For this year's AFL grand final, the Home Ground Advantage (HGA) has been handed to Collingwood - despite the Pies finishing below West Coast on the ladder.
Collingwood also lost to the Eagles in the first week of the finals series.
Eagles fans, don't hold your breath on wanting to see a grand final in the west - the AFL has a deal to stage the match at the MCG until 2057.
There's some serious history against West Coast for this Saturday's game - in the last four grand finals, the lower-ranked Victorian side has beaten an interstate side in the grand final.
| YEAR | ||
| 2014 | Sydney (1st) | Hawthorn (2nd) |
| 2015 | West Coast (2nd) | Hawthorn (3rd) |
| 2016 | Sydney (1st) | Western Bulldogs (7th) |
| 2017 | Adelaide (1st) | Richmond (3rd) |
| 2018 | West Coast (2nd) | Collingwood (3rd) |
Grand final winner in bold.
When it comes to routine, there is nothing more intimidating with regards to broken routine than an interstate side copping a big crowd at the MCG, especially on grand final day.
It happened to Adelaide last year, who dropped their marbles against Richmond. 12 months earlier, it was Sydney against a Bulldogs side steaming in from seventh on the ladder.
12 months before that, the Eagles had their wings clipped by Hawthorn, who wrapped up their third premiership on the bounce.
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In every case, geography and history are both against the Eagles, and Collingwood should be licking their lips.
However, according to footy guru and Sporting News contributor Rohan Connolly, it's not that simple.
"It's a reasonable advantage, but I'm not sure it's as big an advantage as a lot of people would have you believe," Connolly said.
"Certainly not when it comes to crowd support."
Connolly is right - don't be fooled by the fact that Collingwood is playing a grand final at a ground a mere sparrow fart from their training base, while West Coast have to travel over 3000 kilometres south-east.
Grand finals aren't your classic home-and-away, partisan clashes, even though the HGA is often attributed directly to a one-sided crowd.
Competing club members can share up to 40,000 tickets, with club fans also looking at 5000 tickets. However, the remaining tickets will land in the laps of corporate big-wigs and MCC members, among others.
AFL Grand Final Ticket Allocation
| 1 | Competing Club Members | 16,000 to 40,000 |
| 2 | AFL Clubs (18) | 0 to 7000 |
| 3 | MCC Reserve | 16,000 to 26,000 |
| 4 | AFL Members | 13,000 to 23,000 |
| 5 | AFL/Medallion Club Members | 3000 to 5000 |
| 6 | AFL Entitlements/Contractual Obligation | 5000 to 30,000 |
| 7 | Competing Clubs | 0 to 5000 |
| TOTAL | 100,000 (approx.) |
Certain Melbourne-based media outlets have called on Victorians to get behind Collingwood, in the hope of avoiding an interstate side taking the premiership away from Melbourne for the first time in six years.
It's not that easy, either. Collingwood fans are as partisan as they come - but that doesn't mean they're everyone's second-favourite side.
"When it comes to the grand final, you end up with fewer supporters of the competitng clubs there than you'd have were it just a regular season game with open slather admission," Connolly said.
"That of course is because it's one of the sporting events of the year, tickets are much sought-after, and a lot of them go towards corporate packages.
"Of the 100,000 people in attendance, there'll be a fair few there who don't barrack for either side.
"The level of support for the home team won't necessarily be as vociferous as some people might think."
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Connolly said that Collingwood's advantage comes off the fact that the MCG is their home ground, and their familiarities there bode well for their chances.
From 25 games in 2018, Collingwood have played at the MCG 16 times.
In contrast, West Coast has only played twice at the MCG in 2018 - however, arguably their best win this season came against the Pies at the ground.
Couple that with their move to the new, large confines of Optus Stadium for 2018, and the Eagles have a newfound competitive urge interstate. What home ground advantage?
"By far the most significant of West Coast's wins, from any win this season, was their win over Collingwood at the MCG back in round 17 at the MCG," Connolly said.
"The Eagles played terrific footy that day. I think they play the ground better than they were three years ago when they lost a grand final there to Hawthorn. There's a few reasons for that.
"Sam Mitchell coming onboard as a midfield coach has really helped, he's a player that played an enormous amount of footy at the MCG.
"In the (finals) win over Collingwood, they were able to use the width of the ground better than they had previously.
"Optus Stadium has dimensions similar to the MCG, which measures at 161 by 138 metres, while Optus is 165 by 130. They're close to identical.
"That's helped them familiarise themselves with the venue they have to win the premiership on."
