The home and away season is over and now the finals are upon us and Geelong deserve to go into September as the hottest favourites to win the flag since Essendon in 2000.
The Cats of 2008 joined the Bombers of that year in becoming the only clubs to win 21 of 22 games since the 22 round home and away season began in 1970.
But that does not means the Cats are guaranteed of completing the job, as Essendon did in such emphatic fashion in 2000 when they crushed Melbourne in the grand final by ten goals.
In fact one team and one man in particular looms as a huge stumbling block to the Cats' bid to win back-to-back flags for the first time since 1952 - Hawthorn and its champion spearhead Lance Franklin.
Make no mistake the Hawks are capable of knocking the Cats off when it counts this year despite the Cats fast laying claim to being one of the greatest sides in league history.
No other club has won 40 of its past 42 matches - like the Cats have done since round six of last season - but that will count for little if they don't complete the job this September.
And while they look to have the other six finalists easily covered - even considering Collingwood have given them more trouble than any other club during their record-breaking winning streak - the Hawks of 2008 look a far stronger challenger this year than anything the Cats faced last year when they crushed Port Adelaide by a record 119 points in the grand final to end their 44 year premiership drought.
In so many ways the Cats and Hawks of this year are reminiscent of the two clubs the last time they played off in a grand final in 1989 - only this time the roles are reversed.
In 1989 it was the Hawks that were the established champions and a team on the verge of greatness - as the club aimed to win back-to-back flags for the first time in its history having won the 1988 grand final by a then record margin of 96 points.
Back then the Cats were the brash young challengers - brilliantly led by a freakish spearhead by the name of Gary Ablett.
In the build-up to that finals series - which Ablett would dominate like no man before or since in kicking 27 goals in four matches - he was being billed as the one man that could prevent the Hawks' seemingly unstoppable march to glory just as Franklin appears the one man capable of stopping the Cats this year.
As we all now know Ablett would produce an amazing grand final performance that year in kicking nine goals - a grand final record - in a losing side as the Cats came from 36 points down at the last change to so nearly knock off the Hawks in the most bruising grand final of the modern era.
The end result was just a six point win and back-to-back flags for the Hawks but the nature of that 1989 grand final win only added to the greatness of that Hawthorn team.
Equally in 2008, the Cats may find it much tougher to win their second flag than their first one - despite the fact they have probably improved around 20 percent