Whether allowing for old rivalries to be rekindled or new ones to be stoked, the finals firepit is always white hot.
Champion players and teams stamp their brands here, but for the vanquished, sometimes the burns can take a lifetime to soothe.
Ahead of the the temperature rising during the first week of the 2023 AFL Finals series, we turned the clock back to the last time each finals pairing faced off this late in the season.
4. Brisbane and Port Adelaide - 2004 grand final
A game for the ages, this one.
While Brisbane would be back on the game's biggest stage for the fourth season running -ย a feat not seen since Hawthorn in the mid-to-late 80s - Port had finally shaken off their choker tag, vying for their first AFL cup to go with the kitchen draw of SANFL silverware already at Alberton.
Though Leigh Matthews' Lions would start the brightest, Gavin Wanganeen would bang on four second-half goals as Port proved they had the power win.
In a game best remembered for Power head coach Mark Williams' exhuberance at the final siren, this decider's lasting legacy lies in the fact that seven past and present AFL coaches pulled the boots on that afternoon - Damien Hardwick, Adam Kingsley, Stuart Dew, Brad Scott, Chris Scott, Craig McRae and Michael Voss.
