And then there were four. With an all-Western Australia grand final a real possibility, it will be up to Hawthorn and North Melbourne to keep some Victorian pride alive as the AFL season winds down to its climax.
Hawthorn will look to keep alive its hopes of a third straight premiership when they face minor premiers Fremantle in the first preliminary final on Friday night, while North Melbourne will look to continue its history-making run when they take on the West Coast Eagles on Saturday.
However, if past history is anything to go by, then we could be in for the first ever all-Western Australia grand final. No team has won the premiership, let alone reached the grand final, after losing their qualifying final since the West Coast Eagles in 2006.
Here are the two preliminary finals in full detail.
Fremantle versus Hawthorn
Friday, September 25
6:20pm, AWST
Domain Stadium
Regular season meeting: Hawthorn 17.13 (115) defeated Fremantle 6.7 (43) at Aurora Stadium in Round 15.
Last meeting in a final: Hawthorn 11.11 (77) defeated Fremantle 8.14 (62) at the MCG, 2013 grand final.
Although Fremantle may have finished the regular season on top of the ladder and are the home team in the first preliminary final, their recent poor record against Hawthorn will see them start underdogs against the two-time reigning premiers.
While the Dockers got to sit back and relax after defeating the Sydney Swans in their qualifying final, the Hawks bounced back from their disappointing qualifying final loss to the West Coast Eagles by crushing the Adelaide Crows by 74 points.
That dispelled any fears that the Hawks’ golden era could be coming to a close, but to reach a fourth consecutive grand final they’ll have to return to Perth, the scene of their disastrous loss to the Eagles, to face the Dockers front on.
There is the chance they’ll be without leading goalkicker Jack Gunston for the second week in a row after he suffered a serious ankle injury. However, his absence against the Crows was healed by a six-goal haul from Luke Breust and four from captain Luke Hodge.
While the two-time reigning premiers will very likely have a mostly purple home crowd against them, they should not fear. Their recent record against the Dockers is very strong, having lost to them just four times since 2002.
In the Dockers’ favour is that they will be freshened up after the week off, will be playing at home and did beat the Hawks in a home elimination final in 2010. However, they will almost certainly be without Luke McPharlin who is battling a calf injury and is unlikely to ever play again.
Taking the above into account, will the Dockers continue their dominant season and move into their second grand final in three years, or will the Hawks run them off Domain Stadium and move into their fifth consecutive decider?
Prediction: Hawthorn by 24 points.
West Coast Eagles versus North Melbourne
Saturday, September 26
5:45pm, AWST
Domain Stadium
Regular season meeting: North Melbourne 13.7 (85) defeated West Coast Eagles 10.15 (75) at Blundstone Arena in Round 10.
Last meeting in a final: West Coast Eagles 24.18 (162) defeated North Melbourne 9.12 (66) at Domain Stadium, first elimination final, 2012.
The West Coast Eagles will start hot favourites to defeat North Melbourne and move through to their first grand final since saluting against the Sydney Swans in a one-point epic way back in 2006.
This is in spite of the fact that the Eagles have lost their last two meetings against the Kangaroos, including the most recent one in Perth by 38 points. Prior to that, the Eagles scored two very close victories (including one after the siren in 2013) on either side of a crushing elimination final win over the Roos in 2012.
Adam Simpson’s men have claimed the mantle as premiership favourites following their stunning display of football against reigning premiers Hawthorn nearly two weeks ago.
That victory came without reigning Brownlow Medallist Matt Priddis, who is expected to return this Saturday night. He, ruckman Nic Naitanui and Coleman Medallist Josh Kennedy are the three men the Kangaroos will need to curtail if they are to have any chance of causing a boilover in the west.
Conversely, the Eagles will need to do their homework on Roos giant Todd Goldstein, as well as Jarrad Waite, whose recent good finals form came to the fore in the Roos’ victories over Richmond and the Sydney Swans.
There will also be an added incentive for the Kangas to continue their history-making run; Nick Dal Santo, who played in three unsuccessful grand final sides for St Kilda in 2009 and 2010 (including the draw), will bring up his 300th game.
While the Roos would love to continue their run and win for their milestone man, it’s the Eagles’ freshness from the week off and their home ground advantage which should get them through to their first grand final in nine years.
Prediction: West Coast Eagles by 40 points.
Should Hawthorn and West Coast progress as predicted, then it could be 1991 revisited.
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