Geelong and Collingwood have been the best two sides all year and will meet this Saturday to decide who will win this year’s premiership. Hopefuls Collingwood are looking to make it back-to-back premierships in turn sending Mick Malthouse out on a high note, while Geelong are looking to win their third premiership in five years to give Chris Scott the ultimate glory in his first year as coach.
However, Geelong are proven to be the underdogs in this year’s Grand Final, as Collingwood have been the favourites all year even though they couldn’t defeat the Cats when they played against each other twice in the home and away season.
Geelong's first encounter with Collingwood was in Round 8 and it was a nail biter with Geelong winning by 2 points. Yet it was a controversial game as Scott Pendlebury kicked a goal 2 minutes before the final siren and wasn’t given the goal under the ambiguous advantage rule.
Their second encounter was a clear embarrassment as Geelong smashed Collingwood in Round 24 by 96 points. Obviously Collingwood had nothing to play for and were resting up for finals, but Geelong came out and made a statement threatening Collingwood for the premiership and impressing many with their work rate and skill.
But keep in mind that if Collingwood had nothing to play for, then neither did Geelong. This game suggests that Geelong have some idea how to play the Pies and dismantle their structure and hit them on the scoreboard.
Geelong clearly seemed to have an easy finals run beating Hawthorn comfortably and then cruising to victory against West Coast to make it to the Grand Final. Collingwood on the other hand were nearly beaten in the final minutes of the first qualifying final as West Coast surged home but weren’t good enough to knock off the Pies. They copped a scare in their preliminary final as well, defeating the Hawks in a thriller by 4 points.
Collingwood will need to bring their 'A' game to beat a red-hot Geelong team if they wish to win back-to-back premierships. It seems like Collingwood could start to have the “Colliwobbles” as they have had a long time at the top, and trying to maintain a high pressure game plan could takes its toll this week.
Geelong have really been very low key this year as they didn’t make the grand final last year, and have lost Gary Ablett Jr. and Mark Thompson from their flag-winning side of two years ago. The critics were saying they were “too old and too slow” but they have kept chipping away and the loss of Ablett seems to have had no hindrance.
Injuries will come into play in this year’s Grand Final, in a massive way. For Collingwood, Ben Reid and Darren Jolly have had minor injuries and are hopeful to play; both players did train today for their second last training session but they will learn their fate at their last session on Friday. Fasolo, Goldsack and Macaffer are all pushing hard for Grand Final selction and Dayne Beams is really feeling the heat as he wishes he had have played better in previous games, but his last few games against Geelong he has had a day out so that will be taken into consideration.
Geelong's Steve Johnson is a crucial player as he always steps up to the big occasion, winning a Norm Smith in the 2007 Grand Final against Port Adelaide in their 20-goal drubbing. Johnson hyper-extended his leg against West Coast last week, but there were rumours flying around that he went to hospital this yesterday to get his ribs checked up. These rumours were denied by Jimmy Bartel at training today as Johnson was a no-show again at training. We are expected to find out whether Johnson is playing in the Grand Final early Saturday morning. If Steve Johnson is not playing it is most likely Shannon Byrnes who will take his spot as he was seen at training today and was in good touch.
MY TIP:
I have taken into consideration all the injuries and form both teams have had, and the weather which looking like it is going to rain. Clearly Geelong is the better wet weather football team, fair to say the best in the league at the moment.
I believe Steve Johnson won’t play, if he gets lucky he will be the substitute and it will be a tight match and the match-ups will be crucial. But with Geelong’s late form heading into the finals and their finals experience i believe that they will just get over the line against Collingwood by 10 points.
Great article Gibbsy, not sure if you remember me, but it's ag from King Pair.
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