Stevo's Sting: No fairytales in AFL footy

THERE are no fairytales in AFL footy.

If fairytales existed, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs would have played off in the '97 Grand Final.

The ball would have bobbled safely into Milney's arms in 2010.

Richmond would win a final. Any final.

And this is not a fairytale premiership play-off.

It would be nice to see Hawthorn win three in a row, but it would be nicer to see some joy shared around.

It's a feelgood yarn if Adam Simpson can win a flag at the Eagles, but he is in charge of a financial powerhouse with a group of supporters who just maybe don't know how lucky they are.

Since entering the competition in '87, the Eagles have played in five grand finals for a 3-2 record. Basically, a GF every five years.

Freo would be a fairytale given the Dockers were derided and teased as a basket case for so long.

There's just not as much romance associated with the Eagles. Plain and simple.

The Hawks have played in the past four Grand Finals. It's almost business as usual at Waverley this week.

The merchandise tent opposite Jimmy's fish and chip shop at one end of the club's facility looks like it has been wheeled back out in one piece ... I'm not sure it was dismantled after last year, such is the confidence.

The quality of the footy no doubt will be breathtaking.

You can't question the worth of the sides, but given the recent history of both we desperately need it to be close if we are to get even the slightest flavour of fairytale.

Is it going to be close? Sadly, for all those bi-partisan fans out there, this could be a blow out.

It is very difficult to tip against the Hawks. They win, and it might be big.

West Coast defeated Richmond at the MCG, and was mighty impressive in doing so. But it was the Eagles' only game at the G all season.

Before that, the Eagles had won three of their past 16 at the home of the GF ... all against Melbourne.

Yeah, this is a new team, fresh tactics, and one that boasts the best key forward in the comp, but that recent history shows what a significant home ground advantage Hawthorn has.

Hawthorn is just so damn commanding at the G. For West Coast, it's still somewhat of an unknown.

And when Sam Mitchell said the Hawks couldn't play that badly again, referring to the loss to the Eagles in week one of the finals, we all know what he meant.

The Crows played lame footy in week two of the finals, but the Hawks squeezed the life out of them and clinically finished it off on the scoreboard.

Last Friday night, the Hawks were solid and methodical again. They played like pros, the Dockers on plenty of occasions froze in the moment.

The Eagles were wobbly too amid the expectation last Saturday night. Start like that against Hawthorn and there will be no coming back.

Clarko's pros will get the job done.

There will be no romance. No fairytales. It will be all business (as usual).