Without wanting to disrespect all the teams involved, some AFL finals seem weightier than others.
Sunday's Fremantle-Gold Coast clash is a slice of history, the Suns playing in their first AFL final. But as a pointer to a few weekends from now? Not so much. And the antithesis of that scenario? Well, that might be Friday night at the MCG.
Last year's Geelong-Brisbane preliminary final was a cracker. Friday night's "finals rematch" is every bit as appetizing. And it mightn't be the last time these two great rivals of the past five years or so lock horns this September, either.
You don't hear that phrase "Grand Final preview" nearly so often these days, particularly not when two sides are drawn to play each other in a final, given the way the final eight works.
But in 25 seasons under the current system, we have nonetheless still had five occasions in which a qualifying final match-up has been repeated on Grand Final day. (And to add a little further spice to the equation, on four of those five occasions the result has been reversed).
And you really can see the path via which the Cats and Lions could do it all again on Grand Final day regardless of what happens on Friday night. Victory, and it's a home preliminary final for either.
Defeat, and it's still a semifinal the following week at home against either Fremantle or Gold Coast, both of whom Geelong have been beaten comfortably this season, and ditto Brisbane (though the Lions did also have a rare shocker against the Suns in the return clash).
You'd fancy the Cats or Lions in that semifinal scenario. Which, obviously, still leaves a considerable preliminary final challenge. But then these are two teams which respond on an almost annual basis now to such challenges. Indeed, both Geelong and Brisbane have won preliminary finals against each other as the away team, the Cats up at the Gabba in 2020, the Lions famously last year.
Brisbane has definitely had the upper hand on the Cats of late, winning both previous meetings this year and four of the last five meetings, the most recent a highly-impressive 41-point win at GMHBA Stadium in Round 15. The common denominator in nearly all those cases, though, has been tough, pressure-packed but still skillful, finals-like football.
These are two very solid, very reliable and very experienced finals-performing teams, the only two senior lists of this year's final eight to have amassed more than 300 finals between them prior to this week's first game.
But if you're looking for even more specific statistically-based pointers towards the possibility of a Geelong v Brisbane grand final, here's where it gets particularly interesting and why the following little morsel should have you particularly excited.
Champion Data's "Premiership Standards Report" is a very handy piece of information, a catalogue of 38 statistical categories, charting each team's current ranking in each category as well as (in 32 of those statistics) how many of the past 10 AFL premiership teams have ranked top six in that specific category.
Interestingly, some of the better-known categories like clearances and contested possession haven't necessarily proved that reliable a guide as to flag success, only three of past 10 premiers ranked top six for clearances and only four flag-winners ranked top six in contested ball.
But there are still five statistical indicators in which every single one of the past 10 premiership teams has ranked top six. Those are points against, points against from turnover, opposition points from the forward half, defensive 50 to inside 50 transition, and inside 50 differentials.
And have a guess which are the only two teams of the eight finalists who head into September comfortably ranked top six in each of those categories? Yep, it's Geelong and Brisbane.
Adelaide has the best balance between attack and defence purely in terms of points for and against, ranked third and second respectively. But the Crows are comparatively poorly rated for both opposition points from forward half and D50 to forward 50 ball movement.
Collingwood has three No. 1 rankings in those five areas in which each of the past 10 premiers has ranked top six, but it too is only a mediocre 10th for D50 to inside 50 transition. And in that area, like all those other premiership "indispensables" the Cats and Lions have the bases covered.
There's the forensic case. Now the observational one. Geelong was arguably a couple of goals and maybe a tweaked Max Holmes hamstring from a premiership last year against this same opponent. It was Brisbane which prevailed and then went all the way. And again, it's hard to imagine either forgetting their lines to any great extent on the big stage.
Which leaves Friday night as a mouth-watering prospect, and perhaps not the final time they'll come head-to-head in 2025, either.
West Coast and Sydney's incredible rivalry 20 years ago on the big stage was marked by qualifying finals which were replayed on the biggest day of them all three weeks later. A couple of decades on, I'm starting to feel similar vibes about the Cats and Lions. Given what they turned on a year ago, I'm OK with that, too.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY