Hawthorn's meteoric rise into AFL finals calculations - perhaps even premiership consideration - hasn't shifted the goalposts for Sam Mitchell.
The Hawks' third-year coach apologises for falling back on the cliche, but couldn't paint any clearer picture of the task confronting his side over the next fortnight.
"We have to win our next two games," Mitchell said, noting a raft of fellow finals hopefuls are in the same position.
"When I talk to our players it's, 'We have to win our next one game', because our next loss will finish our season.
"It's been a long finals campaign for us already because we've been playing like this probably since round 15 or 16."
Hawthorn have surged into the top eight for the first time this year after a 74-point humiliation of Carlton on Sunday.
The Hawks' destiny is now in their own hands ahead of games against bottom-two sides Richmond and North Melbourne to complete the home-and-away campaign.
It has been a remarkable turnaround after a 0-5 start left their season teetering on the brink.
"We deserved to be written off at that point," Mitchell said.
"By the same token now we deserve to be spoken about as a side that's desperately trying to hang onto our spot in the eight and have some sort of impact.
"People always say the season is a marathon and our first 10km was pretty ordinary, but we've accelerated into this point and time will tell if we get there in the end."
A long period of experiencing cut-throat matches should serve Hawthorn well in their ongoing development, but Mitchell concedes it won't necessarily be any sort of advantage this September.
"We're not the only team in this position ... there's like 10 teams that all have to win every game just to qualify for the eight," he said.
"All I know for us is we've got a game this week against the Tigers that we'd shoot ourselves in the foot if we don't continue to play with the same intensity and intent that we have in the last couple of months.
"When we've done that we've given ourselves every chance and this week will be no different."
Aside from ladder leaders Sydney playing finals, very little is certain as teams battle for spots on the September starting grid over the next fortnight.
Port Adelaide, GWS and Geelong round out the current top four, while the Brisbane Lions, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs are in the mix but all lost games last round.
Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon all sit below eighth-placed Hawthorn and are desperately trying to keep their respective seasons alive.
But the Blues are in freefall and battling a raft of fresh injury concerns, while the reigning premier Magpies face must-win clashes with Brisbane and Melbourne.
"We're going to fight to the very end," Collingwood ruckman Darcy Cameron said.
The Bombers have a tough run with games against Sydney and Brisbane, but the equation is simple.
"Win the last two and hopefully everything falls our way," Essendon defender Mason Redman said.
