MELBOURNE v Western Bulldogs at the 'G with a lot on the line: it's, well, been a while. If this weekend's high-stakes clash at the top feels a little different for some reason, that's because it is.
One of the things about footy's cyclical nature and its way of facilitating multi-year runs for strong teams is that it conditions our perception of what high-stakes clashes look like. Specifically, it conditions our expectation of who makes for such encounters.
For years now, a game has had to involve Richmond to feel genuinely weighty. Prior to that it was Hawthorn and before that, Geelong. Other specific matchups have consistently been high-stakes affairs, too; think Bulldogs v Giants or Magpies v Eagles.
Dees v Dogs, though?
LYON'S 10-GOAL FEAT IS STREAMING NOW IN Big Bags in AFL ON DEMAND
The last time these two outfits contested a truly seismic occasion, the world's No.1 song was I'll Make Love to You by Boys II Men. Yeah, take that in for a second. More aptly, The Lion King led the worldwide movie box office at the time – if that wasn't the 'Name A Game' title for this particular match, it might be the biggest missed opportunity in footy pun history.
Regardless, reliving Garry Lyon kicking 10 against the Dogs in the 1994 finals, while wearing a collared Demons strip decked out with Tooheys logos, serves as a reminder of just how long it's been since these clubs faced off with this much on the line. It also goes some way to justifying the sense that this weekend's table-topper feels inherently different.
That game was 27 years ago, when in front of 65,000 at the MCG, Lyon shredded the higher-ranked Dogs in a crunch semi-final to send his Demons to an unlikely prelim berth. Typically in such landmark performances there's a signature moment, an act of outrageous brilliance. But not here: this was Lyon in the most clinical of moods, all precision leading and finishing, time after time after time.
LYON'S 10-GOAL FEAT IS STREAMING NOW IN Big Bags in AFL ON DEMAND
For almost three decades since, though, these clubs haven't crossed paths like this. Despite making 20 finals series between them from 1995 onwards, they've only made the top eight in the same year three times, and not once since 2006.
It's a remarkable of run of parallel universes. This isn't the NFL with almost three dozen teams and divisions that separate certain sides from one another over extended periods. No instead, this is a competition where you inevitably face high stakes against everyone.
Not these two, though. Twenty-seven years after The Lyon King reigned at the 'G, they're finally ready to do it again.
LYON'S 10-GOAL FEAT IS STREAMING NOW IN Big Bags in AFL ON DEMAND
'Big Bags' delves into the AFL archive to surface some of the most memorable individual performances the game has seen, featuring superstar forwards the peak of their powers and allowing you to savour each goal from these special individual hauls in AFL history.
