GEELONG paid a heavy price to land Jeremy Cameron while Greater Western Sydney picked up Jesse Hogan on the cheap and now the key forwards can go a long way to repaying their clubs when they meet in a semi-final.

Star forward Cameron is set to play against the Giants for the first time on Friday night after spending nine seasons at the club before moving to the Cats last year.

It was the most drawn-out drama of the 2020 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period as GWS became the first club to match an offer to a restricted free agent and then held firm on its view of Cameron’s value.

The deal was done seconds before the deadline as Geelong finally agreed to send picks 13, 15 and 20 as well as a future fourth-round selection to the Giants, and receive Cameron and two future second-round picks in return.

It was also the first time a club had paid three first-round selections for a player and has so far helped GWS draft Conor Stone and Ryan Angwin.

The Giants resisted the urge to splurge their bounty on another key forward, having already agreed to a deal with Fremantle on the opening day of the Trade Period to take a punt on Hogan.

The enigmatic forward arrived in exchange for the No.54 pick GWS had received from West Coast for small forward Zac Langdon.

Just two years earlier the Dockers had used picks No.6 and 23 to land Hogan from Melbourne, who had originally selected him as a star 17-year-old in the 2012 mini-draft.

While the cost of the key forwards’ most recent moves varied, their output this season has been much more comparable.

>> CHECK OUT THE FULL STATS COMPARISON BELOW

They have both been hit by injury as multiple hamstring strains limited Cameron to 13 matches and another bad run with soft-tissue issues restricted Hogan to nine games.

But when Cameron and Hogan have played, their presence has had a significant impact for their new clubs.

The Cats forward has kicked 35 goals, including a bag of six and another of five, that have pushed him to the fourth-best average in the League at 2.7 majors a game.

Often playing higher while Tom Hawkins starts closer to goal, Cameron has also been involved in 6.9 score involvements a game (13th in the League).

Much like Cameron in his early years at the Giants, Hogan prefers to play out of the goalsquare and does most of his damage inside the forward 50.

The 26-year-old Hogan has taken 31 marks inside 50 at an average of 3.4 a game, second in the League behind this year's Coleman medallist Harry McKay.

He has also taken 2.1 contested marks a game (seventh in the League) including a career-high six in the elimination final last week. Hogan’s aerial dominance has helped him kick 20 goals this season.

Hogan will play the 100th match of his career on Friday night and recently agreed to extend his stay at the Giants by at least one more year as both parties benefit from the bargain buy.

Cameron still has four years left on his high-price deal at the Cats, but if the 28-year-old can help deliver their first flag since 2011 it’s a price they will consider was well worth paying.

Jezza vs Jesse in 2021