The Fremantle Dockers secured a historic grand final berth with a 25-point win over Sydney in last week’s preliminary final in Perth. The clinical method in which Fremantle dismantled Sydney’s game plan would have sent a message to the Hawthorn players watching on.

Hawthorn will start favourites in the premiership decider, but Dockers captain Matthew Pavlich says Fremantle won’t be intimidated by the Hawks, who have lost just three games for the entire season. Fremantle are set to take an unchanged line-up into Saturday’s decider after defenders Michael Johnson (calf) and Luke McPharlin (calf/adductor) were given the all-clear to play today.

Hawthorn will be without defender Brendan Whitecross (knee), but star forwards Jarryd Roughead (tribunal reprimand) Lance Franklin (elbow) and Brent Guerra (shoulder/thigh) are expected to play.

Stephen (Fremantle) and Brad Hill (Hawthorn) will become the first brothers to face off against each other in a VFL/AFL grand final since Essendon’s Alan and South Melbourne’s Vic Belcher played in the 1912 premiership decider.

Today’s AFL grand final from the MCG, offers a stark contrast of football philosophies, Hawthorn: the AFL’s best forward attacking team versus Fremantle, the AFL’s tightest defence. Footy experts believe that defence wins premierships, but so do attacks especially when you have Franklin, Roughead and Rioli up forward for the Hawks.

Ross Lyon’s Dockers qualified for the club’s first grand final on a platform of relentless defence. In the home and away season, Fremantle conceded the fewest scores and in their two finals victories, the Dockers allowed Geelong only 72 points and reigning premiers Sydney just 74 points. Question remains can they do similar with Hawthorn?

Eleven clubs, scored more heavily than Fremantle this season while Hawthorn became the league’s top scorers by more than 100 points than the next best, Geelong. The Hawks won both of their finals matches by 100 points or more.

Even with their frustrating close checking defence tactics, Freo’s defence can be beaten, but the Hawks will have to be good, use the ball intelligently and not waste chances that nearly cost them the preliminary final against the Cats last week.

The game will be tight physical encounter with neither side giving ground in the early stages of the game. There will be a lot niggle and sledge from Dockers Ballantyne and Crowley and sore mid-field bodies from both sides by half time. Provided the weather is dry, expect the Hawks’ experience and the pain of loosing last year’s grand final to prevail and edging them ahead of the Dockers towards the end of the game. However, if it rains during most of the match, Fremantle is better equipped to handle ground play in the wet conditions and may over-run the Hawks for a historic victory.

Picking a clear cut winner is difficult, maybe we can all come back next week and watch the grand final replay.

As part of the NAB Footify Australia campaign, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne have created FootifyFM. A first in Australian sport, FootifyFM is an online live stream that will allow people around the world to listen to live commentary of the 2013 Toyota AFL Grand Final in a multitude of languages one of them being Greek, so log in and create history.