The grand final footy fans deserve

By Russell Bennett September 13, 2021 â€" 5.00am

The footy world has been salivating all season over the prospect of just the second Demons-Bulldogs grand final, and in a shade under a fortnight it will become a reality.

But for Victoria’s footy-loving public, who’ve spent so much of the past 18 months finding a way to pass the time in between AFL rounds, the next two weeks will progress painfully slowly.

Tom Liberatore, Christian Petracca, Luke Jackson, and Marcus Bontempelli will be ones to watch in the 2021 grand final.Credit:Getty Images

It’s not just that it’s an all-Melbourne affair at an interstate venue for the second year in a row during the pandemic. It’s that this particular match-up on the biggest stage is just so fitting.

Preliminary final weekend often has a way of clearly separating the pretenders from the contenders.

Port’s indifferent form against top eight sides all season was well-documented, while the Bulldogs â€" who finished the home-and-away season fifth after a late stumble â€" maintained a top-two position for the most part.

The stats never lie. With pressure always the aim of the finals game, the competition’s top two in scores from turnover will battle it out on the final day of the season. The Bulldogs outscored their opposition by 15.1 points per game in that regard â€" ranked first in the competition â€" while the Demons were a close second with 14.8 points per game.

Two other telling markers â€" how often they score per forward-50 entry and contested possessions â€" also featured both the Demons and the Bulldogs inside the competition’s top three.

While some may have been waiting all season for the Demons to fall at the last hurdle before the grand final, their performance on Friday night proved why that was never likely. This isn’t the “same old” Melbourne, while Luke Beveridge’s Bulldogs have proven yet again that they’re made for the biggest stage. For any neutral footy fan, this is the ideal match-up.

HISTORY LESSON

History has rarely been on the side of either the Bulldogs or the Demons since the 1954 VFL grand final.

On that day, Footscray proved far too strong for Melbourne â€" thanks in no small part to the same kind of blistering opening term the current Bulldog breed produced against Port on Saturday night. The Demons’ glory years under Norm Smith from the mid-1950s to the mid-’60s are a distant memory, while the Bulldogs’ triumph in 2016 broke their own 62-year drought.

From the 1954 grand final: Bulldogs legend Ted Whitten clears the ball as Melbourne’s Stuart Spencer (centre) and Geoff McGivern (partially hidden) were unable to stop him. Credit:The Age

But history is made to be constantly re-written.

The Bulldogs were forced to do it the hard way, to win four finals in a row, to end their drought. And there’s every chance they’re about to do it again.

As they were for much of the season, the Bulldogs and Demons were atop the ladder heading into a telling round 11 match-up at Marvel Stadium.

They extinguished the Dogs’ run and dare and pressured them into uncharacteristic mistakes.

But Beveridge’s men turned the tables in round 19, winning by 20 points in the wet at the MCG.

In conditions that demanded an unflinching approach â€" both mentally and physically â€" unsurprisingly, it was Dogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli who stood tallest.

X FACTOR

Few players better personify the term “X factor” than the Western Bulldogs’ Cody Weightman or Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett.

Neither needs 20 touches to have a telling impact, yet both can turn a match on a tap of the ball, a crunching tackle, a high-flying mark, or a freakish snap on goal.

They’re the kind of players teammates feed off and their enthusiasm and hunger for the contest has them primed to shine brightest.

Don’t be surprised at being able to trace telling, potentially match-defining moments after the final siren back to Weightman or Pickett. While Bailey Smith has hit the AFL’s elite ranks with the force of a runaway freight train and is clearly a matchwinner, his impact goes far beyond that of an X-factor type.

TACTICS

Everyone knows the key protagonists in the respective midfields: Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney versus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, and Tom Liberatore. In all likelihood, the Norm Smith Medal will be decided from that bunch, and Viney could well take on Liberatore head-to-head in a battle of the hard nuts. But delve a little deeper and it’s clear to see just how vital some of the least-heralded “role” players of each side will be.

Cometh the moment, cometh the man: The spotlight will be shining on Christian Petracca. Credit:AFL Photos

Take Stef Martin, for example. He’s played just eight games so far this season and didn’t play in the senior side at all from round 12 until the preliminary final. But boy wasn’t the 34-year-old impactful against the Power. His task, in quelling Demons superstar Max Gawn (fresh off the game of his life), will be the most important of grand final day. He can’t stop Gawn, but he can make life particularly difficult by maintaining his physicality at the stoppages. It will need to be a team effort from the Dogs against Gawn, though. His aerobic capacity is too strong.

The Joshes â€" Schache and Dunkley â€" are two others who have key roles to play. It’s a luxury of the Bulldogs’ depth through the midfield that they can send the big-bodied Dunkley to an opposition star, and it’s a strength that he’s selfless enough to do it - no questions asked. Schache, meanwhile, has gone from facing his footballing mortality to being one of Beveridge’s most important pieces. His role in dampening the impact of opposing intercept star defenders (see Aliir Aliir) will be vital against Steven May and Jake Lever. If he plays that role to great effect, watch for the positive impact it has once again on Aaron Naughton.

The aerial threat posed by Aaron Naughton could give the Demons all kinds of headaches.Credit:AFL Photos

From the Demons’ perspective, they’ll be fully aware that through the home-and-away season the Bulldogs ranked No.1 in both inside-50s and score from turnovers per game. It’s not just a matter of meeting fire with fire in the middle, it’s a matter of limiting the Bulldogs’ creativity from defence into attack. The roles played on Caleb Daniel and All-Australian Bailey Dale will be particularly telling.

PREDICTION

In sport, fairytales so rarely come true. In reality, it’s the seemingly endless tales of heartache and heartbreak that prove just how rare dream finales truly are.

The groundswell of support has been right behind the Demons since they rubber-stamped their legitimacy with a string of commanding performances in the season’s early going, and the nerves truly started to kick in for the Melbourne faithful when they realised it.

For Neale Daniher, for Ron Barassi, even for Nathan Jones - the goodwill behind the narrative stretches far and wide.

The current Demons group knows what their deep September run has meant, but â€" led brilliantly by Gawn â€" they haven’t let it distract them.

They deserve their favouritism for the decider â€" not because of the heart-warming narrative, not because of the groundswell of support from neutral fans, but because they’re the best team in it.

Melbourne by 12 points.

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