SATURDAY'S Toyota AFL Grand Final is littered with individual match-ups that should have fans salivating and coaches losing sleep.

How does Sydney slow down Geelong's formidable forward line duo of Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins? How do the Cats curtail the fifth-highest goalkicker in the League's history in Lance Franklin?

Does either team employ a dedicated tagger?

THE DEPTH TEST How the less-storied names stack up on Grand Final day

What about Tom Papley? Patrick Dangerfield?

Daniel Garb and Michael Whiting take a look at how the key duels might unfold.

GEELONG

Lance Franklin
The match-up for Buddy is a fascinating one. Collingwood chose to start with the slightly smaller, and aggressive, Brayden Maynard at the weekend. However, Franklin got rolling and had a second-quarter purple patch that led to two goals and a spillage from his contest for a third to James Rowbottom. It was then Jeremy Howe and ultimately Darcy Moore that did a successful job. The Cats could go with either Sam De Koning, who at 204cm has the size and power to match Franklin, or Jack Henry, who has shown time and again he can match bigger opponents. De Koning is likely to be the main man, with his combination of intercept marking and long reach to spoil, but don't be surprised if both spend time on Buddy at different stages.

Tom Papley
Of all the players Geelong has to be mindful of, it's perhaps Papley that is the most dangerous. His three goals against Collingwood last week were instrumental in the Swans' win, and 31 goals from 18 games this season is a terrific return from someone who has spent more time in the midfield as the season has worn on. In Jed Bews, the Cats have a trusted small defender who has both pace and can get physical if required. Geelong will have to be wary of Papley when he attends centre bounces and then darts forward – perfecting the handover from midfielder to defender will be critical.

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Isaac Heeney
One of the great things about Geelong's defensive unit is its versatility, and finding a match for Heeney is no different. The 184cm Swan is good at ground level, but a particularly tough opponent in the air, which is why Jake Kolodjashnij looms as an ideal opponent, despite the Swans often rolling with three tall forwards. Kolodjashnij was an intercept marking beast against Brisbane last Friday night, but is just as adept at playing a negating role. Zach Guthrie is also an option here.

Chad Warner
It's unlikely the Cats will put a hard tag on any Sydney midfielder, but like they did against Lachie Neale last week, it wouldn't shock to see them playing close attention to Warner at stoppages. Warner was instrumental in the first half of Sydney's win over Collingwood, with his burst from congestion a clear point of difference from the inside ball-winning of Luke Parker and Callum Mills. Tom Atkins has shown an ability to lock in on an opponent around the clearances, as he did against Neale, and appears a good option to keep an eye on Warner. Watch for Joel Selwood and Cam Guthrie to let the dynamic Swan know they're around too.

Freeing up Tom Stewart
One of Geelong's trump cards all season has been orchestrating a spare man in defence to stifle opposition forward forays, and it was no more evident than against Brisbane. The Cats usually let Rhys Stanley ruck at centre bounce, but once the ball is in general play, Stanley will often drift back to the defensive end, allowing Mark Blicavs to ruck. It means the Cats might be prepared to play one forward short – and back the hard-running Gryan Miers and Brad Close to equalise when needed – but get the benefit of Stanley in defence, which frees up Sam De Koning or Tom Stewart to play the role of interceptor. How the Swans neutralise that will be fascinating.

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SYDNEY

Jeremy Cameron
He’s the best forward in the game right now, arguably the most valuable player in the competition and, as the Swans would be well aware of, a very difficult match-up to nail. The main reason for that is the three-time All-Australian’s ability to find space further up the ground and break free from his opponent with his extra leg speed. With that in mind, it feels like it may require a lot of switching from the Swans, who don’t seem to have a 100% natural opponent for him, to keep him under control. Paddy McCartin is the Swans’ centre half-back, but as one of the best interceptors going around, Sydney may not want him occupied by such a huge task. While McCartin will try and stop Cameron aerially at times, co-captain Dane Rampe looms as the starting opponent for Cameron and in particular when he’s inside 50. Cameron will no doubt try and burn Rampe off with his speed around the ground and so that will require some handing off for others to apply the pressure, so that Rampe can zone off and prepare to man up on ‘Jezza’ when he gets closer to goal.

Tom Hawkins
The other half of the Cats’ dynamic duo is only a 10-time leading goalkicker at the club, but the Hawkins match-up is rather more straight forward for Sydney. Tom McCartin will be the man asked to stop the ‘Tomahawk’. At 194cm he only gives up 4cm in height but, as is always the case with Hawkins’ opponents, his body size makes him a tough task to control. As the league’s second highest spoiler this year, 22-year-old McCartin has proven he has the speed and athleticism to impact the contest, even when undersized. Preventing Hawkins from marking on the lead will be the main challenge for the Swans’ defensive ace, but the battle doesn’t stop there against Hawkins with his league-high score involvement numbers serving as proof he can hurt a team in a variety of ways.

Patrick Dangerfield
After his 28-disposal, two-goal preliminary final performance, the 2016 Brownlow medallist has emerged as the key tagging option for Sydney in the decider. Callum Mills and James Rowbottom can both be used in close checking roles, but after his excellent job on Jordan De Goey in the prelim final triumph, Luke Parker will likely be entrusted with trying to stop the Cats' dynamic veteran. Parker kept De Goey to just 12 touches on Saturday and compiled 23 himself along with the first goal of the game that set the tone for the Swans’ hot start. That’s the beauty of Parker, he can clamp down on you but hurt you the other way, so that match-up would ensure Dangerfield has to be very mindful of his opponent as well.

Tyson Stengle
There’s a bevy of small forwards in the Cats line-up that can jump up and hurt Sydney, but the All-Australian Stengle stands out as the biggest threat. He kicked 49 goals for the season, with three of them coming in the preliminary final. Robbie Fox has been superb for the second half of the season and can definitely be given the Stengle job, but size-wise Gary Rohan is perhaps the more suitable match-up. Jake Lloyd and Oli Florent are both possibilities but may be better suited to Brad Close and Gryan Miers. The match-up that looms on Stengle therefore may be Nick Blakey. Defensively, he was quite possibly Sydney’s best in the prelim win over Collingwood and that aspect of his game has improved dramatically in the second half of the season. He has the pace and tenacity to nullify Stengle and with his ability to burst the other way, Blakey can potentially run off him at times as well. It’s a tough call and a tricky test and it wouldn’t surprise of Fox got the Stengle job, but Blakey does look like a viable option. 

The Ryan Clarke role
Ryan Clarke’s role as the defensive forward is always one to watch as well. He had the better of Nick Daicos early in the prelim but struggled to close him down after quarter-time. You’d expect him to be given the job on Zach Tuohy in the Grand Final.