The thrilling finishes of Round 20 carried into this weekend, with five games being decided by less than 14 points.
It all started with Hawthorn holding off the fast finishing Cats at the MCG on Saturday afternoon before Jeremy McGovern made himself a hero by showing nerves of steel after the siren at Adelaide Oval.
On Sunday the tight finishes continued with the Western Bulldogs getting redemption over North Melbourne by seven points at Etihad Stadium while on the other side of Melbourne it was the Swans who won a thrilling contest over the Demons at the MCG.
As always, there were plenty of talking points. Here's your Round 21 Heroes and Villains...
HEROES
Jeremy McGovern: You just couldn't script this. Almost 12 months on from when Luke Shuey dumped Port Adelaide out of the 2017 finals with his after-the-siren goal, it has happened again, to the same team, at the same ground.
This time West Coast's hero was McGovern, a man who spends the majority of his time patrolling the Eagles' backline. But with a three-goal deficit to overcome in the last quarter, Adam Simpson sent McGovern forward and he delivered in spades.
Final-quarter goals to Liam Ryan and Mark LeCras brought the margin back to just two points with 45 seconds on the clock and then it was over to McGovern. He worked his way to the front of a congested pack and clunked a contested mark from a Scott Lycett clearance to give the Eagles another after-the-siren chance.
For the second time in 12 months, Power fans couldn't bring themselves to watch and just like last time it was the same result as McGovern coolly delivered to keep West Coast's top two chances alive.
There's an old adage in football that when you're having a dirty day it can all change with one moment of brilliance and that was the case for McGovern who had just about his quietest match for the season up to that point. But to his credit he delivered when needed most.
10-goal Jack: If Jack Riewoldt wasn't already in the All-Australian team then pencil him in now after the Richmond premiership star kicked 10 goals against Gold Coast in a 76 point rout.
Few would have predicted trouble for the Tigers and it was one way traffic from the opening bounce as the reigning premiers eased to their eighth 40+ point win of the year off the back of Riewoldt's monster game.
It was the third time in his 246 game career Riewoldt had finished up with a bag of 10+ goals but perhaps the most impressive of all. He kicked 10.6 from his staggering 16 shots on goal, clunked 14 marks (including 12 inside 50) all while executing his usual tackling and pressure game.
Riewoldt's monster haul has seen him draw level with North Melbourne's Ben Brown at the top of the AFL's goalkicking charts as he chases a third Coleman Medal - something only 12 players in the history of the game have achieved.
Make no mistake, if Gold Coast's Tom Lynch is supposedly worth $1 million per season, then Riewoldt has to be worth double that amount.
A.M-T: Yep, when you're that good you just get your initials. Essendon's Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti was at his electric best on Friday night against St Kilda, keeping the Bombers' slim finals hopes alive with what was arguably the best game of his career.
McDonald-Tipungwuti applied his trademark pressure in the Essendon forward line to lay seven tackles but it was his scoreboard impact which made the difference. He kicked a career-high five goals straight as well as tracking at 94 percent disposal efficiency on the night.
If they weren't already, Bombers fans must be salivating at the prospect of a Joe Daniher return in 2019. A dynamic forward line of Daniher, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Jake Stringer and Orazio Fantasia is enough to give any defensive coach nightmares.
It wasn't all smiles for Essendon, however. Injuries to Brendon Goddard, Cale Hooker and Fantasia as well as an early head-knock to Adam Saad meant John Worsfold's side was down to zero rotations in the final term. It didn't hamper their progress too much as the Bombers went on to record a 43-point win to leave the Saints languishing in the bottom four.
VILLAINS
The football gods: Could the seemingly never ending run of injuries for Sydney's Alex Johnson be the villain of the season?
After five knee reconstructions, 12 knee operations and over 2,000 days out of the game, the Swans premiership player made his highly anticipated return to the side last week in a thrilling win over Collingwood at the SCG.
But in his second game back against Melbourne at the MCG it all went horribly wrong. Midway through the opening term, Johnson was grappling with Jesse Hogan for the ball in the back pocket when his right knee buckled and he fell to the ground. His immediate reaction told the story of a man who had been cruelled by yet another ACL injury.
The Swans went on to win a seesawing game but coach John Longmire could only think of Johnson in his post-match press conference.
"It's a strange feeling for everyone to be honest. You have just had a great win and you really reach down into the depths of your character for that win and we were thrilled with it and you come off the ground and Alex has got a suspected ACL on his good side so everyone digesting that, including Alex," Longmire said.
It could likely spell the end of a heartbreaking career for Johnson who would miss all of 2019 if has has ruptured another ACL.
Geelong's passengers: Those who are critical of Gary Ablett need to wake up and face the reality that he's one of the game's true greats who is still performing at an A-grade level.
He and Patrick Dangerfield were magnificent against the Hawks on Saturday afternoon but the Cats ultimately lost the contest, and as a result are in danger of missing finals for just the second time in 13 years, due to the lack of contributions across the board.
We're not sure there's a team with genuine premiership aspirations that has so many passengers on a weekly basis.
They might be relatively new to the AFL scene but James Parsons, Lachlan Fogarty and Mark O'Connor provided very little against the Hawks while the experienced Dan Menzel was almost unsighted for the game. He finished up with just seven possessions and one goal in another disappointing outing.
And then there's Cam Guthrie and Jake Kolodjashnij who both failed to register a single possession inside the first quarter and a half.
Compare that to the contributions Hawthorn got out of its lesser names and you can see why Alastair Clarkson's side won the game. James Worpel, Ricky Henderson, Harry Morrison and Blake Hardwick were all exceptional.
Tex Walker: Expect calls for Taylor Walker to relinquish the Adelaide captaincy to grow stronger this week after the Crows skipper endured a horror night against the Giants in Canberra.
Walker provided nothing for his side and watched on as the depleted Giants recorded a 14 point win to all but end Adelaide's torrid season as nothing short of a miracle now would see the Crows playing in September.
Walker finished the game with a team-low six possessions and just one goal in another sub-par performance. In fact, since his late heroics against West Coast in Round 15 he hasn't booted multiple goals in a game.
But the low point of Walker's night came in the third quarter when he tackled and slung silky Giant Josh Kelly head-first into the turf. A dazed Kelly was taken from the field and due to concussion failed to return.
It's an incident which is sure to catch the attention of Match Review Officer Michael Christian and one that could potentially end Walker's horror season if he's to be handed a two-game suspension.