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History up for grabs as Fremantle and Brisbane meet in epic AFL grand final

Regardless of the winner, history will be made at the MCG.

Regardless of the winner, history will be made at the MCG. Photo: AAP

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan could soon join an elite group of AFL coaches, while Fremantle is chasing its first ever premiership in Saturday’s AFL grand final.

If Brisbane beat Fremantle at the MCG, Fagan will become only the seventh VFL/AFL coach to mastermind a premiership three-peat.

The Jock McHale medal is presented to the premiership coach – the Collingwood great has the league’s only four-peat.

And as Fagan and the Lions try to extend their streak, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir and his team are looking to make their own history by winning the club’s first flag.

Sitting next to Fagan on Friday, Longmuir said the goal was to make sure that whatever happens in the final is only the start of a successful Dockers era.

“I’ve thought about this moment for a number of years,” he said about the prospect of Fremantle winning the premiership.

“It would fill me with great pride to be able to do that. But win or lose tomorrow, it’s not the end of the journey.

“We want to create something that ‘Fages’ has created – where you’re contending for a number of years.”

afl grand final

Longmuir and Fagan are both eyeing milestones on Saturday. Photo: AAP

Fremantle skipper Alex Pearce is also hungrily eyeing off the prospect of leading the Dockers to the AFL ‘holy grail’.

“(It’s) definitely something that I have been conscious of,” Pearce said.

“But I think as it’s gotten closer to the game, I’ve been really mindful of controlling what we can control,” he added.

“And I’ve made sure that my efforts and attention and the team’s efforts and attention are going into things that matter and that can help us win on game day – and wanting to win really bad isn’t gonna help us.”

afl grand final

Dockers captain Pearce has been focused on controlling the controllable. Photo: AAP

Ahead of the game, there has been speculation about whether Saturday could be it for Fagan at Brisbane.

While Fagan said nothing has changed from the last couple of years, he will speak with Lions hierarchy once the season is over.

The 65-year-old noted on Friday that he has been in the role for a decade.

The pre-game atmosphere ramped up on grand-final eve, with more than 20,000 Dockers fans out-doing even Collingwood’s fanaticism by attending Fremantle training at the MCG.

Fagan, meanwhile, again delighted fans during the Brisbane captain’s run by theatrically moving the cones.

But there was a smattering of boos for star Lion Lachie Neale during the grand final parade, after he was controversially cleared on appeal to play in the decider.

Brisbane veteran Neale is the only current player left from the Fremantle side that lost the 2013 grand final to Hawthorn – the Dockers’ only previous grand final.

“I didn’t think he would (get off),” Fagan said of Neale’s appeal Friday.

“It was a bit like last year, I didn’t think he was going to play last year until the day before the game when he got through a fitness test.”

Lachie Neale

Some booing could be heard as Neale made his way through the parade. Photo: AAP

Longmuir said he expected Neale to be cleared all along, although he thought the decision would have come earlier in the week.

“We prepared for Brisbane’s best and he’s clearly in their best team,” the Dockers coach said.

Longmuir later added: “If players who have great records, who have contributed so much to our game, get a bit of leeway at certain times, I don’t think that’s a bad thing for the game.”

This is set to be the first wet grand final since 2011, with no late selection changes expected.   

-with AAP

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