Even in a condensed 17-game season, there is still enough time over the course of the year for every team to experience peaks and troughs.
West Coast might be the smartest team of all in 2020 by getting its form slump over with nice and early.
Those first two weeks in Queensland, when the Eagles were unhappy campers and lost to Gold Coast, Brisbane and Port Adelaide, now go.
Since then they’ve beaten Adelaide and Sydney and, after returning to Perth, Fremantle and Collingwood.
Last Sunday’s 66-point thrashing of the Magpies at Optus Stadium was clearly the pick of the bunch.
In two hours of footy, the Eagles jumped from 10th to fourth on the ladder and their percentage improved from 100.48 to 114.85.
Not surprisingly, they are now outright favourites to win the premiership.
And why wouldn’t they be?
Admittedly, Collingwood was weakened, with skipper Scott Pendlebury’s last-minute injury withdrawal adding to a deep absentee list that included Jeremy Howe, Steele Sidebottom and Jordan De Goey.
But before allowing West Coast to kick an eye-popping 18.3 last Sunday, the Pies had conceded only 10 goals in two of their seven matches.
All up, they were averaging just seven goals kicked against them.
“We played our Washington Generals role really well today to the West Coast Globetrotters,” Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley wryly observed afterwards.
The Magpies kicked four of the first five goals before the Eagles kicked 17 of the next 18.
It started with brilliant ruckwork from Nic Naitanui, who handed Brodie Grundy a rare beating, and featured a 30-possession game from boom recruit Tim Kelly, who played his best game for the club.
The former Cat has been building nicely and has found form at precisely the right time.
But it is West Coast’s forwards who really fired.
Fresh off celebrating his 250th game with four goals and the Glendinning-Allan Medal for best afield in the Derby clash in round seven, veteran spearhead Josh Kennedy followed up with seven goals against Collingwood. And he had plenty of support.
Oscar Allen’s promising form continued with three goals, while Jake Waterman kicked two.
The Eagles will continue to enjoy the comforts of home for the foreseeable future.
Next up is Geelong, followed by winnable Optus Stadium meetings with Carlton and Hawthorn, with none of the four- and five-day breaks facing many of those near them on the ladder.
And, while the Eagles will likely need to travel again at some stage this season, there is the real prospect of a home Grand Final to consider as well. Their flag favouritism is warranted.