Want something other than Bay baiting? All righty, here's my loose change:
"Glenelg are a momentum side, we did talk about during the week...what we need to do if they get a run on" This quote, attributed to master coach Jade Sheedy after the 2nd Semi final, all but confirmed to me that this is not the Eagles sides you saw in the last two decades. Even 1994 if you like. Initially I thought during that run on in the last quarter "here we go again", but then "no, this is a Sheedy led side, lets see what happens". See above for the answer.
This leads me to the Grannie...I feel, Balboa vs Drago inspiration aside, that his coaching gives the players confidence to stand up against anyone in the finals. Partington? No Goldy? No worries! In the past, during those many failed finals campaigns, was there a fall back to combat when things got tough (invariably against sides donning red and white)? I rather believe it was more like 1:15 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTElSJExL4U&ab_channel=TheSimpsons .
Basically you could say about the big day, the first quarter was almost a carbon copy of the previous outing, right down to the score. The second was a modern day football tug of war, then the third and fourth quarters was the only time out of the 5 premierships, where that killer instinct which Port and Dogs sides once had showed, right down to that sweet end. While there were avenues to goal for the gold-green-blue, it was like Golden Grove for the Tigers - mostly cul-de-sacs. One to highlight the point was the smother by Sinor in the 3rd quarter. While it wasn't the biggest winning margin of the 5, it was the most crushing - consider the 2nd biggest losing margin by a minor premier in the decider; lowest finals score by Glenelg for starters.
To keep this post short, while nothing will top 2011, there was a particular constant with that game - both Jack Oatey Medalists were one of the two ruckmen on the day; Jarrad Redden was the other ruck both times (but was high up in the 22 best players this time around), and Jack Hannath was one of the opposing ruck players. I want to single out two other players - pleased for Comma after missing out last year, and Kobe Mutch for his best game of the year. The least visible player we had was Lehmann...but his opponent was not less camouflaged either!
The challenge is of course to deal with more player losses and go for a triple treat next year!