WEST Coast might hold more September experience going into Saturday's AFL Grand Final, but Collingwood will have the weight of the MCG on its side as it prepares for the big match.
With both teams relatively similar in terms of their age and list profile, the Pies' familiarity with the MCG is the defining difference between the two teams' prior experiences.
The team Collingwood has named for the clash has 1549 games of experience at the MCG at its disposal, almost six times that of West Coast – who collectively has just 262 games of experience at the ground.
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Somewhat remarkably, eight of West Coast's 22 named for Saturday's game have played in more or the same amount of finals matches as they have at the MCG in total.
Liam Ryan, himself one of those eight, has already played in two finals for the Eagles – but will step foot on the MCG for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon.
The high-flying West Coast forward is the only player set to feature who is yet to play at the MCG, with Josh Kennedy the club's most experienced Melbourne performer.
Kennedy has played 31 games at the MCG, a total that 18 of the 22 Collingwood players have already reached. Scott Pendlebury is his side's most experienced MCG campaigner with 178 games at the ground.
Alongside former Geelong forward Travis Varcoe, Pendlebury is also Collingwood's most experienced finals campaigner. Both have played in 20 finals each, with Lewis Jetta leading the way for West Coast with 17 finals under his belt.
Pendlebury, Varcoe and Steele Sidebottom will be the only players on the field who have already taken part in three Grand Finals. Jetta is the only Eagle with multiple Grand Finals to his name, having played in two – a win and a loss – during his time with the Swans.
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A total of 12 West Coast players have already represented the club in a Grand Final, compared to just four who have already played in a Grand Final with Collingwood.
The Eagles have 13 players who have played in 14 Grand Finals at their disposal and have named a team that has played in a total of 179 finals. It's more than the Pies, who have five players that have collectively played in 11 Grand Finals and a team with 143 total finals.
In terms of their age and list profiles, little splits them. On average, West Coast is four months older than Collingwood and has played 10.1 games more.
The Pies have one more player to have featured in fewer than 50 games, while the Eagles have one more who has featured in more than 100 games.
Collingwood's named team is on average 188.6cm tall and weighs 87.5kg, while West Coast's named team weighs in at 187.9cm and 88.2kg.
