Here we are once more, yet again with no Western Bulldogs...
Still, two interesting teams:
The Hawthorn Hawks topped the ladder at the end of the season as many had predicted. They've been strong all year, especially in games where they get the ball moving quickly into their forward line where they have multiple deadly options. They've won 10 Premierships, most recently in 2008. A lot of people suspected they were strong chances pretty much every year since then, but this is the first time they've made the Grand Final in the four years that followed. They went in to their Prelim final this year as almost unbackable favourites, but were pushed to the line with the lead changing in the last 6 minutes. In the end they got home by 5 points and with a few injuries. I dislike the Hawks, and I can't quite put my finger on why. They were gold and brown vertical stripes, and the bookmakers have them at $1.45.
The Sydney Swans have surprised a few people by always being in the top half of the league - normally clubns need to dip down to regenerate after a successful run, but in the years following the Swans' last premiership in 2005, they've only missed the finals 2009. They have an incredibly strong team philosophy, known as the "Bloods culture", incubated in a non-traditional AFL town. That said, the history of the Swans includes their time as the team for South Melbourne, in which they won three flags. They won quite handily over a mentally and physically exhausted Collingwood to reach the Grand Final. Their playing style involves locking down the game and hitting the forwards with absolute accuracy, although they are susceptible to being massacred in the middle of the ground which has lead to a couple of blowouts. I'm going to be happily cheering them on, even if they are from Sydney, because to me they're still the team of the inner south, my part of Melbourne. When I was young I actually played for the South Melbourne Districts Swans
. The odds say $2.80 to win the flag.
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Melbourne requires at least one Victorian team to make the Grand Final, otherwise one of the (many) highlights of the sporting year feels flat. I am so, so glad that Hawthorn won against Adelaide partly for this reason, but mainly because I absolutely hate the Crows and want them to fail at every turn. Still, we've got 1.33 Victorian teams in the big game and opinion even in Melbourne will be divided - a lot of people tend to feel the same way as I do about the Swans, even if we don't like their home town much. My local council has already set up the blood and bone bannering in South Melbourne and I'll be hoping that a team that just seems so
nice can win an unexpected flag. Hawks supporters have a right to feel confident, but I doubt it will be anything other than an exciting game.
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You can watch the game live online at omnisport.tv in most countries, espn3.com in the USA, or on the following channels:
New Zealand: Sky
Asia/Pac: Australia Network
USA: ESPN Classic, ESPN2
Africa, Caribbean, Israel, UK, Ireland: ESPN (delayed on TG4 in Ireland)
Europe: Eurosport2
Canada: TSN2
China: ICS
Middle East: Orbit Showtime
In support of the swannies, one of the great songs of the footyAnother one of the great songs, about the Grand Final. Same singer 
