- by Brad Desdon
- The Guardian
- Issue #2201
Graphic: NikNaksCC – wikimedia.org (BY-SA 4.0)
With the AFL Grand Final looming, we had a chat with the Scientist.
As the cliché has it, football is a funny old game and anything can happen. That said, the Scientist favours Fremantle v Hawks for the Grand Final this year, principally because both smash rivals when they are fit and both have strong defences.
If it comes about, that will be a particularly interesting grannie – the different syles of Freo and the Hawks show very different philosophies. Fremantle’s philosophy is built around ruck and stoppage dominance, coupled with big, strong and fit forwards, very good in the air.
Hawthorn focus more on transition and can pick apart opposition with precise kicking, and bounce out of half back with speed. Hawks have a unique forward line more about leading and creating/using space than aerial dominance. Both sides have big, strong and smart key backs
Of course there are other favourites. A lot of people are backing Brisbane for the flag. The Scientist thinks Brisbane can do it, no doubt, but don’t look hungry enough. He points out that Brisbane were recently poleaxed by Carlton and by the Giants a month before that. If Brisbane want to get there, they need to stop sleep walking.
Some like the Sydney Swans for the Grand Final, but the Scientist thinks they don’t have the big bodies needed in the middle third.
Surprise of the year so far is Carlton losing six games in a row and then winning seven in a row, what’s going on there?
As for Tasmania, while he doesn’t comment on the new stadium issue, the Scientist is stoked at the prospect of a new team in the league. His dream is a ground that is permanently sold out. Collingwood vibes are propping up hype this days, and the AFL could do with a lot more football-mad people.
As someone who loves football for the spectacle and follows it on social media out of a combination of habit and masochism, the Scientist is impatient with the football ‘managerial class,’ talking about processes as though they ever solved any problems, and reacting too quickly to the prospect of bad PR. The game’s the thing!
Apart from the Grand Final itself and the finals that come before it, the Scientist is looking forward to Hawthorn-Geelong still to come.
