10 reasons why it's great to have Collingwood in the Grand Final

1. Fewer fence-sitting fans

Everyone seems to have an opinion about this Grand Final. That's because you've got Collingwood fans, St Kilda fans and fans of every other team, who seem to want Collingwood to lose. You'd be hard pressed to find someone in Melbourne who says, "I don't really care who wins." Very difficult to find a neutral anywhere south of the Murray this week.

2. Magpie passion

12,000 people turn up for Collingwood's training session. Enough said. As Eddie McGuire smugly noted yesterday: If the NRL or A-League got as many as that at their games, they'd send out a press release.

3. Hottest ticket in town

Collingwood's 57,000+ membership means more people than ever looking for tickets (and more people than ever failing to get tickets). This ups the hype meter and all but ensures a huge crowd and big TV audience.

4. More media coverage

Like it or not, Collingwood stories sell papers and boost radio and TV ratings. And not just in Victoria. The Sunday Herald-Magpie, for example, will be rubbing its hands together in glee. If the Pies win, expect Collingwood to dominate the front pages of the little paper till, oh, sometime around Christmas. In fact, a Magpies victory could singlehandedly save the newspaper industry in Victoria. Sales will spike, and newspaper moguls from around the world will travel to Melbourne wondering how this small town was able to reverse every circulation trend of the past decade.

5. The Schadenfreude factor

Schadenfreude is a German word which means "pleasure derived from the misfortune of others." How many thousands of people are there scattered across Melbourne, and Australia, and quite possibly beyond, just waiting for the Magpies to lose their third Grand Final in nine years? The supporters of the other 15 AFL clubs, for a start.

6. Mick Malthouse

In the unique position of possibly winning his third Premiership, then stepping aside for an unproven Nathan Buckley in 12 months' time. Can anyone nominate a coach in any major sporting code in the world who has willingly handed over the reins to an assistant after helping to build a dynasty?

7. Eddie McGuire's face

Love him or hate him (again, not many neutrals here), Eddie will be the focus of Channel Seven's cameras on Saturday. Win and he'll be beaming from ear to ear. Lose and we'll be treated to the same sour face we saw on Brownlow night when Chris Judd outpolled Dane Swan.

8. The "Evil Empire" theory

It's good to have your competition's biggest and most infamous club in the Grand Final once in awhile. Like the New York Yankees in the World Series or Manchester United in the FA Cup, something about it just feels right. Certainly the mood feels a little more upbeat than the week leading up to the Brisbane-Port Adelaide GF in 2004.

9. The Schadenfreude factor Pt II

Watching the faces of North Melbourne fans - who for several years had to put up with the fumbling and general incompetence of Leigh Brown - as the big, reborn Collingwood No.15 plays another blinder in the black-and-white.

10. Boomtime for travel agents

Yep, the prospect of a Collingwood triumph, and the likelihood of hordes of Visigoths and Vandals rampaging through the city for the next week, has forced many Melburnians to ring their local agent and book a flight to somewhere - anywhere - with an open date on the return ticket.

11. Er, that's it