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The AFL preliminary final tomorrow night between Geelong and Collingwood is a clash for Victorian fans to savour.
It is the first time in six seasons two Victorian teams will grace the MCG on the second-last weekend in September and guarantees the state will be represented on grand final day, something that hasn’t happened since 2003.
The bookmakers say Geelong are the clear favourite, and with good reason.
The Cats boast a star-studded midfield led by Brownlow medal favourites Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel, statistically they have best defence in the league and a rejuvenated Cameron Mooney spearheads a productive attack.
Geelong are two wins away from ending their long premiership drought which stretches back to 1963, when 101,452 fans saw the Cats thump Hawthorn by 49 points.
The Cats have been back to the grand final four times since then, but each time had to content themselves with being runners-up.
A similar crowd could be on hand tomorrow night, with the match a sell-out and last year’s grand final attendance of 97,431 in danger of being eclipsed.
Big crowds are nothing new for Collingwood, the league’s best-supported club and a team which regularly plays in front of huge audiences, but Cats football manager Neil Balme doesn’t fear his players being overawed by the occasion.
The teams finalised their preparations for the game today, with Collingwood out for about an hour at Olympic Park and the Cats completing a 45-minute session at Skilled Stadium.
Except for the colours, it was a similar scene at the two locations – players sharpened their skills during a low-impact session in front of about 500 cheering supporters.
Magpies ruckman Josh Fraser proved his fitness and earned a recall at the expense of Chris Bryan.
At Geelong, there was no room for veteran ruckman and former captain Steven King as coach Mark Thompson went with the same 22 that thrashed the Kangaroos a fortnight ago.
After gutsy wins over last year’s grand final combatants Sydney and West Coast in consecutive weeks, Magpies coach Michael Malthouse said today there was an “x-factor” about his side.
“You can’t put your finger on it. You’d like to be able to grab it and say there it is, but it’s an intangible,” Malthouse said.
“There’s just something about the squad.”
Having worked at Collingwood as football operations manager between 1998-2006, Balme has seen up close how Malthouse operates and expected him to “do something we don’t expect” tomorrow night.
Given his long tenure at the club, Balme said he had looked on with “enormous admiration” at the Collingwood’s efforts this season, but he will leave all that behind when the teams come together.
“Time moves pretty quickly in footy … there’s a lot to admire about them but all that emotion and sympathy will be gone tomorrow I can assure you,” Balme said.
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