This year’s AFL Grand Final will be held at the MCG in Melbourne on Saturday 27th September at 12:30 AEST (Melbourne time) – that’s 04:30 UK time. For those who just can’t wait to watch, check out the countdown page at the AFL website “time to bounce”. The AFL’s Luke Holmesby is predicting a Geelong win by 22 points. Here are all the statistics that we could find for this exciting final:

Head to head: Geelong 73 wins, Hawthorn 66 wins, one draw
Last time: Geelong 12.12 (88) d Hawthorn 11.11 (77), round 17, 2008 at the MCG
Last finals meeting: Hawthorn 14.8 (92) d Geelong 12.11 (83), first elimination final, 2000 at Telstra Dome

Teams

Geelong

B: Tom Harley, Matthew Scarlett, Josh Hunt
HB: Darren Milburn, Harry Taylor, Andrew Mackie
C: Joel Selwood, Cameron Ling, Corey Enright
HF: Steve Johnson, Cameron Mooney, Jimmy Bartel
F: Paul Chapman, Tom Lonergan, Mathew Stokes
Foll: Brad Ottens, Joel Corey, Gary Ablett
I/C: Mark Blake, Travis Varcoe, James Kelly, Max Rooke
EMG: David Wojcinski, Ryan Gamble, Shannon Byrnes

In: Chapman
Out: David Wojcinski

Hawthorn

B: Stephen Gilham, Trent Croad, Brent Guerra
HB: Grant Birchall, Luke Hodge, Rick Ladson
C: Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Chance Bateman
HF: Michael Osborne, Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli
F: Mark Williams, Jarryd Roughead, Campbell Brown
Foll: Robert Campbell, Brad Sewell, Shane Crawford
I/C: Stuart Dew, Xavier Ellis, Brent Renouf, Clinton Young
EMG: Thomas Murphy, Simon Taylor, Travis Tuck

No change

HAWTHORN’S inspirational midfielder/defender Luke Hodge insists that he will be fit for the grand final despite the rib injury he suffered against St Kilda in the preliminary final.

“The ribs are fine – we’ve got no problems,” Hodge said at Waverley on Tuesday.

Read the full report here.

Injury Lists

GEELONG

Paul Chapman (hamstring) – test
Matthew Egan (foot) – unavailable
Brent Prismall (knee) – unavailable

HAWTHORN

Trent Croad (foot) – available
Luke Hodge (ribs) – available
Cameron Stokes (hamstring tightness) – test
Tom Murphy (back) – test
Max Bailey (knee) – unavailable
Ben McGlynn (knee) – unavailable
Luke McEntee (hamstring) – unavailable
Garry Moss (groin) – unavailable
Beau Muston (knee) – unavailable

Head to Head

Geelong Cats - Average Per Game -  Hawthorn Hawks

212.9 -  Kicks -  201.8
200.9 -  Handballs - 173.4
413.8 - Disposals - 375.2
108.5 -  Marks - 113.5
17.5 - Goals - 16.2
14.5 - Behinds - 14.1
32.0 - Scoring Shots - 30.3
60.1 - Tackles - 51.0
37.9 -  Hitouts - 31.4
23.9 - Frees For - 19.6
20.3 - Frees Against - 23.3
1.06 -  Kick to Handball Ratio - 1.16
54.7% -  Conversion - 53.5%
23.65 - Disposals Per Goal -  23.16
12.93 - Disposals Per Scoring Shot - 12.38

Key Players (Average Per Game Statistics)

Geelong Cats

J. Bartel 15.4 kicks, 12.8 hballs, 28.2 disps, 5.8 marks
G. Ablett 13.8 kicks, 14.8 hballs, 28.6 disps, 1.2 goals
J. Corey 13.6 kicks, 15.6 hballs, 29.2 disps
A. Mackie 14.0 kicks, 8.8 hballs, 22.8 disps, 6.9 marks
S. Johnson 13.0 kicks, 19.7 disps, 5.9 marks, 2.2 goals

Hawthorn Hawks

S. Mitchell 13.3 kicks, 15.1 hballs, 28.4 disps
L. Hodge 14.2 kicks, 22.9 disps, 5.5 marks, 1.0 goals
L. Franklin 12.5 kicks, 15.5 disps, 6.4 marks, 4.6 goals
J. Lewis 11.6 kicks, 13.6 hballs, 25.3 disps, 6.3 marks
C. Young 12.5 kicks, 17.7 disps, 8.6 marks

Recent Matches Between Geelong Cats and Hawthorn Hawks

Date -  Venue - Home v Away Teams – Result - High Disposals – High Goals

• Round 17, 25 Jul 2008 -  MCG -  Hawthorn defeated by Geelong 77-88
  • J. Bartel 36
  • L. Franklin 4
• Round 4, 22 Apr 2007 - Aurora Stadium -  Hawthorn defeats Geelong 76-72
  • J. Bartel 31
  • M. Williams 3
• Round 22, 3 Sep 2006 - Telstra Dome - Hawthorn defeats Geelong 133-72
  • G. Birchall 36
  • M. Williams 8
• Round 3, 15 Apr 2006 -  Skilled Stadium - Geelong defeated by Hawthorn 49-101
  • B. Guerra 30
  • C. Brown 3 M. Williams 3
• Round 14, 3 Jul 2005 - Telstra Dome - Geelong defeats Hawthorn 113-58
  • C. Ling 34
  • P. Chapman 4 K. Kingsley 4
• Round 22, 29 Aug 2004 -  Skilled Stadium - Geelong defeats Hawthorn 123-58
  • D. Milburn 25 M. Scarlett 25
  • S. Johnson 5
• Round 7, 9 May 2004 -  Telstra Dome - Hawthorn defeated by Geelong 52-108
  • J. Kelly 25
  • D. Haynes 3 M. Williams 3
• Round 9, 25 May 2003 - Telstra Dome - Geelong defeats Hawthorn 109-75
  • J. Corey 31
  • B. Dixon 4
• Round 22, 30 Aug 2002 -  Telstra Dome - Geelong defeated by Hawthorn 57-75 S.
  • Crawford 30
  • C. Mooney 3 C. Brown 3
• Round 7, 11 May 2002 -  MCG - Hawthorn defeats Geelong 130-78
  • S. Crawford 30
  • K. Kingsley 5