IN A YEAR in which the likely Grand Final match-up changed from week to week, we can say with a fair degree of certainty that one of Geelong and the Sydney Swans were among the two premiership favourites pretty much every week of the year
They were the teams with the fewest flaws for 2016, so the one shame is that they're meeting at the MCG on the second last Friday in September rather than the first Saturday in October.
For the Cats, the post-siren reprieve against the Hawks last week is the gift that keeps on giving and they would have really enjoyed watching the Swans and the Crows belt each other up and down the SCG on Saturday night, at least in the first half, with the result that the Swans will go into this game significantly short-sticked.
Jarrad McVeigh will miss after pinging his calf. Gary Rohan did his knee and on spacious MCG he will be sorely missed. He torched the Hawks for three goals there the last time the Swans visited. Kurt Tippett (jaw) and Callum Mills (hamstring) are making noises about playing but almost certainly won't, while Zak Jones (concussion) has yet to pass the requisite tests.
Harry Cunningham and Dean Towers would seem to be the next two men up for the Swans and both have played enough senior footy this year that there won't be too many jitters from the Swans coaching staff. But there aren’t too many more that the Swans can choose from.
If you like watching two hard-headed midfields go at it, then the MCG is the place to be. Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Scott Selwood on one side, with Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Kieren Jack and Dan Hannebery on the other. Maybe add Tom Mitchell for the Swans as well, for he was great as well against the Crows.
Key Cat firms for preliminary final
This will be where this preliminary final is decided and if the Swans can win enough of the ball then Lance Franklin will get opportunities to win the game. The big Bud might have a Bondi address these days, but his true home ground is the MCG and there is no better stage for Franklin than the MCG in September. It is where he did his best work for Hawthorn and he is primed to bust one open for the Swans.
It would be unfair to say that Franklin owes the Swans a big one in September, firstly because of the events of last September and also because he has been outstanding for the club throughout his time there, and this year might have been his best year of football overall, save for his 100-goal campaign back in 2008.
But he was brought to the Swans to help the club to more silverware and given the looming juggernauts playing in the other preliminary final, 2016 might be the best and last chance he might get, while he is at the peak of his powers, to win a flag for the Swans.
It is the urgency around this that adds to the intrigue on Friday night. The Cats went on a recruiting spree of their own, selling the farm to bring Dangerfield home from Adelaide, as well as Zac Smith, Lachie Henderson and Scott Selwood. The midfield superstar has won every individual award on offer this year and the bigger the spotlight, the better he has played.
The Cats didn't muck around when it came to their off-season recruiting haul and there is real expectation around Geelong when it comes to winning the premiership this year, particularly in a year as wide open as this year.
Geelong would have likely been hoping for an Adelaide win on Saturday night. They twice comfortably handled the Crows this year – in Adelaide and at Geelong – and would have entered an MCG final with supreme confidence. But the only Geelong-Swans match this year resulted in an emphatic win for the Swans, down at Skilled Stadium by 38 points. It was won in the clinches and came off a six-day break, both great omens for the Swans heading into this one.
The last time the two clubs played on the MCG the Swans won by 10 goals and was also a preliminary final. But it was also back in 1934. Bob Pratt kicked six goals for the Swans, while Laurie Nash and Ossie Bertram both booted four, which means it is time for some new history to be written.
