are in the form of their life at the moment, and that form and consistency could be enough to once again go all the way this season.
The Tigers have won four in a row and take on Brisbane Lions at the Gabba next Thursday night in an elimination final.
8 Essendon's treatment of Rutten was abysmal
After a week of speculation, the Bombers did the inevitable and gave the sack to Ben Rutten after a very unsuccessful year.
But after only two years in the job, and many problems within the club at board level, the dismissal of Rutten seems somewhat unfair, especially given how the club performed in his first season as coach.
Nevertheless, Essendon are now looking for a new coach to take over, with James Hird and Ross Lyon's name being thrown around as potential replacements.
9 Does the medical sub rule need to be looked at ahead of finals?
Once again, the medical sub rule is a talking point out of this weekend's action and this time is centred around Richmond big man Tom Lynch.
Lynch kicked five second-half goals in the second half of Richmond's win over Essendon before being immediately substituted out of the game after kicking his fifth, with reports indicating the key forward had 'groin soreness'.
Richmond also come under scrutiny a few weeks ago when Ben Miller was substituted in the fourth quarter against Brisbane for reasons unknown. Maurice Rioli came onto the field and played a high-pressing role as Richmond defeated Brisbane by seven points.
Miller was not included in the club's injury report that week and played the next.
It begs the question - does the medi-sub rule need to be approached and looked more at as a 'general substitute' rule to prevent situations such as this?
10 - Is Connor Rozee better than Sam Walsh?
If this question was asked in Round 1 this year, it would've been laughed off. Fast forward to the end of the season and the famous Kane Cornes-insinuated debate is a reality.
The 22-year-old enjoyed a brilliant end to his breakout season on Saturday night in the showdown, collecting 34 disposals, eight score involvements and a goal which saw him rewarded with the Showdown Medal.
Both Rozee and Walsh have enjoyed successful seasons and will both be in All-Australian contention, but has Rozee now surpassed Walsh after his impressive season?
11 - Is Robbie Gray Port's greater ever?
Saturday night's showdown also saw an emotional farewell to possibly Port Adelaide's greatest ever player, Robbie Gray.
Gray enjoyed a 56-point showdown win and even snagged two goals himself. He retires as the only player to ever win five Showdown Medals.
The Port legend gave a lap of honour to thank fans for their support over his 271-game career, where he kicked 367 goals.
12 - Sam Darcy can play anywhere
This kid looks very, very dangerous.
Only three games into his career, Sam Darcy is already showing the competition how good he can be in any key position on the ground.
Having been utilised by the Western Bulldogs mainly in defence so far (and impressing), he was thrown forward in the second quarter on Sunday in the season-defining game against Hawthorn, and delivered spectacularly.
When the game was in the balance, Darcy kicked two crucial goals when the Dogs were on the back foot and propelled them back into the game, playing a huge role in the 23-point win over the Hawks to land them a spot in the eight.
13 - Carlton are pretenders
What a disaster. After being 8-2 to start the season, the lid was off for Blues fans and finals footy looked almost a certainty.
However, after losing all of their last four matches, they dropped to ninth spot and became the laughing stock of the entire competition.
The Blues gave themselves every chance of playing finals with big efforts in the last two weeks, but poor kicking and the inability to hold onto fourth-quarter leads has inevitably cost them finals footy in 2022. Nothing short of an embarrassment.
14 - The Daicos' are both flying
Sign the brothers on for as long as possible! Josh and Nick Daicos are both on fire for the Pies at the moment, and they were both once again huge as the Pies defeated Carlton by a point on Sunday.
We've spoken about Nick in recent weeks and we already know how good he is, but Josh Daicos' numbers are really flying under the radar.
The 23-year-old collected 28 disposals, 7 tackles and 7 score involvements in Sunday's win, the type of form that has been emulated over his last month of Footy.
Both Daicos' will have to keep being at the top of their game if the Pies want to go deep into finals this September.
15 - Jamie Elliott has ice in his veins
First against Essendon, now against Carlton. Jamie Elliott has ice in his veins.
Possibly the most clutch player in the game right now, Elliott was relatively quiet on Sunday until the final quarter game around.
He kicked his first after taking a terrific pack mark with less than 10 minutes to go, then kicked a fantastic goal on the run inside 50 to put the Pies in front by a point with two minutes left.
Jamie Elliott is going to be a truly crucial player come finals time.
16 - Docherty in the middle in 2023?
Former Carlton skipper Sam Docherty has been immense in defence this season for the Blues. However, with their current midfield shortage, the experienced defender has been thrown into the guts and has been nothing short of brilliant.
In the last two weeks, 'Doc' has been played in the middle, averaging 28.5 disposals, 8.5 tackles, 11 contested possessions and 6 clearances. Crazy numbers considering he has played as a defender his whole career.
Although Carlton did not make finals, Docherty did all he possibly could to help the cause, and potentially threw his hat in the ring to be a part of the midfield group in 2023.
17 - Hannebery's best would still be good enough
The footy world said goodbye to Dan Hannebery on Sunday, with constant pressure and injuries forcing to premiership player to retire.
However, in his final game he showed that if it wasn't for injury, his best is still more than good enough to compete at a high level of footy.
The 31-year-old collected 30 touches, including 6 tackles, 13 contested possessions and 7 clearances. Not bad for a bloke that's retiring.
18 - Ben Long the half-back?
Saints fringe player Ben Long has been thrown into many different positions over the course of the season, but may have found his home at half-back after an impressive display on Sunday against Sydney.
Long this season has found himself starting bulk games as the medical substitute, to then playing as a tagger or as a high-pressure forward. However, after being slotted into the half-back line yesterday, he collected 27 disposals at 96% efficiency along with 17 marks and a goal.
It was arguably Long's best game in St Kilda colours, however, was overshadowed by this incident in the fourth quarter that left him on report.
19 - Max King can kick straight when the pressure's off
It was a day out for Max King yesterday in the Saints' loss to the Swans, with the big key forward kicking five goals straight after his calamitous performance last week against the Lions.
The match showed one thing - King clearly has what it takes to be the man the Saints need in big key moments, but doesn't have the mental strength as of yet to provide when necessary.
We mustn't forget that he is only 22 years of age - his performance in big games should improve with experience and maturity under his belt.
However, at the end of the day, you don't get as many opportunities as King did against Brisbane when the pressure was on. You'd assume Saints fans would expect him to be delivering next time around if he gets the opportunity.
20 - Can Will Hayward be an x-factor this finals series?
Livewire half-forward Will Hayward seems to be flying under the radar at the moment and had a huge impact on the Swans win over the Saints yesterday.
Hayward kicked three major's yesterday - including two in the last quarter - as the Swans ran out 14-point victors.
The forward has kicked five goals in the Swans' last three matches, but the most impressive stat being that he has accumulated 21 score involvements in those matches.
Hayward will be a massive x-factor for the Swans in the finals if he keeps up this form.