Lance Franklin and Alex Rance’s showdown is the main event but a pivotal duel between Callum Sinclair and Toby Nankervis forms part of an intriguing undercard at Etihad Stadium.
Rivals around the country will be watching on Thursday night when Richmond and Sydney, ranked first and second on the ladder and most premiership betting markets, meet in an AFL finals dress rehearsal.
There are subplots aplenty, starting with the opening bounce.
Former teammates Sinclair and Nankervis will square off after successfully relaunching their careers at a second club.
Sinclair lost the 2015 grand final with West Coast then shifted to Sydney, harbouring high hopes he would leap out of Nic Naitanui’s shadow and become the Swans’ first-choice ruckman.
Instead, Sinclair underwent surgery in 2016 to remove a fragment of floating cartilage in his knee.
Sinclair was back training come finals but lacked match fitness. Nankervis, Kurt Tippett and Sam Naismith were preferred at various points of the finals.
Nankervis was an emergency for the 2016 grand final. Desperate to become an AFL regular, he left the Swans and requested a trade to Richmond.
It proved a win-win for both parties.
Nankervis was a revelation in 2017. He nailed down the No.1 ruck spot, tripled his tally of career games and helped pilot the Tigers to a drought-breaking premiership.
“He’s like another midfielder in there … he’s a fantastic player and a fantastic person. He’s been a godsend for our footy club,” Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said earlier this season.
Sinclair’s 2017 could also be viewed as a success – he played 19 games, including two finals – but competition for spots remained fierce.
The 28-year-old has since become arguably Sydney’s most indispensable player, relishing the extra responsibility created by Naismith’s season-ending knee injury and Tippett’s retirement in January.
Sinclair has already collected 35 votes in the AFL Coaches Association player of the year award.
That’s the same number as Richmond’s reigning Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin – and more than any other Swan.
“I like to think that I’ve improved and I’ve become a lot more of a consistent player this year,” Sinclair said last week.