West Coast Eagles
27
28
Collingwood
39
| Second Quarter | ||||
| L. Shuey |  | 25:50 | ||
| 23:25 |  | T. Varcoe | ||
| M. Hutchings | | 22:10 | ||
| 20:25 | | J. D. Goey | ||
| 17:45 | | Rushed | ||
| M. Hutchings | | 4:02 | ||
| 2.2 (14) | First Quarter [+] | 5.1 (31) | ||
| J. J. Kennedy | | 29:13 | ||
| W. Rioli | | 26:57 | ||
| 25:22 | | B. Mihocek | ||
| 22:03 | | W. Hoskin-Elliott | ||
| L. Jetta | | 20:30 | ||
| 16:29 | | J. D. Goey | ||
| 12:33 | | J. Stephenson | ||
| 10:36 | | J. Stephenson | ||
| 4:58 | | T. Varcoe | ||
| J. J. Kennedy | | 1:24 | ||
It’s the AFL Grand Final. The West Coast Eagles meet the Collingwood Magpies in the season decider. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 2:30pm AEST (12.30pm AWST).
After an even 2018 season we’re left with a contest that fits the year just gone – intriguing and hard to predict.
More AFL Grand Final
» BUCKLAND: West Coast change everthing and win it all
» Match Report: Eagles premiers in an instant classic
» Five talking points from the match
» WATCH: Video highlights from the match
» West Coast Eagles player ratings
» Collingwood Magpies player ratings
» Best and funnies tweets of the grand final
Both competing sides have had their doubters and their issues, but have overcome all of that, and now have a big chance to win a premiership that looked a unlikely not too long ago.
Collingwood have risen from 13th on the ladder in 2017, made do without key players for large parts of the season, and got through a tough finals draw to reach this stage.
Their victory over reigning premiers Richmond last week was possibly the most impressive team performance of the season.
West Coast have lost a number of veterans over the past few seasons and it looked like their premiership window might have shut, particularly as they tried to manage injuries this year to Nic Naitanui, Josh J Kennedy and the longterm suspension of Andrew Gaff.
But after a narrow win in their first final over today’s opponent, they cruised past a listless Demons in the preliminary and come into this game in good form and relatively good health.
A lot of the focus pre-game has been on the quality of West Coast’s forwardline, with Josh J Kennedy, Jack Darling and Patrick Cripps all seeming to hit their best form at the right time of the season.
Should the Eagles get on top for extended periods, it’s likely to be tough for the Magpie backline – which is solid rather than exceptional – to keep them from scoring heavily.
But Collingwood’s strength is in the midfield, and in turn they have their own star on a hot streak, with Steele Sidebottom coming off back-to-back best on ground performances against the Giants and Tigers.
Along with Scott Pendlebury, Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips one would expect the Magpies to have the majority of possession, as they have done for every final so far.
With the Eagles seemingly more suited to an expansive, attacking game, the forecast wet weather was seen as a possible advantage to the Victorian team.
But while it’s likely to be cold and cloudy, it seems as though the rain will be minimal this afternoon.
Prediction
The two teams look fairly even on paper. Both sides have demonstrated that they can deal with pressure and adversity. There’s no reason to think either will whither on the big stage.
Arguably Collingwood’s best has been a little better than that of the Eagles, but West Coast have probably been slightly better over the course of the season.
This is probably going to be a close, attritional game. Small things will make a difference today.
I think with the Magpies being more familiar with the ground and conditions, and not having had to travel during the week, they have a slight advantage today.
Collingwood by 10 points.
Kick-off: 2:30pm AEST
Where: MCG
Date: Saturday 29 September 2018
TV: Channel 7
Last five games
Qualifying Final 2018, West Coast Eagles 12.14 (86) d Collingwood 10.10 (70) at Optus Stadium
R17, 2018, West Coast Eagles 15.12 (102) d Collingwood 9.13 (67) at the MCG
R18, 2017, Collingwood 13.15 (93) d West Coast Eagles 13.7 (85) at Etihad Stadium
R19, 2016, Collingwood 13.13 (91) d West Coast Eagles 11.6 (72) at the MCG
R6, 2016, West Coast Eagles 18.16 (124) d Collingwood 9.8 (62) at Subiaco
West Coast Eagles
B Shannon Hurn, Tom Barrass, Will Schofield
HB Thomas Cole, Jeremy McGovern, Lewis Jetta
C Jack Redden, Elliot Yeo, Chris Masten
HF Mark Hutchings, Jack Darling, Mark LeCras
F Willie Rioli, Josh J. Kennedy, Jamie Cripps
FOL Scott Lycett, Luke Shuey, Dom Sheed
I/C Liam Ryan, Liam Duggan, Daniel Venables, Nathan Vardy
Collingwood Magpies
B Brayden Maynard, Tom Langdon, Jack Crisp
HB Jeremy Howe, Tyson Goldsack, Travis Varcoe
C Adam Treloar, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips
HF Will Hoskin-Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Jordan De Goey
F Josh Thomas, Mason Cox, Jaidyn Stephenson
FOL Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Steele Sidebottom
I/C Brayden Sier, James Aish, Chris Mayne, Levi Greenwood
Nigel Dias
Guest
Thanks mate, Peter you should be immensely proud of your beloved Pies they were fantastic, they were immense the game went down to the wire. Both teams played superbly.
gameofmarks
Roar Guru
Buckley is all class. You guys will be back bigger and better next year. Lets hope for a repeat GF in 2019.....
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Gee I hope so Doc but right now it feels a lifetime away. Another moment of agony added to this Pie fans history. We sure put on a show though. Classy sides both showed respect. Well done Doc. Felt we were hanging on all that second half.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Turned on a few things,the umpiring evened out fairly well,because they were afraid of the with only 31 frees for the game. Shuey BOG,but McGovern MVP. Without him,the Eagles lose. Well played the Pies,see you next year
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
Umps were only "good" because they didn't have any real impact on the result, but that doesn't change the fact they didn't really do their jobs. As Don mentioned, there were tons of fairly obvious free kicks not paid throughout the entire day.
Gary
Roar Rookie
Sad dude. Umps were good today. Really sad.
Murphy
Guest
Spectacular game of footy, right up there with the best granny in my lifetime. Game could have easily gone either way. Heartbreaking loss for bucks and the pies. Props to the eagles for dealing with the pies early blitz a whole lot better than my tigers did a week ago and wrestling the game back on their terms. Eagles contested marking was awesome to watch in that second half and they are very deserving premiers. I hope this puts to bed all this nonsense about where the grand final should be played. The best team on the day will win the flag and the mcg is the only ground in Australia capable of hosting the event.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
I'll be waiting for Ryan and Maynard to match up again next year. Man,that was close. GF next year,Scribe?
UseR2006
Roar Rookie
Peter the pies were awesome today, could not have asked for a better GF. Commiserations but yeah, so goddamn proud of the boys. SO PROUD. Hopefully we can both be back there next year.
Hawksman1992
Roar Rookie
Looks like I need to eat crow.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Congrats GOM, Matti and Neil and all the Roar eagles. Well deserved win and a great grand final I will never be able to watch again. Thanks Pies, awesome ride.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Congratulations Eagles and thanks Pies for an amazing ride to the final 3 minutes
PriddisJunior
Roar Rookie
Amazing. The older guys will say 92 was better but we'll all enjoy this one. Amazing.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
My prediction of 25 to the Eagles was only out by the width of the goalpost and Darling's dropped mark,haha Brilliant game by the Pies,dogged by the Eagles,but their four behinds in a row gave the Pies a sniff. I'd forgotten,along with others, what a close GF feels like It even made up for the syrup poured on Cox and DeGoey by Ch7
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Good job Tom
Razzar
Roar Rookie
Eagles defended outstandingly and pie forwards couldn’t match what they did against Richmond.
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
I know Don, I was just putting myself in a Collingwood fan's shoes. I really couldn't care who won today. Let's be honest, the umpires didn't do their jobs today. They were so keen to not have an impact on the game that they didn't call anything.
Suzy Poison
Guest
Well done Eagles. All my WA cousins are going get trashed tonight.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
25...or 26...not given to WC. You can't claim that one. Try blaming Grundy for stage fright.
TomC
Roar Guru
I reckon Shuey will get it, but I think McGovern should.