Craigieburn was staring down the threat of relegation and underwent the turbulence of a coaching change midway through the Strathmore Community Bank Division One campaign.
However, in a remarkable revival, the Eagles claimed six wins from their last eight home-and-away outings to secure fifth position and set up an elimination final against Avondale Heights at Sewell Reserve on Sunday.
Craigieburn will enter finals as one of the competition's in-form sides, having knocked off the former Premier Division club by 35 points in the final round on Saturday and hammering rival finalist Hillside by 59 points in Round 17.
"It was only six or seven weeks ago we were staring down the barrel of relegation," the club's football manager Jason Andrews said.
"The pressure was on a little bit, I'm not going to lie, and we came through that. The co-coaches that took over, Jack and Cale, wanted to keep things relaxed and get the boys together, and just make sure they were playing the kind of football we wanted to play.
"We were able to escape the relegation battle, and that was a bit of a relief at the time, there's no doubt about that. Then we set our focus on taking it one week at a time and we may be able to even shape what the finals look like.
"A couple of wins after that, we grew and we grew, and then all of a sudden it became the case of, 'Well, hang on, maybe we can make it.'
"We've now made the finals. There's no point being here without trying to make an impact. We're happy with the way we're playing and we're relatively injury-free.
"We've got a couple of little niggles, but nothing major that we can't handle."
Former coach Shane Jacobs departed in June - before the Eagles' Round 10 clash against St Albans - with Jack Carlyon and Cale Bettanin taking over as co-coaches.
The duo have navigated the potential instability associated with a change of coach with aplomb.
While Craigieburn has back-to-back wins over two quality opponents, it also pushed minor premier Oak Park (14-point loss) and perennial contender West Coburg (three points) last month, underlining its status as a dangerous opponent.
Andrews praised the co-coaches for "keeping a young group calm" and also lauded the efforts of skipper Jamie Gorgievski.
"They've brought players into the side that they know will give 110 per cent effort. That's one of the big things they've changed," Andrews said.
"But strategically, they've been fantastic, and the playing group's ability as a young group to be able to adapt mid-game on the coaches' strategies with the opposition has been fantastic as well.
"As a young group, they're all leaders in a way, but our captain and leadership group have been great."
Andrews said Jacobs, who was in his third season at the helm, made the decision to depart.
"Yeah, it was worrying at the time. Unfortunately, Shane chose to leave the group, which was his decision. It was fine. He feels it's a good move for the club and personally for him," he said.
"The coaches that have taken over have been sensational."
Jai Robinson has been a key figure for the Eagles since crossing from top-flight Northern league club Montmorency, racking up possessions at will.
Nathan Stewart and Harry Albon have also impressed in the midfield, while forward Tadhg Boyle and ruck Ben Radford have also been standout performers.
"As a team, as a whole, we just want to play a good brand of football and make sure we're tackling hard and playing with good intensity, which is a non-negotiable for us," Andrews said.
Craigieburn booted nine goals to four after quarter-time on Saturday to secure a comfortable win over Avondale Heights, 12.16 (88) to 7.11 (53).
The Heights won the previous clash between the pair by 32 points in Round 9.
"We've got a few little things up our sleeve that we'll come out with (on Sunday) to enable us to play an even better brand of footy," Andrews said.
"We've got some improvements to make, there's no doubt about that, but they're a young side, and we're learning every week. It's so good at the moment.
"We had a lot of scoring shots on Saturday and we didn't kick too straight, so that'll be one of the areas we're especially looking to improve."
While pleased with the Eagles' ability to rescue their season, Andrews stopped short of declaring the season a success regardless of the result in this weekend's elimination final.
"Yes and no. It's been great to turn it around. It's been surreal, it really has," he said.
"But right now we want to have a crack this week. We'd like to be going into round two of the finals, no worries about that, so we'll give it our all.
"A lot of the young boys have done a lot of finals experience playing in the last couple of under-18 grand finals and things like that. They'll enjoy the challenge."
West Coburg and Hillside will lock horns in Saturday's qualifying final at Salesian College on Saturday, while Oak Park earned a week's rest after a 15-3 regular season.
