NSW/ACT Notebook: Grand Final preview

By Michael DiFabrizio

Hawthorn vs. Fremantle – Saturday 2.45pm (MCG)

The AFL premiership is up for grabs on Saturday as Hawthorn and Fremantle battle it out.

The Hawks advanced to the Grand Final on Friday with a thrilling win over Geelong, their first victory over the Cats in five years.

The Dockers got there with a strong win over the Sydney Swans on Saturday.

Hawthorn have lost Brendon Whitecross to another injury from that game and there are some concerns around Fremantle’s Michael Johnson.

The most intriguing battles will be in the midfield and in Hawthorn’s forward line.

There’s little doubt that Freo will win the ruck battle with Aaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke in good form. However, the Hawks can be expected to win the inside 50s, averaging eight more per game than Freo this year.

They even had 22 more inside 50s than Geelong last week.

What happened once the ball went in was less impressive, however. They kicked just 14 goals from their 64 entries and missed many gettable shots.

A repeat of that performance on Saturday would hurt because it’s unlikely Freo will allow that many entries.

As a result, a lot depends on the battle between Buddy Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jack Gunston versus Luke McPharlin, Johnson and Zac Dawson.

Can the Hawks’ big guns fire, unlike last week, or will the Dockers’ much-renowned back line stand tall again.

The Hawks won the last game between these sides in Tasmania in Round 4 by 42 points.

Matthew Pavlich, Sandilands and McPharlin did not play that day and Freo’s form has improved since, but Buddy and Roughead did manage to kick four goals each.

Expect a close encounter.

NSW/ACT Notes

Hawthorn stars Isaac Smith (Temora) and Luke Breust (Temora) will be representing New South Wales on the game’s biggest stage.

Cheering them on from the sidelines on Saturday will be Hawk listed players Matt Suckling (Wagga Tigers), Taylor Duryea (Wahgunyah) and Will Langford (East Sydney). Suckling missed 2013 with injury, Duryea played 18 games and Langford played one.

Fremantle rookie Craig Moller (Cronulla Sharks) will be cheering on his team in the stands. He made his AFL debut in Round 23.

At Monday’s Brownlow Medal, Sydney’s Kieren Jack (Pennant Hills) led all NSW/ACT players with 19 votes, followed by team mate Jarrad McVeigh (Pennant Hills) on 12 and Hawthorn’s Isaac Smith (Temora) on five.

Hawthorn’s Luke Breust (Temora), Sydney’s Craig Bird (Nelson Bay) and Lenny Hayes (Pennant Hills) had two votes each.

Melbourne’s Dean Terlich (Osborne) picked up one vote.

The leading Sydney Swans vote-winner was Dan Hannebery on 21 (sixth overall) while Jeremy Cameron led the GWS GIANTS with six votes.

NSW/ACT TV Guide

Fri 11.30pm – Grand Final Marathon (7mate)
Sat 9.00am – AFL Game Day (7)
Sat 11.00am – AFL Grand Final Pre-Match Show (7)
Sat 1.00pm – AFL Grand Final (7)