By Grant Hitzman
After 21 weeks and 77 games, it all comes down to this: Griffith Moorooka – the competition’s best attacking team against Pine Rivers – its best defensive team for the 2014 QAFA (A) premiership.
Griffith-Moorooka have been the benchmark this season, finishing the year with a dominant 13-2-1 record, which included an 11-game unbeaten streak.
Even more satisfying for the Roosters, they have not conceded 100-points against any opposition all year, the only club in the competition to do so.
Pine Rivers, meanwhile, have completed a year long journey to avenge a 2013 Preliminary Final loss and compete for a premiership.
The Swans were left heartbroken 12 months ago when a seven-game winning streak was snapped by Beenleigh, denying them of a grand-final berth.
Since then, the Swans have been dominant, winning ten of their last eleven games, blowing teams out of the water with their extremely attacking style.
The matchup between the two clubs shapes as an incredibly close affair, with both the Swans and Roosters claiming a victory in their head-to-head battles in 2014.
Griffith-Moorooka played a spectacular second-half in Round 8 to down the Swans by 19-point on home turf, but in Swans country in Round 16, the Roosters fell short by 14-points, suffering just their second loss of the season.
The game on Saturday hangs in the balance, with both sides boasting key players that make all the difference in the clutch.
For Pine Rivers, gun midfielder and QAFA (A) Best & Fairest winner, Daniel Dai, will be the go-to-guy on the weekend. Dai has had a spectacular season, his clearance play, clean hands and cool decision-making playing a big part in the Swans huge back-half of the year.
Griffith-Moorooka will have QAFA (A) leading goal-kicker, Alan Flower to lean on, who booted 77 majors in 2014. Flower took a particular liking to Pine Rivers in Round 8, where he slotted eight goals, tearing the Swans defence to shreds.
The two sides run to the Grand Final has been equally impressive, with Pine Rivers belting Ipswich and Redcliffe in consecutive weeks while Griffith-Moorooka dominated the Tigers in the semi-final a fortnight ago to earn a week off.
Saturday will likely come down to who can play their own game better. Pine Rivers are the most freely scoring team in the competition, while Griffith-Moorooka has relied on resilient shutdown defence to close out tight games throughout the year.
The decider will be played at Giffin Park, Coorparoo, this Saturday at 2pm.
