IT HAS been 10 years since two AFL clubs emerged from the bottom half of the ladder to play in a grand final. The storyline this year has more than a passing similarity to that of a decade ago.
In 1997, it was Adelaide and St Kilda — 12th and 10th the season before — who battled it out. Victorian club versus South Australian. A sentimental favourite against a relatively new kid on the block.
Now only the names seem to have changed. The same two states are represented. Port Adelaide and Geelong finished last year, you guessed it, 12th and 10th. And the Cats, flagless for 44 long years, seem to have become just about everyone's second team.
Those who love a football fairytale will be praying history isn't about to repeat itself, St Kilda's dream of a second flag duly shattered by the Crows.
Certainly, Geelong will start a much warmer favourite in the betting than did the Saints that day. But even if Port Adelaide plays party pooper, the quick, skilled and exciting Power outfit will do so with panache.
A tremendous season such as the one we've enjoyed deserves an appropriate denouement. And there's every chance we'll get it. These teams' last clash, at Skilled Stadium in round 21 was probably the best game of the year — fast, tough and with a nerve-jangling finish.
Geelong will be rightfully confident of reversing that one defeat in its past 19 games. The Cats went in that afternoon without three key midfielders — Jimmy Bartel, Cameron Ling and Joel Selwood.
That put more pressure than usual on the likes of Gary Ablett, held in relative check by Dominic Cassisi, and Joel Corey, who was towelled by Kane Cornes.
Now the Cats' vast midfield stocks are back to their fullest. Geelong coach Mark Thompson be applying plenty of thought to negating the drive that Port pair Shaun Burgoyne and Kane Cornes offered that day a month ago.
It was a jolt the Cats needed, as might well have been Friday night's nail-biter against Collingwood.
Thompson said a fortnight ago that his team didn't need a week off, and the preliminary final could have proved him correct, Geelong a little less sprightly than usual at the start and certainly less poised under the fierce pressure applied by the Magpies. But any cobwebs had been well and truly shaken out by an end in which the Cats had to hang on grimly.
The biggest decisions Thompson has to make this week are at the selection table, and fortunately for him not only about the fitness of key defender Matthew Egan.
A big game by veteran ruck Steven King in the VFL grand final today will put enormous pressure on Mark Blake to hold his spot, given the massive influence that could be exerted upon the result by Port pair Brendon Lade and Dean Brogan.
Though less likely, a similarly good performance by Tom Hawkins could apply a bit of selection heat also to Nathan Ablett. With Steve Johnson and Josh Hunt reportedly OK, it's the sort of dilemma a coach wouldn't mind.
Port, meanwhile, has lost an important stabilising influence in veteran defender Michael Wilson. But as youngsters Troy Chaplin, Steven Salopek, Tom Logan and Danyle Pearce proved yesterday (all were among the Power's best few in the 87-point demolition of the Kangaroos), the Power kids don't seem to comprehend September jitters.
Whatever happens on Saturday, Port Adelaide and its highly regarded coach Mark Williams have rewritten the rule book.
The Power line-up that smashed the Kangaroos in yesterday's preliminary final contained just 11 of the team that won the club its first flag in 2004.
Port limped into the finals the season after that triumph, and last year managed just eight wins. The old hands either retired or were given the tap on the shoulder in favour of fresh blood. It was a classic rebuild, and after doing its time near the bottom, Port would get another chance.
Fine in theory, except the Power's supposed penance lasted barely the blink of an eye. The survivors of that flag three years ago such as Chad and Kane Cornes, Shaun and Peter Burgoyne, and giant ruckman Brendon Lade, are almost to a man better players than they were then.
The likes of Chaplin, Salopek, Pearce, Logan, Justin Westhoff, Travis Boak and Jacob Surjan have developed at rapid speed. Williams has again shown his penchant for reviving stalled careers in the very pivotal pair David Rodan and Daniel Motlop.
It's made for a potent blend. Port is full of dash and dare, capable of making the unorthodox look like the percentage play. The Power won't be able to grind Geelong into submission like Collingwood almost did, but it has a much better chance of beating the Cats at their own game.
All this sets up a mouth-watering grand final. It's going to be tough to top the West Coast-Sydney thrillers of the past two years, but Saturday's Geelong-Port Adelaide playoff has the potential to do so.
A Geelong win will be the stuff of dreams. But an upset and a Port Adelaide victory would provide a pretty stunning story in its own right.
