The Collingwood Magpies and the West Coast Eagles will go head to head in the 2018 AFL Grand Final on Saturday 29 September, with the first bounce scheduled for 2:30pm AEST.
The Magpies have won their way through to the grand final to cap off what has been a truly remarkable campaign from the club who finished 13th on the ladder at the end of last year.
Despite being routinely hit by longterm injuries to key players, the ‘Pies have continued to find ways to innovate and perform.
Their crowning glory arrived on Friday night however when they obliterated reigning premiers the Richmond Tigers to seal a berth in the grand final.
Whether or not they can go one step further and win their first premiership since 2010 now comes down to their ability to best the West Coast Eagles.
The Eagles too are a remarkable story as they were tipped by many at the start of the year to miss out on a finals berth.
Instead an improved gameplan and the injection of some fresh blood into the side has seen them risen back to the top of the AFL, finishing second after the home-and-away season ended.
They booked their tickets to the MCG with an absolute thumping win over Melbourne on Saturday in which they didn’t concede a goal in the first half.
Like Collingwood they too have had to deal with disruption this season and will enter the grand final missing key players Nic Naitanui and Andrew Gaff.
The match promises to be an absolute belter as these two sides have already played out a thrilling contest in week one of the finals.
West Coast won that match to progress straight to the preliminary finals, and also defeated Collingwood at the MCG earlier in the year.
However Collingwood are currently the favourites with bookmakers, price at $1.67 to win while West Coast are out to $2.25.
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The Pies are on FIRE at the 'G!
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It’s high stakes with five teams having lost their first three games of season 2024, and in desperate need of a win.
It could be a weekend for contenders to emerge, teams to hopefully break droughts, o and overall footy to have a party.
