Grand Final Day is the pinnacle of the AFL season, and this year’s edition in particular has seen the featuring players trek many different paths to the top. Here’s a look at some of the best individual storylines to follow ahead of the big day.
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Joel Selwood
The Cats skipper has joined elusive company throughout the 2022 Finals campaign, but on Saturday, he will surpass all company.
Selwood will become the outright finals games record holder, taking to the field in a remarkable 40th AFL final. It will also be his sixth Grand Final, playing in his first in 2007 and his most recent in 2020.
He started his AFL career with a premiership in the 2007 Grand Final – could Selwood finish his career on the same note if the Cats prevail on Saturday?
Lance Franklin
‘Buddy’ has certainly had a year to remember. The Swans’ match-up with the Cats in round two yielded an immortal moment when he booted his 1000th goal to etch his name into footy folklore as just the fifth player ever to do so.
And earlier this week, he signed a contract for ‘one more’, locking in a contract extension to stay on at the Swans in 2023.
Franklin Crossed to the Swans in 2013 after nine seasons and two premierships with the Hawks, but his time in Sydney is yet to yield a flag.
With a red-hot chance to win one on Saturday, ‘Buddy’ could cement himself further as a Swans legend, and put the ultimate cherry on top of his 2022 season.
Paddy (& Tom) McCartin
As far as feel-good stories go, McCartin is arguably the best of the 2022 season.
The 2014 #1 draft pick was delisted by St Kilda at the end of the 2019 season, after he only managed 35 games in five seasons.
Sitting out the 2020 season, he returned to footy in 2021, playing for the Swans’ VFL side, where his form earned him an AFL contract as pre-season supplementary list selection at the beginning of 2022.
He debuted for the Swans in round one, and it’s only been up from there, establishing himself as one of the Swans’ key players in defence, alongside his brother Tom.
With Tom already at the Swans prior to 2022, the inclusion of Paddy in its outfit this season makes the story all the more heartwarming, with a chance for the brothers to win an AFL premiership by each others’ side.
Embed from Getty ImagesZach Tuohy
Jim Stynes is the first name that comes to mind when considering Irish AFL players, but Zach Tuohy is proving that he shouldn’t be too far behind.
Saturday’s Grand Final will be the 32-year-old’s 250th AFL game, sitting only 14 behind Stynes’ record of 264.
Tuohy will have a the chance to surpass Stynes in this field in 2023, but has the chance to become only the second Irish player to win an AFL premiership, with Tadhg Kennelly the only other, with the Swans in 2005.
Tuohy featured in the Cats’ 2020 Grand Final appearance against Richmond, and will appear in his second on Saturday. Already firmly among the likes of Stynes and Kennelly as the most successful Irish AFL players, Tuohy has the shot on Saturday to carve his name into the history books with a premiership.
Embed from Getty ImagesRobbie Fox
Fox’s story of perseverance only dates back to the end of 2020, but the difference that those two years have made on his career is remarkable.
Fox was set to be a victim of circumstance, originally delisted by the Swans following their 16th-placed season, but earned a last-minute lifeline and was re-signed on the Swans’ rookie list.
After a 15-game season in 2021 and a brilliant second half of 2022, Fox has established himself as yet another key cog of the Swans’ defence.
He’s shown he’s capable on the big stage – his smother in the dying minutes of the Swans’ qualifying final victory over Melbourne was a game-saving moment – and a premiership will cap off his outstanding career U-turn.
Patrick Dangerfield
One of the most consistent and prolific footballers of the past decade, the one thing Dangerfield’s career is without is a premiership.
It’s a story that is familiar to many of the Cats’ stars, with sustained success unable to yield the ultimate prize.
Dangerfield has perhaps been one of the drivers of this success, winning three Carji Greeves medals (2016, 2017 & 2019) as the Cats’ club champion and a Brownlow medal in 2016.
With the Cats the standout team of the home-and-away season and coming off a preliminary final drubbing of Brisbane, the Cats are perfectly poised to capitalise on their finals form.
Dangerfield has produced a brilliant finals campaign to date, and could finally have his hand on an elusive premiership cup come Saturday evening.
