One of the biggest weekends on the Australian sporting calendar is almost upon us with both AFL and NRL grand finals taking place on the October long weekend.
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In this week’s At The Bar, Michael ‘Speedy’ Stratton and The Area News sports journalist Ben Jaffrey talk grand final footy.
Speedy: You look like you’ve pulled up alright after winning the reserve grade grand final with the Tahs last week.
Ben: It took a few days but we got back to full health.
Speedy: Has the party stopped for you at all? Your Sharkies are off to the big one now.
Ben: They are indeed and I’ll be there too. Me and my mate from uni, Hobbs, bought tickets about a month ago. If they win you probably won’t see me for a while.
Speedy: I’ll hold down the fort. Where are you sitting?
Ben: We are as high as you can go. The theory is, that’s where the diehards are going to be, the proper punters.
Speedy: I’ve been up there a couple times. You’re that high you’ll need an oxygen mask, so prepare yourself.
Ben: I’ve got the binoculars ready to go.
Speedy: I’d love to see the Sharks win, apart from you I’ve got another good mate, Greg Balind, he’s as mad as it comes when you’re talking Cronulla.
Ben: If he’s mad for the Sharks, he must be a legend.
Speedy: He is but I’ll go for Melbourne only becau-
Ben: What?
Speedy: Alright, I’ll go for Cronulla.
Ben: Go for whoever you want, mate. Don’t let me change your mind.
Speedy: No, I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll go for Cronulla but Melbourne will be there for a long, long way.
Ben: They’ve been there and done it before.
Speedy: The way they approach these big games – they’re just so used to it.
Ben: They are and they’ll be tough but the Sharkies have to get one – they just have to. Who do you like in the rules?
Speedy: You've got the Swannies and the Bulldogs. I like the Swans even though it’s in Melbourne but I’d love to see the Bulldogs win. They haven’t been there since 1961 from memory.
Ben: One of my good mates goes for them. He went nuts on Saturday night but – not that I’m a die-hard supporter – my team is the Swans so I’d prefer them to win and I think they will.
Speedy: The Swans won comfortably. I was surprised how they handled Geelong. It all comes down to how much the Bulldogs win over the Giants took out of them. But imagine if GWS went through, Melbourne would be in mourning for a week.
Ben: You wouldn’t be surprised if a story similar to how The Ashes were made came out of it.
Speedy: Well, lucky we don’t have to worry about that this year.