1. Have there ever been two more contrasting preliminary finals in the one weekend? The first a rolled-gold classic, the second a sure-fire stinker. The first had atmosphere, the second flatmosphere. The first had an 87,000-strong crowd who sat glued to their seats till the final bell, the second had people filing out in droves at three-quarter time to go home and have a hot bath. Still, at the end of it all, we got the Grand Final that we wanted, and the code deserved.

2. If the MCG crowd was subdued before Steve Johnson's injury, they were positively dumbstruck in the minutes after he was tackled by Andrew Embley, fell awkwardly and dislocated his left patella. Johnson was taken off on a stretcher but later shown on the Channel 10 telecast to be flexing his leg in the rooms and then - to huge applause from Cats' fans - reappeared on the ground in the last quarter to walk around the boundary. So stand by for thousands of column centimetres this week being devoted to the key Grand Final injuries: Johnson's knee versus Ben Reid's groin and Darren Jolly's thigh. We can't see Johnson playing ... but then again we badly misdiagnosed Buddy Franklin's injury three weeks ago, so will probably keep our opinion to ourselves.

3. Alastair Clarkson was left to rue the Hawks' many blown chances in the final quarter on Friday night. And how they'd love to have these moments back again: Chance Bateman kicking directly to Nick Maxwell, which allowed the Pies to sweep the ball forward and Travis Cloke to goal; Brent Guerra's decision to punch a ball that was heading out on the full in the back pocket. His touch meant the ball was thrown in by the boundary umpire, rather than kicked in, and led to Dane Swan's snapped goal moments later. Ryan Schoenmaker's dropped chest mark in defence in the dying minutes which led to Luke Ball's winning goal soon afterwards.

4. There were other big moments earlier in the game that didn't attract as much attention but were equally significant. Just as the Hawks had gone 21 points up early in the third quarter, and had kicked five of the last six goals to build some irresistible momentum, the ball fell to Brendan Whitecross in congestion across half-back. Facing the Collingwood goal, he had two teammates run past him to the left, in the corridor, where he should have handballed. Inexplicably, he turned to the right - into a waiting nest of Magpies - where he was tackled, penalised for holding the ball and Chris Dawes ended up goalling moments later to keep the Pies alive.

5. Collingwood's last quarter was both brave and brilliant. Dane Swan and Travis Cloke, in particular, were outstanding - Swan repeatedly winning the ball out of the middle, Cloke dominating in the air up forward. Swan's recent form has had many wondering about the magical effects of his mid-year, high-altitude training stint in Arizona. Or maybe there's more to it than that: maybe he's just a damn good player. Dayne Beams was also an Arizona attendee but had an absolute Barry Crocker on Friday night.

6. Can we please get some umpires with the gonads to make a call against forwards who foul backmen on the goalline? A different set of rules seem to apply to a pair of players wrestling on the goalline, usually the forward holding the defender back so he can't get his hand to a shot on goal. On Friday, Josh Gibson was not just held by his Collingwood opponent, he was put in the half-Nelson, had the sleeper old applied and given The Piledriver - all at once. The umpire looked at the grappling, ignored it, put his hands to his mouth and said: 'All Clear'. Utterly ridiculous.

7. Mick Malthouse's post-siren tears, and then his effusive interview with Channel Seven in the changerooms, came as something of a revelation to old-timers who recall Mick as the Footscray coach in the 80s, and then West Coast supremo in the 90s. They would have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief at that sequence of events. Because no-one ever remembers Mick crying during that decade at all - or smiling even. He spent most of his time looking so fierce his moustache bristled.

8. Memo to whoever is the modern-day Alf Potter in the Channel Seven van: can we tone down the cut-away shots to Eddie McGuire and co. in the MCG stands? Seeing him and his Collingwood cronies every five minutes was enough to turn any right-thinking neutral supporter into a Hawthorn fan.

9. Farewell Jeff Kennett. Yes, he has his detractors and critics. And sometimes, yes, he shouldn't have been sticking his bib into other clubs' affairs. But he's been a fantastically effective president - and Hawk fans will miss him on that score. But where he'll really be missed by everyone else is keeping the AFL honest. Kennett was virtually the only president - along with McGuire occasionally - who had the cojones to take on head office, and make them accountable for the way they administered the sport, and spent the gazillions of dollars that poured into its coffers each year. Who'll take on that role now?

10. And, having spent Saturday night nursing a quiet drink or two at the Royal Saxon Hotel in Richmond, BPL can report that Hawthorn's Mad Saturday drinks were well underway after their painful defeat the previous night. Buddy Franklin was there, as was Brent Guerra, and at least six or eight teammates and they appeared to having a great time. So much so, that we venture to suggest they wouldn't have been feeling much pain at all. Which is not to say they were behaving badly. Far from it, in fact.

11. And so to the first Saturday in October. Collingwood is a narrow favourite for the first Grand Final between these sides since 1953. Then, a Lou-Richards led Magpie side stopped the Cats' attempt at a third straight premiership, prevailing by 12 points. We reckon if it's a hot day on Saturday - with the temperature well into the 20s, as it was in 1998 and 1987 before that - then the Cats will be found out with their lack of pace, especially those ageing warhorses Ottens and Ling. Otherwise, we give the Cats a great chance of making it three flags in five years. Although they'd be aided, of course, by an appearance from S Johnson.