WHEN Collingwood in fourth plays Essendon in seventh and it is not the game of the round then the match that is must be something really special.

The AFL has an amazing ability to constantly throw up a very different and unique set of circumstances.

Round 14, St Kilda versus Geelong, 13 straight wins a piece, two teams undefeated further into the season than we have ever seen before.

Just when we think we have seen it all, we get the chance to watch a bit of history in the making.

When I think about these two dominant teams it reminds me of the difference between reputation and character. Reputation is what outsiders think you are, character is what you really are, and in footy terms individual and team reputations normally trails performance by a few months.

It is this mindset that leads us to still overrate last year’s premiers, Hawthorn, and still have nagging doubts about the undefeated Saints.

It is also why I could never currently tip against the Cats. Their sustained excellence has stood the test of time. Geelong’s last two-and-a-half years have been extraordinarily good.

While wins and losses are the primary stat that determines ladder positions I always think that a team’s percentage is a better guide to consistent performance.

By that measure, Geelong’s season has been very good and St Kilda’s has been phenomenal. The Saints’ percentage of 177 going into round 14 is ground-breaking. Only one team since 1970 has finished the year with a percentage over 160, last year when Geelong finished with 161 per cent.

While scoring well, it has been St Kilda’s score prevention that has been the foundation stone to their undefeated run and massive percentage.

They have only conceded 110 goals, Geelong is next best with 150, at an average of only eight and a bit goals against per game. Scoring heavily against the Saints has been an impossible task.

So the first big question this week is can the normally high scoring Cats crack the Saints defence? Can Geelong withstand St Kilda’s intense tackling pressure, handball their way into open space and attack through the centre square, which St Kilda have defended feverishly and successfully all year?

Geelong has numerous weapons in their line-up. Gary Ablett will probably be manned up by St Kilda’s emerging tagger Clinton Jones who has done this role extremely well so far this season. What Jones will find is that when you play on Ablett, you are in fact against the whole Geelong team. His Geelong teammates block for him very well, they give him the footy at every opportunity. Ablett a foot clear is enough for him to receive the handball.

When you factor in Ablett’s great ball winning around the stoppages, his breakaway speed and the danger he provides as a permanent forward, you see why he is the hardest player in the competition to stop.

Steve Johnson and Cameron Mooney lead the Cats forward line. Johnson’s early reading of where the ball is going and his exceptional one-on-one ability always make him a very tough match up. Maybe Sam Gilbert is the best equipped Saint defender to handle this crucial task.

Geelong’s tactical decisions will centre around the assignment of an opponent for Cameron Ling and the match ups for key defenders Matthew Scarlett and Harry Taylor.

Lenny Hayes is the heart of the St Kilda midfield and attacking him with the close checking Ling would be my first choice.

Taylor on the hard running Nick Reiwoldt and Scarlett on the strong leading Justin Koschitzke would be the likely starting roles.

Attacking through Taylor’s opponent and getting Scarlett out of the way is the normal plan against Geelong but it is not so easily put into practise.

This is a game that has so much attraction and anticipation. The strange aspect is that the reward for the winner is fairly insignificant in the big picture.

Nine weeks out from the finals they have virtually sewn up the top two spots. Finishing first instead of second gives bragging rights but no finals advantage.

Coming off a long sequence of wins, both teams would have confidence and the loser this week will not likely carry any lasting psychological scars.

Still if the Saints can roll the champs this week then their footy reputation in one large step will jump up more in keeping with the fantastic footy character they have displayed so far this season.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.