THE 2011 Grand Final is a marketer's dream.
Not that is it terribly difficult to sell Grand Final tickets, and if there was a way, the AFL could put 200,000 tickets up for sale and still sell the MCG out on Saturday.
It is this demand for tickets that underlines why the AFL Grand Final is the nation's premier sporting event. Perhaps its only close rival is the Melbourne Cup, which might sell out, but not leaving tens of thousands of people near distraught that they couldn't jag a ticket.
But what makes this Grand Final so compelling is that it is a genuine toss-of-the-coin result. The premier of the last two seasons, the team that dominated the home and away season against the team that has been the best in September.
My hand was declared early. I've picked the Pies to win by a goal in the national edition of the AFL Record, which goes on sale on Monday. My deadline for that story was about two hours after Geelong completed its preliminary final belting of West Coast.
The assumption is that Collingwood pair Ben Reid and Darren Jolly will both play, as will Geelong's Steven Johnson. And there was no taking into consideration potential - although unlikely - Match Review Panel findings against Leigh Brown and James Podsiadly.
The injuries will be the focus of attention all week. Expect none of the injured trio to do much of anything over the course of the week, at least on the track. Behind closed doors, it will obviously be a different story. And we liked the tweet from some member of the media pack asking what it is that operators of hyperbaric chambers do for the other 51 weeks of the year.
The reason for the Collingwood selection is that the best team of the season returned to its very best when it counted on Friday night. The Hawks might have wilted a touch, but the Collingwood midfield and key forwards all lifted considerably. The intensity was white-hot and so was the footy they played.
The case for the Cats
But at the risk of being accused of having a bet each-way, there is some precedent over the last 20 years that would suggest that the Cats are the favourites to win on Saturday and on their way to their ninth flag and their third in five years.
There is a touch of the 1991 Hawthorn about Geelong of 2011. When the Hawks missed the Grand Final in 1990, for the first time in eight years, it was felt that Hawthorn's golden era was over. The same was being said when Geelong bowed out in last year's preliminary final.
In '91, Alan Joyce stepped in and his fresh voice and slight tinkering freshened up a veteran group and inspired one last premiership push. In much the same way, Chris Scott has tweaked the Geelong game-plan and brought some vibrancy to a playing group that has pretty much been there and done that.
Fast forward to 2001. Essendon was the dominant team of the previous season and for most of 2001. But injuries and form started to bite by the end of the home and away season and come September, the Brisbane Lions had emerged as the best team in the competition. And they proved it in the Grand Final.
And while the pain of the 2008 Grand Final defeat still burns at Geelong, the Cats are tracking through this September much like the Hawks did that year. Hawthorn was unquestionably the best team in September, winning both its finals comfortably, while the Cats labored through theirs, particularly the preliminary final. There is no question that this year, Geelong has been far more impressive than Collingwood through two finals to date.
Hawks already looking to 2012
And what of the Hawks of 2011?
Lots to be pleased about in a year in which the senior players were brilliant and the youngsters impressive. Alastair Clarkson and his coaching staff should also take a bow for keeping the side so competitive in a year in which the injury curse did bite.
Clarkson coached particularly well on Friday night, let down only at the end by a handful of errors, the types of which should be eliminated after a summer of stewing and then studying.
Hawthorn should expect another top four finish at a minimum in 2012.
But what has been interesting has been the message out of Hawthorn in the hours and days since the loss to Collingwood on Friday night. Clarkson wanted no plaudits, saying his team "wasn't tough enough for long enough". Skipper Luke Hodge called the final quarter "pathetic". President Jeff Kennett labelled it "unforgiveable".
It smacked of the way Kevin Sheedy lashed out at his club after losing the 1983 Grand Final and the 1999 preliminary final. Barely an hour into the off-season, the goals at Essendon had been set for the following season and in both cases, the Bombers won the premiership.
West Coast, meanwhile, looked, sounded and played like a side that was pleased with itself just for making the preliminary final. Fair enough too, considering that last year yielded a wooden spoon.
But while we're not yet sure what the expectation will be for the Eagles in 2012, at Hawthorn, it has already been made abundantly clear.
History beckons
Monday night's Brownlow Medal count should go down as one of those "where were you when...?" moments.
The likelihood is that history will be made with either Chris Judd or Adam Goodes winning the medal for the third time and joining Ian Stewart and Bob Skilton in having their name changed by deed poll to Triple Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd or Triple Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes.
Of course, it could all go pear-shaped and Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell could poll the most votes and become the first player not to be suspended but be ineligible because he received a reprimand.
For 60 years, reprimanded players were still considered eligible to win the Brownlow Medal. Irrespective of what may transpire on Monday night, they need to be so again.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
