SaberFang

There's only been a few games this year where I wasn't a nervous wreck... both previous finals. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, my MFCSS-scarred brain anticipating disappointment like in 2018. ...but we won. Twice. Could this be the real deal, at last? I feel eerily calm right. I'm not sure if the nerves have finally settled, or if it's the beer talking. I expect I'll be a nervous wreck in the morning. I'm so proud of what the team has achieved this year, it's beyond anything I expected. I just hope they leave nothing in the tank tomorrow. Wear the colours proud, boys!

It only really hit me in the last few hours re-watching the QF and reading some articles. We're actually playing in a Grand Final. The last time this happened I was 13 and didn't understand just how much it meant. 21 years later... I understand. Still not sure if it's really sunk in yet... I might be saying the same thing 24 hours from now.

I understand why it was brought in, but when was the last time the Bulldogs even stepped foot in a COVID hotspot? They've rotated between Tasmania, QLD and now SA over the last fortnight. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to fly to WA tonight/tomorrow and play at Optus next Saturday. They're being gifted a huge advantage to recover and help injured players get back in, just like 2016.

I guess it's fitting that the best two teams of 2021 end up in the Grand Final together, but if the Bulldogs win in a fortnight the AFL must scrap the pre-finals-grand-final-whatever-final bye. We should not be disadvantaged for finishing as minor premiers then winning both finals, while another team (who blew up their top 4 position) is rewarded with a week off to rest up before the big dance. It was already a farce back in 2016, it will be even worse with the last-minute scheduling change in 2021.

As much as I'd rather have faced Port in the GF, it's kinda funny seeing them get creamed after reading their BigFooty matchday thread from last night. An endless wall of posts saying we celebrated our Grand Final last night, how arrogant we were to rest our top 5 players in the dying minutes, how they couldn't wait to show us up as a bunch of pretenders in the Grand Final, conveniently forgetting they still had a match to win. And all the arrogance about sleeping in their own beds throughout finals 😆 Wow, really paid off! Also, this [censored]:

Just getting shown up for the flat-track bullies that they are. The surprising thing is that it's happening at their home ground in front of an overwhelming Port crowd!

I don't think my heart would survive a West Coast/Collingwood-esque Grand Final!!!

Just imagine if the umpires hadn't gotten the Dogs home last week with all that BS umpiring. We'd be playing Port or Brisbane in the GF. Still makes me angry.

Port ain't coming back from that. What an embarrassment. Always knew they were pretenders. Their W-L record against top 8 teams made it obvious.

Go back to bed Port, you are ****house.

You are pathetic Port. Gutted we won't be playing them in the GF.

Have been saying for months that Port are deadset pretenders. Was really hoping we'd come up against them in the GF. Looks like the Dogs are scalping them before we get the chance. Bulldogs in a Grand Final worries me, especially after a pointless bye (plus the shameless umpiring bias in their favour).

I'm actually speechless. Only the second Melbourne Grand Final in my lifetime.

I'm not even crying yet. I don't think it's sunk in.

This feels almost like a home MCG crowd! Thank you Perth Demon Army.

Paddy should have plenty more time to do NAB Auskick commercials now his season is over.

That is the best team defensive effort I've seen all year. Insane desperation to stop them from getting a goal, when we're nearly 70 points up.

All I can say right now is I bloody love this club.

It's so transparent, yet nothing ever changes. Season after season, the same armchair ride to the same teams.

Like Darcy? The guy was too busy cleaning up the mess under the commentator's desk to criticize anything that favoured his beloved Dogs.

Just imagine the ump favoritism if the Dogs make the GF again. It was sickening enough back in 2016. After tonight, it's clear they'll stop at nothing to get them over the line.

Same thing happened at almost every centre bounce. Was only called a free kick when the umps needed to help the Dogs over the line (and it proved the crucial point that got them home).

10-2 free kicks in the last quarter, in Bulldogs favour.

What happened to "putting the whistle away" in finals? You don't see that many [censored] free kicks pulled out of thin air in H&A! Brisbane have every right to be seething over that. I've never seen a more blatant example of match fixing from umpires than tonight's game, and they got the result they wanted.

Helps when you have 3 extra players on the field.