The dust had barely settled on the Blues' dominant 41-12 quarter-final win over the Waratahs before thoughts began drifting to the prospect of a mouthwatering semi-final match up down south against their old foes the Crusaders.
Of course, the defending champions still have the Fijian Drua standing in their way in their own quarter-final in Christchurch on Saturday before that matchup becomes a reality - a team that has already proven they have what it takes to tip them up.
Exhibit A: Lautoka. March 11. The biggest upset in Super Rugby history.
But fresh off adding another black mark to Australia's winless Super Rugby playoff record in New Zealand, the somewhat presumptuous Blues were comfortable looking confidently ahead to a showdown with Scott Robertson's men.
With a chance for redemption beckoning after their one-sided capitulation last year's final at Eden Park, Blues captain Dalton Papali'i admitted it would be an ideal chance to settle a stinging score.
"[There's a] bit of bad blood there with us and Crusaders but that's what you look forward to - these big challenges," said Papali'i after Friday's match.
"Going down there and getting one off them in a big game. [We] couldn't ask for a better opportunity.
"It dates back to years ago. The rivalry we have with them - the Blues city boys going up against those boys from down south. It gets stronger each year and the blood gets a bit more boiled after a while (nudge Leon)
"We're looking forward to it."
Back in March, the two sides played out a classic in Auckland - a final rematch that delivered on the hype, including dramatic swings in momentum and a bevy of brilliant tries, as the Crusaders prevailed 34-28.
It wasn't as pretty in May, when the Crusaders held the Blues try-less for a 15-3 victory at AMI Stadium.
Describing the Blues' relationship with the Crusaders as a rivalry has become slightly problematic, given rivalry requires at least some degree of parity. The Crusaders' 18 wins in the last 19 games between the two somewhat negates that.
They've also never lost a playoff game at home. Ever.
Either way, there's clearly no love lost among the two heavyweights and Blues coach Leon MacDonald - who's uniquely positioned to comment as a former Crusaders stalwart - had the eye of the tiger when quizzed on what that potential match-up would mean to his side.
It would also represent a rare chance for his team to enter a game as underdogs, which he believes frees his players up to play their best rugby.
"It's really exciting for us," said MacDonald. "We can go down there with a mindset of going to play and having a real crack at them. I think it sits nicer with us than here with the pressure of expectations.
"We'll go down there and get stuck in. Look forward to that."
As for their performance against the Waratahs, MacDonald was heartened by the way his team overcame a strong start by the Waratahs - who scored the first try of the game in just the third minute - to remain composed and impose themselves on the contest.
The Blues responded to the Sydneysiders' opening salvo with a stream of four tries, setting the tone with a spectacular length of the field effort capped off by halfback Finlay Christie.
The result ensured the Waratahs' losing streak against the Blues extended to nine games.
Improvements in previously problematic facets left MacDonald confident his players are peaking at the opportune time.
"One of the areas where we've struggled is just missing that critical clean at that moment when we've got them on the ropes, which has stopped us scoring tries," he explained.
"I thought some of our carry and breakdown work - which was spoken about and worked on a lot - was excellent.
"You saw at the end of the game when we started to get some massive metres through the middle just through the work we'd done - we'd broken them down and were starting to get the rewards.
"It's still not perfect but we're getting down there and giving ourselves a chance to score, which is much better than what we had experienced a few weeks back where we weren't creating a lot because we weren't able to string phases together.
MacDonald singled out centre Rieko Ioane for parise after a robust display in the crux of the Blues' backline - one of a few linchpin players he believes are starting to find their best at the right end of the season.
"[Ioane] in the last couple of weeks, physically he's been outstanding. I think his attacking game and some of the subtlety to it is improving and he's having more of an impact on the games, which is important to us because he's such a key player.
"Beauden [Barrett] is hitting good form. [Papali'i] probably had his best game of the year. Guys like Nepo [Laulala] stepping up and Bryce [Heem] was outstanding as well.
"There's some guys hitting some good form at the right time of the year."
MacDonald will hope that continues next weekend - preferably in Christchurch.
