Here we are at 7.20pm, back in front of the computer after battling the crowds that came to a standstill on the MCG's northern concourse after the game and the rainstorm that hit the same stalled crowd and then making the long haul home.

What drama we saw, what a pulsating last quarter we were captivated by. So many thoughts, so many 'what ifs', so many 'where to from heres'.

So here's a few - well, 26 actually - reflections on a memorable drawn Grand Final that will send St Kilda and Collingwood back to the MCG next week. 

- Has a sporting crowd of 100,016 ever been so quiet, anywhere, in those few moments after the final siren? Until the silence was broken by a spontaneous round of applause to acknowledge the magnificent contest and the courage of its participants.

- Has there ever been a quicker Grand Final goal kicked than Collingwood's opener after 21 seconds? And an unlikelier scorer of the quickest goal ever than ruckman Darren Jolly?

- Remind me again why St Kilda were in their white-dominated away strip, and they were the ones who had to make that concession. And will they have to 'white up' again this week?

- The Saints could not buy a trick early and must have wondered which particular ladder they'd walked under, black cat they'd kicked and hoodoo they'd brought on themselves when, after Jolly's goal, Alan Didak slotted one from the boundary line (after Sean Dempster's kick out on the full), then Dale Thomas' attempted torpedo from 55 metres out ended up being a top-spinning floater that somehow cleared the goalline.

- The Saints had Sam Fisher to thank for being in the game at quarter time, and not six goals down. He was brilliant across half-back.

- Nathan Brown was doing a manful job at the other end, having found himself not just getting a game, but minding Nick Riewoldt, after Simon Prestigiacomo's late withdrawal.

- Collingwood might have had the game done and dusted at half-time, with 15 scoring shots to 6 (7.8 to 4.2), but wastefulness cost them dearly. (Mind you, the Saints did an awful lot of butchering the ball, too, in the second quarter.)For blocs in that second term, the Pies kept St Kilda trapped in its defence. In that time, Travis Cloke marked 30 metres out and pushed his kick wide then, a few moments later, collected a loose ball and again misfired. The Pies had it all over the white-shirts and the 24-point margin at the main break should clearly have been a lot greater.

- How much of an arm wrestle was it? The 11 goals till half-time came from 11 different players. No-one stood out; almost everyone was doing their bit - although the Saints were nobbled by the first-quarter loss to injury of No.1 big man Michael Gardiner. Suddenly, Jason Blake and Justin Koschitzke were having to pinch-hit in the ruck.

-  A change of fortune for the Saints at half time when their No.45 Luke Myles won the half-time sprint. Maybe that was a portent of things to come, something for the Saints supporters to hang their hats on ...

- The race gave rise to speculation about the starting line-up in the race for Slowest Player at the Grand Final. Luke Ball, Clint Jones, Justin Koschitzke and Leigh Brown were thought to be walk-up starts.

- Within the opening minute of the third term, Dane Swan was careering through the half-forward line when he was brought down in a Lenny Hayes tackle, the human clamp winning a free kick for that inspirational act. At last, some passion from the tri-colors.

- Hayes, Fisher, Brendon Goddard, James Gwilt and Sam Gilbert, who was spending a lot of time up forward, began to assert themselves on the contest. In the black-and-white, Dale Thomas, Heath Shaw, Nick Maxwell and Harry O'Brien were similarly outstanding.

- Gilbert goalled at the 21-minute mark to bring the Saints within seven points, and also bring the crowd alight. But then the Pies missed two more very gettable chances to stretch their lead at the final break: the first by Thomas in what was, frankly, a mug lair snap at goal when all he had to do was straighten up from 30 metres.

- A few minutes later, Jarryd Blair accepted a pass from Thomas from, oh, 25 metres out pretty much straight in front. And the rookie with a chance at glory also sent his shot wide as well. So an eight-point lead should have been so much more going into the last term.

- Ah, the irony. Leon Davis, who'd been having another horror grand final, emerged from the clutches of Sean Dempster, scooted out of trouble and snapped a brilliant goal. Pies by 14. Now there was some diehard Woodsmen around me just threatening to get a little cocky; they'd got a sniff.

- The match was now a real cometh-the-hour-cometh-the-man affair. Bodies being thrown in to packs without any regard for safety, the tackling ferocious. And in the middle of such torrid and frenetic affair, who should emerge to put his stamp on the game but none other than Mr Tough as Old Boots himself, Lenny Hayes. Hayes marked from 55 metres out and sent his drop punt just over outstretched hands to again bring the Saints within seven.

- A word here about the umpires. Anyone - bar Eddie McGuire, who was particularly unhappy about an unpaid free to Leon Davis in the final quarter - remember them making any howler mistakes? Sure, they put the whistle away and a few 50-50 decisions in the packs went unpaid but, on the whole, I thought they - Rosebery, Chamberlain and Ryan - did a cracking job. Will the same three get the gig next week, though?

- A poignant moment came at the 18-minute mark when Riewodlt's dribbled snap bounced and bounced towards goal but, just at the death, was run down by Maxwell right on the goalline. One captain nearly putting his team in front for the first time in the game, the other one desperately chasing and diving to snuff out that hope. But the rushed behind meant the scores were level after 108 minutes of this pulsating contest.

- The game's individual highlight came a minute later: Brendon Goddard - who played a mighty second half - got the sit as a ball floated in towards the Saints goalsquare, jumped on the back of Heretier O'Brien and took a Jezza-like speccy. He converted; now the Saints were in the lead for the first time.

- Chris Dawes had a very quiet day but his most constructive moment came in time on of the last quarter when he managed, from a sitting position in the goalsquare, to fire off a handball to Travis Cloke who goalled. Pies in front by a point.

- The last significant play of the day came at the city end when a ball was kicked in to the lone pair of Steve Milne and Ben Johnson in the Saints' forward line. Milne gave his opponent the slip and doubled back. The ball looped over his head: would it bounce kindly and up into his arms (with Johnson in hot pursuit and another Magpie defender bearing down)? If it did, Milne would waltz into the open goal and probably kick the winner - a goal that would have him immortalised in St Kilda history, would have bronze statues erected in his honour, and grandstands named after him at Moorabbin. Never again would he have to buy a Jim Beam and Coke at the Saints' disco. Alas the ball took a hop at 90 degrees to the right and trickled through the points. Foiled. Scores tied. Siren sounds. 

- What sort of sage and soothsayer is Harry Taylor? Asked for his tip on Channel 10's 'Before the Game' on Friday night, Taylor confidently predicted a draw - because he'd dreamt about it - AND for Collingwood to get up by 10 points in the replay. Well, Harry, if that particular result comes about, then you'll be in huge demand for your racing tips this spring, you might even get to your own stage show like David Copperfield - and you'll bump Cameron Ling out of the mayor's office at Geelong. 

- Hayes won the Norm Smith - and he was a deserved winner - but I reckon Goddard had a cracker of a game and was pretty stiff. I also thought Heath Shaw was the Pies' best, continually repelling attacks, and launching brave counter-attacks from half-back. In the hurly-burly of this frantic contest, few showed cooler heads than the bandy-legged No.39. Nick Maxwell was typically stoic, especially in the last quarter, and Dale Thomas was also very good, but his excellent work was brought undone a couple of times by the tendency to showboat.

- So where to from here? Will there be a Grand Final parade on Friday? And who would turn up? What will the pre-match entertainment be? Can someone call INXS and get them to cancel their plane trip back to the States? And can Luke Myles go back-to-back in the sprint? So many questions.

- The good news for the Pies is that Didak, Davis, Beams, Wellingham and Ball cannot be as quiet again next week. Nor can Dane Swan, who had 21 touches and was well held, especially by Farren Ray in the second half, be as ineffectual. Nor can Collingwood kick as inaccurately and wastefully for goal again. Oh, hang on, on second thoughts, maybe they can because they've been butchering chances all season. Still, overall, some reasons for optimism.

- The Saints this time will play with a specialist ruckman for the whole game, and that means you, Ben McEvoy. Their poorer performers - among them McQualter, Peake, Eddy, Montagna, Dal Santo, Milne and Schneider - can only be better for the run. As can Steve Baker. And the fact they outscored the Pies by four goals in the second half, after they had found their feet, will also give them heart.