When it comes to the AFL, you will not find two more fanatical supporters than The Courier journalists Kyle Evans and Greg Gliddon.
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Kyle has had the time of his football life over the past three years as a Richmond fan, while Greg is a die-hard Geelong man desperate to see the Cats end their nine-year premiership drought.
Neither will hear of their team being beaten in the grand final in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Enjoy the feisty chat between the opposing supporters.
KYLE: How times have changed. So dominant has Richmond been the past three seasons, they've reduced a Geelong team with two of the game's most decorated players (Ablett and Selwood) into this year's 'Cinderella' story. Then there is Patrick Dangerfield. Even the best of players can be victims of circumstance and 'Danger' is a prime example. Instead of spending his prime years lifting cups, I fear he will be remembered for having the misfortune of being born into the same era as a man on track for an unprecedented third Norm Smith Medal. I think you know who I'm talking about Mr Gliddon. And I think he will be the difference in this game.
GREG: Unlike your Tigers my friend Kyle, we don't rely on one player to do the job for us. A quick look at the preliminary final, I think you'll find our Danger-man prime mover may have gone basically unsighted, and we still won by 40 points. Your neck-tattooed bad-boy was best on ground...and you fell in by a kick thanks to some dubious, deliberate out-of-bounds decisions. He's a champ your Dusty but two Norm Smith's show us just how reliant you guys are on him. But I get a feeling Cameron Guthrie - our man with even worse hair - might be clamping on the big fella this week, reminiscent of the job another Cameron - that being Ling - did on Dane Swan in 2011. There's a reason you're hated this year mate, aren't you worried that the karma bus might come back to bite the COVID-breaching Tiggies?
KYLE: I'm always worried as a Richmond fan. Not even two premierships in three years can undo decades of losing-induced PTSD. But this Tigers team is different. I felt they overachieved in 2017, much like the Hawthorn team that overcame your beloved Cats in 2008 (sorry to bring that up). Three years on however, Richmond are at the peak of their powers. Dusty might get the lions share of the accolades but the Tigers' success is more about the system and brand they play under. And it's a system I don't think the Cats can keep up with. They tried in round 17 with a top four spot at stake.They failed to the tune of 26 points. My question to you is what has changed?
GREG: What's changed? Hmm, Ablett, Selwood, Rohan, Stanley and Springbank's-own (well, we're claiming him) Sam Simpson - that's what's changed. None of them suited up that night, and let's not forget the Coleman Medallist did have a shot to bring the margin back to 10 points with five minutes to go... Oh, and there's a little something called the Gabba, where we're 5-0 this year. No MCG-Punt Road-end heroics this time my friend. Since you bring up 2008, are you aware of just how hard it is, and exactly what it takes, to become a dynasty club in this competition?
KYLE: Ablett and Selwood are two names that look fantastic on paper, I'll give you that. But both are fighting off father time, which as we know is undefeated. Hawkins is no spring chicken either, but I'd be more worried about his reoccurring case of goalkicking yips that tends to flare up in big matches. What's more, he will have to overcome a Richmond backline that's stood up to the test on many occasions. As for your dynasty question, I know the Tigers aren't far away from becoming one. And a premiership outside the walls of the MCG would all but cement them a place in AFL folklore. But I'm interested to hear your theory.
GREG: I've done a bit of research this week. In the history of the VFL/AFL, the teams you call dynasty teams, ie: the ones that have won at least three grand finals in a short space of time, all have one other thing in common - they lost one! You can go all the way back to the Collingwood team of the '20s that won four flags in a row - they lost their first two grand finals in that era, the Demons of the '50s, Hawks of the '80s, your Tigers in the '70s who won back-to-back in '73-'74, lost in '72, even our 'invincibles' team that went 26 games without a loss, winning back-to-back in '51-'52, lost in '53. Since the turn of the century, the Lions, Cats, Hawks have all won at least three, but have all lost a grand final too. The great teams understand heartbreak. So how do you defy history mate?
KYLE: History might not lie but the books are still written in the present. And if there was ever a year to throw trends to the wind it is 2020. What makes this final so compelling to me is the sheer longevity of it. Eighteen rounds in four months, most of which have been played in humid Queensland. Hardly any of the players have slept in their own beds since June and the stakes of this year's decider grow by the day. All grand finals have a spot in history but 2020's will carve out a special place. Players, like everyone else, are no doubt feeling the pinch of this rollercoaster and I think this year's flag will be the hardest earned in decades. In my mind it comes down to the opening 15 minutes. My question to you - can Geelong weather Richmond's onslaught?
GREG: Everyone is calling it a match of control versus chaos - if I remember correctly a certain 1960s TV show had the same combatants, and for what I recall, chaos always won a few battles, but control always came out on top in the end. For what I can see, the Richmond onslaught that you are referring is averaging about 45 points a game for the past month, so it will need a little bit of a tune up before it reaches the Gabba this evening up against the most miserly defence going around - ask the one-goal in three-quarter Magpies about it. I do agree, it will definitely be a year to remember, and how nice will it be to see a person other than Trent Cotchin hold up the cup?
KYLE: Geelong will be controlled, Ablett will be polished and Danger dynamic. But talent and depth shines through in big games and Richmond have more of both. It will be enough.
GREG: It'll come down to who wants it more, and if Danger's want is half of that of the rest of the team, it's my boys. Go Cats!
Richmond v Geelong
Premierships
Richmond 12 (last 2019), Geelong 9 (last 2011)
Head-to-head
Geelong 104, Richmond 90, drawn 3
Grand Final head-to-head
Richmond 1 (1967), Geelong 1 (1931).
Last time they met
Richmond 7.15 (57) def Geelong 4.7 (31) Round 17, Metricon Stadium
Record at the Gabba in 2020
Richmond 2-1, Geelong 5-0
How they got here
Richmond
- QF: Richmond def by Brisbane 15 points
- SF: Richmond def St Kilda by 31 points
- PF: Richmond def Port Adelaide by 6 points
Geelong
- QF: Geelong def by Port Adelaide 15 points
- SF: Geelong def Collingwood by 68 points
- PF: Geelong def Brisbane by 40 points