Jack Toft
Years ago
2010 AFL Grand Final
Here we go!
By all accounts there is a footy grand final on this weekend. St Kilda take on Collingwood in front of what will be an absolutely packed MCG stadium. Some will be fans dressed in all manner of red, black and white frantically waving banners, scarfs and all sorts of stuff, others will be national sales execs of major sponsors out to press the flesh and be seen while they dine on their lobsters and prawns in corporate boxes, and sip Yarra Valley Sav blancs. Who won?
Collingwood go in as favourites against the Saints and if you believe the hype, should be victorious by around ten goals. Saints have accepted the underdog status with pleasure and look for an upset win. There is no doubt Collingwood is the glamour pinup side of the AFL and the side people love to hate. Saints have had their chances over the years and boasted some top sides, but have been the perennial McGyvers - they see a lot of action, but never quite get the girl.
Obviously the key players for Collingwood are Swan, Pendelebury, Thomas and Didak. Saints rely on Riewoldt, Montagna, Hayes and Del Santo.
AFL is an "offensive" game. That is, you frenetically score as many goals as you can. Scoring wise, the full forward line of the Saints has netted 128 goals for the season, 56 across the HF, 40 from the Centres and 22 from the Followers. Collingwood's full forward line only 76, but 81 from HF, 42 from centres and a massive 55 from the followers. That says to me that the Saints rely on driving the ball in long to a marking contest, with Collingwood going for the running goal option.
Defensively is where the Saints win their games. I think they are the top defensive team in the league and will need to bottle things up and prevent the Collingwood run to have any chance. OMG there will be some tackling boys and the bruises will show.
Collingwood should win, but anything can happen in a GF. Think back to '89 when Yeates took out Dermot - what a sight! Wouldn't it be terrible if a Pies player went down in similar fashion.
All I know for sure if that with all those Collingwood fans in one spot, the average IQ outside the stadium should be a lot higher for the day.
