WHAT are the odds of this happening: two success-starved veterans of the same age, and hailing from the same SANFL club, facing off in a key duel in an AFL Grand Final that will result in one of them finally becoming a premiership player?
It sounds like a longshot scenario at best, but it appears certain to eventuate on Saturday.
The pair in question is Fremantle's superstar skipper Matthew Pavlich and Hawthorn backman Brian Lake.
In a quiet moment of reflection – more likely after the grand final, not before – both men might acknowledge, and marvel at, the parallels they share.
Both were drafted from Woodville-West Torrens, with Fremantle snaring prodigy Pavlich at No. 4 in 1999, while the Western Bulldogs scooped Lake at bargain pick 71 in 2001.
This two-year draft discrepancy partly explains why Pavlich has played 73 more AFL games, despite the fact both are aged 31 (Pavlich is just 57 days older).
Despite the similarities, these hardened warriors are almost polar opposites as players and people.
It's much more than simply a battle between a champion key forward and a champion key defender.
It's the bankable natural versus the enigmatic late bloomer.
The ultra-professional Pavlich against the laid-back Lake.
The Freo loyallist who has rejected lucrative offers to remain a Docker, versus the longtime Bulldog who agreed to a win-win trade to Hawthorn in search of a flag.
The face of Fremantle Football Club versus the prized recruit who is rarely seen outside football commitments.
In some ways, they are blocking each other's path to glory, with their clash likely to prove pivotal to the result. Either way, the victor will claim a few extra spoils.
If Fremantle posts an historic win, Pavlich will assume instant legendary status as the Dockers' first premiership captain. This of course would go straight to the top of a long list of honours that already includes club records for games, goals, best and fairests, All Australian selections, captaincy … you name it.
A triumphant Pavlich would also have endured the third longest wait for a flag – 291 games – behind only Hawthorn great Shane Crawford (305 in 2008) and former Collingwood and Sydney star Paul Williams (294 in 2005).
If Hawthorn salutes, Lake will join an exclusive group of players who have won a premiership in their first season at a new club. The 217-gamer would be the fifth ex-Bulldog to achieve the feat, just the second player to do it with the Hawks (the first was Norm Goss in 1978), and the eighth ex-Bulldog overall to win a premiership since 1954.
Midfield great Greg Wells was also forced to wait more than 200 games (256 to be precise) and to the age of 31 to win a premiership.
Like Lake, Wells got his chance at a second club, becoming a member of Carlton's 1981 premiership side after Melbourne sold him to the Blues against his wishes midway through the previous season.
The 63-year-old believes the duo will be served well by their experience, particularly in finals (between them they have played 23 finals, including six preliminary finals), and their regular exposure to match-day pressure.
"Naturally they'll be pretty nervous but also pretty excited because it's the culmination of a life's dream," Wells told AFL.com.au.
"They've both done the hard yards, and been very good players in ordinary sides, and very good players in good sides.
"They’re under pressure every week in the positions they play anyway, so overall it's not going to be a whole lot different for either of them.
"Pavlich often has two players against him and blokes trying to take him out of the game; and Lake is always playing on the opposition's best forward. But they've got better players around them now and they’ve become better players themselves because of it."
However, even old hands can struggle to cope early in a grand final, Wells said.
"I found it hard to breathe for the first 15 minutes of the game. I thought, 'Are the 100,000 people here sucking the air out of the atmosphere or something?' It was probably just my nerves," he said. "But once you settle down it's just like another game of footy, really."
In 12 seasons at Melbourne, Wells played 224 games, kicked 251 goals, captained the club, finished second and fourth in the Brownlow Medal, won two club best and fairests (and had five other top-three placings) and a goalkicking award. He played just 43 games in 2½ seasons at Carlton before his retirement in 1982.
"The first thing people say to me is, 'You played in Carlton's 1981 premiership.' That's all that people remember. It's all about premierships, and these two boys have the chance to have that great honour attached to their name, to be immortalised forever," he said.
A Hawthorn loss won’t consign Lake's club switch to failure, Wells said, because "in a lot of ways it's already been a success".
"When you leave a side that isn’t used to winning and you join a side that isn’t used to losing, you experience a totally different culture and attitude," he said. "To soak up that winning feeling and mix with successful people is very rewarding in itself. And it's a lot more rewarding if you win a flag."
