The Western Bulldogs are hopeful Aaron Naughton will available for a historic wildcard showdown with Collingwood after the star forward suffered an ankle injury in a 21-point over Melbourne.
Boosted by the return of Marcus Bontempelli after the birth of his first child, the Bulldogs brought finals-like pressure to the end of the home-and-away season.
Entering the match with a 10-1 record at the MCG this year, the Demons were strangely flat and disorganised on Saturday, despite a win meaning they would be guaranteed a top-six finish and earn a week off before finals.
Trailing by 28 points at the 10-minute mark of the final quarter, Melbourne - inspired by Max Gawn - quickly peeled the deficit back to just eight to have the MCG roaring.
But experienced midfielder Matt Kennedy's classy snap with four minutes left put a pin in the Demons' bubble, allowing the Bulldogs to win 16.12 (108) to 12.15 (87).
Bontempelli made a certainty of the result when the Bulldogs captain slotted his second goal of the game with just two minutes left, capping off a superb 27-possession match.
Regardless of results for the rest of the round, the Bulldogs are locked into eighth and will face the ninth-placed Magpies in a wildcard match back at the MCG, likely next Friday night.
In a blow for the Bulldogs, Naughton - who had slotted two goals - was ruled out for the rest of the match after landing awkwardly in the third quarter.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is hoping a light training week will have him ready to face Collingwood.
"It's a lateral ligament injury, which can settle down really quickly," Beveridge said.
"(If) he ices, he settles and he doesn't train much and hopefully he'll be OK.
"But I can't tell you emphatically whether he'll come up."
The Bulldogs will also give ruckman Tim English an outside chance to play as he recovers from a knee injury.
The Demons also lost forward Matt Jefferson, who went down moments after Naughton with a knee injury.
Key defender Dan Turner played out the match after a knee concern in the first term, but could be in some doubt.
"Fingers crossed they both recover well, and the scans are positive," Melbourne coach Steven King said.
Despite Melbourne smashing the Bulldogs out of the centre, due to ruck goliath Gawn going up against Rory Lobb and journeyman Ryan Gardner, the Demons struggled for connection inside 50 and defended poorly.
Gawn was clearly best-on-ground with 28 possessions, 10 clearances and 59 hit-outs.
"He's an icon of our game," King said of Gawn.
"The way he's captained our club this year ... I don't think there's a better captain in the competition at the moment.
"The way he's carried our club, not only this year, but probably for the last 10 years, in particular the last couple of years through some turbulence.
"I'm not sure if we'd be all sitting here (in finals) if the big fella wasn't still going around."
Joining Bontempelli in spearheading the Bulldogs' charge was Ed Richards with a game-high 30 possessions and one memorable goal.
In the first quarter, Richards snapped through a ball from 40m out, despite his boot coming off in the preceding contest.
Richards decided to celebrate by holding up the boot to his ear.
Harrison Petty led Melbourne's goal-kicking with three, two of them coming during the Demons' final-quarter surge.
