Welcome to Sunday’s WAFL grand final.

The two best teams of the home-and-away season have made it, and so they should have after finishing seven and four games clear of the next challenger.

Most pre-season tipsters had them playing off in the biggest match of September, a game to be played at an historic inner city venue that has seen dramatic changes over its recent life.

There should be a good crowd – not like in the glory days but enough to recognise the quality of the match-ups and the significance of the contest.

Both clubs have advantages – one has a big cash box, rarely puts a foot wrong on and off the field and has managed to attract a crop of diverse and ambitious imports to top up its home grown cohort.

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The other has the benefit of timing - half its combination has returned in the past year or so after being tasted and spat out by the AFL which indicates little except the abundance of raw talent in the camp.

Camera Icon Subiaco's Craig Hoskins tries to get a handball away under pressure from South Fremantle's Shane Hockey during a clash earlier in the season. Credit: Daniel Wilkins, The Sunday Times.

Subiaco and South Fremantle are the combatants and they have the bitter-sweet experience of knowing that the winner on Sunday is the best of the WAFL teams this season.

Unfortunately for that winner, they will then face another hurdle in the form of a de facto AFL team in the official decider in the last-ever game at Subiaco.

There have been numerous examples throughout WAFL history – and all leagues and sports for that matter – where the underdog has triumphed on the biggest stage and the last day of the season.

Swan Districts lost to East Perth four times throughout 1961 but stood up when it counted most to secure their first flag.

Subiaco succumbed to West Perth four times in 1973 but ended a 49-year premiership drought when they met for the fifth time.

The difference between those teams was a matter of a few or more degrees; the difference between the two preliminary finalists and Peel is that of fundamental and extreme disparity.

Camera Icon How much better was Peel than Subiaco last week? Credit: Trevor Collens

They are different lifeforms that just happen to share similar traits. Men against boys. Professionals against amateurs. Full-timers against hobbyists.

How much better were Peel than the Subiaco team they demolished in the second semifinal on Sunday?

Three times, if you compared their notional player points balances.

The Lions players added up to 63 points – just under half the WAFL cap for an entire squad - with only three 10-pointers.

Fremantle-listed players don’t accrue points as part of the alignment with Peel but, if they did, the Thunder team that ran onto Leederville Oval on Sunday would have been worth 188 points. And that tally included 17 players worth 10 or more points to emphasise the vast quality contrast between the teams.

Or maybe Peel were 10 times better.

Subiaco’s 2017 player payment pool is $251,350, not counting extras like the veterans and marquee allowances and ignoring the ever-present speculation about extracurricular payments.

Yet the Peel players in action on Sunday will earn about $2.5 million this year. And every cent is legit even if it is unpalatable.

Play Video Peel defeat Subiaco to reach WAFL Grand Final. The West Australian Video Peel defeat Subiaco to reach WAFL Grand Final.

Brayden Lawler and Ben Hancock are not likely to grow rich on their Thunder match payments but Danyle Pearce and Cam Sutcliffe and Tom Sheridan and Nick Suban and Garrick Ibbotson and Zac Dawson and Jon Griffin, all players in Fremantle’s best 22 in the first few games of the season, could reasonably be expected to drag in the average AFL salary of $300,000 a season.

Every one of them gets paid more than the entire Subiaco squad.

The issue that galls WAFL supporters, of course, is that several of those allocated Dockers, as well as youngsters Sean Darcy, Luke Ryan, Brennan Cox and Griffin Logue, became regular first-choice Fremantle players in the second half of the season but remain eligible to play for Peel in September.

Peel’s 2017 strategy appears simple in hindsight – use whatever means possible to qualify for the finals, dump the locals who helped get them there and then stack the team with a host of hardened AFL stars who could bring somewhat tarnished glory to the club.

The WAFL grand final should highlight the best State level teams and players of the year. It will on Sunday.

A week later, those players who now ply their trade on the national stage will get to farewell their home ground.

Camera Icon Greg Harding unveiled 24 AFL players in his time at Swan Districts’ helm. Credit: Danella Bevis, The West Australian

Tuesday hero(es)

Tallan Ames and Greg Harding have worked hand in glove for five years as captain and coach so it was appropriate that the first semifinal loss meant they ended their time at Swan Districts together.

Ames goes out with 263 games at Swans to be third on their all-time list after a stellar career that included the 2010 premiership and regular State representation.

He also joined fellow No.11 Don Langsford with a Swans record 139 victories.

Harding coached for a decade – the first three seasons in the colts then from 2011, when he took over a league premiership team, for seven mostly tough years.

But there have been plenty of wins, even if only one of them was in a final.

Twenty-four players in his charge have gone on to the AFL in his decade – under a system declared broken, mind you – while the rehabilitation of Michael Walters and Kane Goodwin were to his credit.