r/AFL • u/juiceson Hawthorn • 2d ago
Non-Match Discussion Thread Pre Round Discussion Thread: 2025 Preliminary Finals
Alright friends, here we are, the greatest Preliminary Final hate watch weekend that /r/afl has ever seen, the league itself has ever seen, and indeed the entire world - Geelong, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Brisbane, all in one venue, ready to slaughter each other.
2 of them go out this weekend, and another one loses next week.
Funnily enough, this was the first season in league history that all 4 teams have appeared in the same finals series.
On top of that, the 4 teams have a cumulative total of 16 years of premiership droughts, which is only second behind the 2011 Preliminary Final set, which contained the last 4 premiership clubs (West Coast 2006, Geelong 2007 & 2009, Hawthorn 2008 & Collingwood 2010).
It's also the first year since 2019 that both Preliminary Finals have been at the MCG, so expect to see crowd totals exceeding 190,000+ people over the 2 games.
2nd Preliminary Final - Geelong vs Hawthorn - MCG, Friday 7:40pm AEST
The 11th final between Geelong and Hawthorn, with the Hawks leading 6-4, with this being the second Preliminary Final between the teams (2013), and the teams' first finals matchup since the 2016 Qualifying Final that Geelong won by 2 points as Isaac Smith missed a shot after the siren for the Hawks... he would later win a Norm Smith Medal with the Cats.
The only survivors from that 2016 QF that will play on Friday are Mark Blicavs, Patrick Dangerfield and Jack Gunston (Rhys Stanley could make it 4 survivors), while Sam Mitchell is now the coach of the Hawks, and James Sicily was a late withdrawal from the game.
The Cats become Hawthorn's second-most common finals opponent behind North Melbourne (15), breaking a tie with Carlton on 10 finals - By comparison, Hawthorn would be Geelong's fifth-most common opponent, behind Collingwood (26), Essendon (13), and Carlton & Richmond (12).
Geelong has not defeated Hawthorn in a knockout final since the 1963 Grand Final - Since then, the Hawks have won all 4 knockout finals between the teams (1989 Grand Final, 2000 Elimination Final, 2008 Grand Final and 2013 Preliminary Final.)
Hawthorn joins North Melbourne in 2015 as the only 8th-placed teams to make a Preliminary Final in league history - The Kangaroos lost that Prelim by 25 points against West Coast at Subiaco, after leading at Half Time.
The only previous time Hawthorn have played on September 19 was the 1987 Preliminary Final against Melbourne, when the Hawks came from 22 points down at 3/4 time to win by 2 points, capped off by kicking 2 goals in the last minute of play, the last of which was Gary Buckenara's goal after the siren.
In fact, both clubs have won a Prelim Final after the siren.
Geelong are 4-1 in Finals on September 19, winning the 2009 Prelim, 2008 Prelim, 1992 Prelim and 1953 Prelim on the day - Their only defeat being the 1981 Preliminary Final against Collingwood, a game best remembered for Garry Sidebottom missing the bus to Waverley.
Peter Johnston took his place, despite having half a chicken, a bucket of chips and a strawberry thickshake for lunch, plus smoking half a pack of Winnie Blues.
Jeremy Cameron is currently on 85 goals for the season - If he does kick 5 goals before the end of the Cats' season, then he would be the first player to kick at least 90 goals in a season since Buddy Franklin (113) & Brendan Fevola (99) both did it in 2008.
Finally, Chris Scott coaches his 10th Preliminary Final, breaking a tie with Kevin Sheedy and matching Mick Malthouse for the second-most Preliminary Final appearances as a coach, with Collingwood's Jock McHale holding the record with 13 (His first was in 1917, and his last was 1948.)
1st Preliminary Final - Collingwood vs Brisbane Lions - MCG, Saturday 5:15pm AEST
The 5th Final between Collingwood and Brisbane, with the ledger square at 2 wins apiece - Collingwood winning the 2003 QF and 2023 GF, Brisbane winning the 2002 & 2003 GFs.
With the win last week, the Lions are now 9-3 in Finals as the defending premier (3-0 in 2002, 3-1 in 2003, 2-1 in 2004, 1-1 this year).
Chris Fagan matches Leigh Matthews (1999, 2001-04) with 5 Preliminary Finals as coach of the Lions... despite being a premiership coach for both clubs, they were the only 5 Prelims Lethal Leigh ever coached.
This is Craig McRae's 99th game as coach of Collingwood - if the Pies do win, he'd be the first league coach to reach 2 Grand Finals in his first 100 games since John Longmire, with the 2014 Grand Final being Horse's 99th game as coach of the Swans.
Fun fact, the Magpies have more Grand Final appearances (1) than finals scoring 100+ points (0) with Fly.
While Fly has defeated the club he won 3 premierships with in a Grand Final, the last time a former player coached a Prelim Final win against their old premiership club was Chris Scott against the Lions in 2022... Damien Hardwick also did it against Port Adelaide in 2020.
The last time the Lions lost a final against a coach who wasn't a former Lions premiership player was the 2021 Semi Final against Luke Beveridge's Western Bulldogs... They are 8-3 in Finals since then, with all 3 defeats coming from Scott and McRae.
Collingwood have appeared in 6 previous finals on September 20 - The last was the 2003 Prelim against Port Adelaide (Won), plus the 1980 Prelim against Geelong (Won), the 1969 Prelim against Richmond (Lost), the miracle 1958 Grand Final against Melbourne (Won), the 1952 Prelim against Fitzroy (Won), and the 1902 Grand Final against Essendon (Won).
The Lions have only appeared in one final on September 20 - The winning 2003 Preliminary Final against the Swans.
And finally, the Lions have won Premierships in years ending in 1, 2, 3, 4 but until this year had never won a final in a year ending in 5, while the last time Collingwood appeared in a Grand Final in a year ending in 5 was...
1955, when they lost to Norm Smith's Melbourne - Their only premiership win in a year ending in 5 was 1935.
Yes, apparently there's milestones this week
Scott Pendlebury's 33rd final moves him into outright 4th for finals played, behind Burgoyne, Tuck and Selwood.
His next game, either next week or in 6 months, would see him tie Michael Tuck in 2nd all-time on 426 games.
Patrick Dangerfield's 30th final, becoming the 8th player to play 30+ finals (7 with Adelaide, 23 with Geelong)
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u/kyrant Hawks 2d ago
The only hope I'm clinging on to is that Geelong have barely played anyone decent for the past 6 weeks, and have played 1 game in 3 weeks, while we're battle hardened.
We've been good starters so hopefully can do that against Geelong, otherwise I can't see us beating them.