Round 23 was the final round of the season, with the Western Bulldogs, Carlton and St Kilda all fighting for that last spot in the eight,
Melbourne cinched a top two spot with a smashing of Brisbane on Friday night at the Gabba, putting a scare into the rest of the competition.
Fremantle did what they had to do to keep their top four chances alive, defeating GWS at Manuka Oval.
Geelong extending their win streak to 13 by thrashing West Coast in front of the home crowd.
With all three Sunday games having ramifications on rival sides, it meant that any result in those matches would prove costly.
Western Bulldogs survived a scare from Hawthorn in Tasmania, but ran away eventual winners by 23 points.
Carlton took on Collingwood at the MCG and looked like returning to finals since 2013, leading by four goals at the final change.
However, in typical magpie fashion, a five-goal last quarter blitz from Craig McRae's men ripped the hearts out of Blues fans, as they fell agonisingly short by one solitary point.
The Dogs claimed the last position in the finals.
St Kilda and Sydney's game was essentially moot, but the Swans still needed to win to make top four.
John Longmire's side held on and will face Melbourne in the qualifying final.
Sporting News' AFL experts have combined to produce a Brownlow predictor to figure out who might walk away with Charlie at season's end.
| Game/Votes | Game/Votes | Game/Votes |
| Brisbane v Melbourne | GWS v Fremantle | North Melbourne v Gold Coast |
| 3. Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) | 3. Caleb Serong (Fremantle) | 3. Alex Sexton (Gold Coast) |
| 2. Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne) | 2. Will Brodie (Fremantle) | 2. Noah Anderson (Gold Coast) |
| 1. Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne) | 1. Sam Taylor (GWS) | 1. David Swallow (Gold Coast) |
| Geelong v West Coast | Essendon v Richmond | Port Adelaide v Adelaide |
| 3. Joel Selwood (Geelong) | 3. Dion Prestia (Richmond) | 3. Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide) |
| 2. Tom Hawkins (Geelong) | 2. Tom Lynch (Richmond) | 2. Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide) |
| 1. Jonathon Ceglar (Geelong) | 1. Zach Merrett (Essendon) | 1. Zak Butters (Port Adelaide) |
| Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs | Carlton v Collingwood | St Kilda v Sydney |
| 3. James Sicily (Hawthorn) | 3. Patrick Cripps (Carlton) | 3. Jack Steele (St Kilda) |
| 2. Josh Dunkley (Western Bulldogs) | 2. Adam Cerra (Carlton) | 2. Dan Hannebery (St Kilda) |
| 1. Lachie Hunter (Western Bulldogs) | 1. Josh Daicos (Collingwood) | 1. Ben Long (St Kilda) |
AFL Brownlow 2022 Prediction Leaderboard
| Name | Team | Votes |
| Patrick Cripps | Carlton | 29 |
| Clayton Oliver | Melbourne | 28 |
| Rory Laird | Adelaide | 27 |
| Andrew Brayshaw | Fremantle | 25 |
| Lachie Neale | Brisbane | 25 |
| Christian Petracca | Melbourne | 21 |
| Touk Miller | Gold Coast | 21 |
| Jeremy Cameron | Geelong | 20 |
| Connor Rozee | Port Adelaide | 20 |
| Zach Merrett | Essendon | 20 |
| Jack Steele | St Kilda | 19 |
| Callum Mills | Sydney | 18 |
| Dion Prestia | Richmond | 18 |
| Josh Dunkley | Western Bulldogs | 16 |
| Luke Parker | Sydney | 15 |
| Max Gawn | Melbourne | 15 |
| Charlie Curnow | Carlton | 14 |
| Brad Crouch | St Kilda | 14 |
| Sam Walsh | Carlton | 14 |
| Jack Sinclair | St Kilda | 13 |
| Ollie Wines | Port Adelaide | 13 |
| Marcus Bontempelli | Western Bulldogs | 12 |
| Tom Liberatore | Western Bulldogs | 12 |
For last week's votes and leaderboard, click here.
More: Want more AFL? Watch Warriors On The Field celebrating Aboriginal Australia and its long history and association with the AFL. Streaming on AMAZON PRIME VIDEO.