With the two grand final combatants for 2014 set, these are the seven untold stories from the preliminary final weekend of 2014.
1. The positive for Port Adelaide
In theory it seems to be a positive for Port Adelaide in progressing from semi-final exit to preliminary-final exit in successive seasons.
The positive vibe can be taken further when analysing the past that the last team to succumb in the semi-final and preliminary final in consecutive years was Collingwood in 2008 and 2009. In 2010 they jumped not one step forward, but two, to claim a long-awaited premiership.
A step further back and Port Adelaide had semi-preliminary-preliminary exit before winning their only flag in 2004.
Both good signs, and while it is too early to talk about premierships in 2015 or 2016, the Power are well placed among the league’s elite teams.
2. North Melbourne’s woeful millennium of finals
After winning the last premiership of the last millennium, finals football has not been kind to North Melbourne, with a 4-9 win-loss record in the 15 years of the 2000s.
Brad Scott was quick to dismiss the finals record when asked on Friday night, however it is now a stunning reality that the nine losses have come by more than 34 points. In contrast the four wins have all come by under 34 points.
In those 13 finals North Melbourne have an average winning margin of 15 points compared against an average losing margin of 77 points. Stunning numbers when you consider the general evenness of finals matches.
3. It is not as simple as bad goal-kicking
On consecutive weeks, losing coaches Ross Lyon and Ken Hinkley both alluded to bad kicking as being the major factor behind their sides’ finals exits. However that really is too simple.
As always at this time of year, it is decision making and intangible qualities that come to the fore.
Decision making was a more costly component of the respective losses by Fremantle and Port Adelaide, while that intangible quality of being able to perform under great mental pressure and in the big moment resulted in the crucial shot misses.
As much as it would be easy for both teams to add goal kicking to the pre-season plans, the mental pressure of a finals match cannot be replicated in pre-season.
Both teams are better for further September experience though.
4. Eight years of the qualifying final winners meeting in the grand final
A week ago the AFL finals seemed to be given a jolt with two upset semi-final results. Yet a week later that optimism about winning a flag from beyond fourth has been given a reality check, with the qualifying final winners playing off in the grand final for an eighth straight season.
While top four may not be a pre-requisite to making a preliminary final, it is starting to appear that winning a qualifying final is a pre-requisite to winning a premiership.
5. Talking the list up
In past years it has always been a coaching no-no to overhype one’s own list. However in 2014, in a world that is more media savvy than before, coaches appear to be continuing to play the media to push their agenda – whether it be to fans or players’ beliefs.
Chris Scott has been groundbreaking in this area over the past two years, building his team up in the media after losses while playing down a number of wins. Over the past two weekends both Ross Lyon and Chris Scott touched on the optimism that they saw in the playing list and where the club is headed.
With free agency now a key weapon in building a title defence it appears that coaches are getting on the front foot to ensure that everyone has an awareness of where a club wants to go.
6. Four years of epic preliminary finals
Most have been quick to point to Hawthorn winning a third epic preliminary final in as many seasons, but in 2011, before their hat trick of preliminary final wins, they also had a gut-wrenching three-point loss to Collingwood.
Over the past four years Hawthorn has played in four preliminary finals and those four games have been decided by just 16 points – an average margin of four points per game.
There were eight new faces from 2011 to 2014 and shows that while clubs talk about rejuvenating and recycling a list, Hawthorn seem to have found the formula in just adding two or three different players each year.
7. Is 2014 just repeating 2012?
While the journey was different throughout the 2014 season as opposed to 2012, for the finals of 2014 Hawthorn and Sydney have had similar preparations to their 2012 battle.
Hawthorn had a convincing Friday night win to open the finals over an arch enemy in both 2012 and 2014, before seeing off a resurgent and desperate South Australian outfit in the preliminary final in both years.
Meanwhile, Sydney had to work hard in the qualifying final before breezing through a home preliminary final.
While Hawthorn fans will hope for a different ending, the neutral fans would be satisfied with a game of the quality and standard of the 2012 decider, regardless of who wins.
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