Whilst the Grand Final is the ultimate stage, the Preliminary Finals are often played with as much intensity at a far better standard. It is the round for the football purists!
The prelims always throw up some interesting scenarios: A Collingwood-Brisbane GF is now impossible yet a Hawthorn-Collingwood decider is a distinct possibility.
Like everyone else I am going to dissect the two games and try to pick the winners:
Geelong v Hawthorn Fri Sep 19, 7.40PM AEST MCG
The week off is not always beneficial although the aging Cats will have had more recovery time. Hawthorn’s demolition of the Adelaide Crows last week was clinical, as well as ruthless. You can see the puzzle being completed before your eyes. The Hollywood Hawks have a surging momentum and a secret weapon – Albo (and a finals beast in Jai Newcombe).
The Cats beat Brisbane convincingly in Week 1 and Chris Scott will have them primed for the game. I feel the off-field media involving Bailey Smith and Scott himself will have been a minor distraction. The Jeremy Cameron countdown to the ton is not helping either.He seems to be spraying a lot of shots lately.
These teams have a lot of history but often the Hawks have won when it mattered. Sam Mitchell could well become both a Premiership-winning captain and coach sooner than we think.
In what looms as an epic match, I’m tipping the Hawks by 6 points (fittingly the same margin as in the famous 1989 Grand Final between these two sides).
Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Sat, Sept 20 5.15pm AEST
Watching Brisbane last week was like watching someone touch up their little brother in a game of tennis. Sure, the Suns have come a long way, but the result in favour of the Lions was no surprise. So unlike the Hawks they don’t go into the match with that all-important momentum after something of an easy win at home.
Brisbane is a good all-round side even without Lachie Neale (calf) and Joe Daniher (retired) from last year’s team. Hugh McCluggage is a bona fide All-Australian and I feel is a barometer for the club. He had 9 possessions in the first quarter of last year’s Grand Final before being tagged (I know this as I unfortunately backed him to win the Norm Smith Medal which was awarded to Will Ashcroft!)
Collingwood just seem to be peaking at the right time. Darcy Moore was intercepting everything (and having an in-form captain must be a plus). De Goey is their X-factor as a proven big-occasion player. It will be fascinating also to see if Cam Rayner can back up his game last week. There are numerous other sub-plots as well (eg Charlie Cameron’s performance).
I feel the Lions won’t be able to get a run on as they did against the Suns. Therefore the Pies win by, say, 18 points.
So, two upsets and a Collingwood-Hawthorn Grand Final.
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