WHILE 12 of West Coast's 22 for Saturday's Grand Final against Collingwood have been here before, young Eagles Daniel Venables and Liam Duggan hold no fear about their debut "big dance".
Venables, 19, didn't make his AFL debut until this year, but has fast solidified a spot in the side after overcoming an ankle injury mid-year.
His preliminary final was impressive, showing great composure and sure hands with his 17 disposals and a goal.
"It’s a big day. Growing up you hear all about it, so it’s pretty amazing to be here today and playing in it," Venables told AFL.com.au.
"It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season personally (he missed a significant chunk with an ankle injury), but I’m just happy to be in the side for the moment and looking forward to it.
"Everyone plays to play in a Grand Final and then to win one, so hopefully that’s the case.
"Grand Final day at the MCG isn't quite as daunting when you've spent most of your year playing in front of big crowds at Optus Stadium.
"We're lucky we get to play in front of a packed crowd every week with our fan base. They're the best supporters, they come out every week.
"It was awesome last week against Melbourne; the crowd were really loud."
Duggan watched on in the stands in 2015, a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee ending his season prematurely in July.
The Victorian had played 12 games up until that point, his debut year.
"It’s going to be a good moment for myself, the boys and our families, and it’s a super-exciting time," Duggan said.
"It’s good to come back to Melbourne and play in front of family and friends on the big stage. My family have been really good, they’ve dealt with their own tickets and I haven’t had too many people hassle me. A lot of people I’m close to will be there tomorrow, which is nice.
"I don’t get a parade every time I come to Melbourne, which is a shame," he said with a laugh.
The 21-year-old has got one moment firmly in his mind ahead of Saturday's match.
"The first bounce will be a bit spine-tingling, when that crowd erupts, so after that we'll have to settle into it pretty quickly. That'll be a good thing to look forward to," Duggan said.
"I don't have too many pre-match superstitions, I'll just be trying to keep it as normal as I can. There's a little bit of extra noise going on, but I think game day will be pretty similar to what I normally do.
"There's things we can't really control, like the parade, but the things we can control are the things we're focusing on, really. We've spoken about accepting what happens during the week and going along with it. For us, it's still pretty normal inside our four walls."
