Jeremy McGovern is West Coast's Six Million Dollar Man.

That's the reported value of the lucrative long-term deal he signed in July, not the cost of an operation to give him enhanced bionic powers.

But he does appear to share elements of the iconic 1970s television character's superhuman strength and vision.

If fit, he looms as the key figure in deciding Saturday's AFL Grand Final against Collingwood.

"He picks up the flight of the ball really early and reads the play better than most," said Collingwood's Jeremy Howe.

"Clearly, he has a big influence when they're playing well, and you've got to be accountable because if he runs his own show he's pretty hard to stop."

McGovern has terrorised the Magpies in their two previous meetings this season, averaging 13 intercepts and four contested marks.

To put those numbers into context, Richmond's Alex Rance led the AFL with 9.8 intercepts per game this season, while McGovern himself averaged a league-high 2.8 contested marks.

In the AFL Grand Final this weekend, McGovern could be given the job of stopping the man with 2018's second-most contested marks: Mason Cox.

The big American pulled down a club record eight contested marks against Richmond last week, as well as scoring three second-quarter goals.

"You were able to see what Cox and the other Collingwood forwards did against a Richmond backline that really hadn't given up too many goals this year, so they're obviously doing a lot of work," Eagles defender Will Schofield said.

"They connected really well with their midfield and they're running some great patterns with their forward line."

Those patterns include some crafty interference from Brody Mihocek and Will Hoskin-Elliott. See here how Mihocek impedes Rance, allowing Cox a clear lead:

"I think Brody and Will providing blocks for the big fella were a big factor in why he was clunking them," Howe said.

"His arm span is ridiculous, so if he can get a run and jump at the ball you'd want to be a professional high jumper to get anywhere near it."

Collingwood's scoring map against the Eagles. ( Supplied )

West Coast Eagles' scoring map against Collingwood. ( Supplied )

McGovern may not be an Olympian, but he does have a prodigious leap. His jumping power, combined with his strong frame, is what makes his defence so valuable.

The Pies tried to block McGovern in the qualifying final three weeks ago, but it had little effect. He jumped all over the Texan in the Eagles' 16-point win, with his aerial dominance restricting the Magpies' opportunities to take high-value shots on goal.

While Cox may have stolen much of the spotlight this week, his role in the Pies' forward line is more structural than spearhead. The following graph relates to Collingwood's "score involvements" this season.

A player is credited with a score involvement each time he's involved in a possession chain that ends in his side scoring. It can range from a handball in the defensive 50, to a snapped goal from the forward pocket.

Using that data, the graph shows the percentage of the Pies' scores that each of their players have been involved in this season.

We have colour-coded the players by their primary positions. As we can see, the ones who are most heavily involved in the Magpies' scoring are the onballers, including All-Australian ruckman Brodie Grundy. A relatively small proportion of their attack is channelled through their key targets such as Cox.

In contrast, West Coast utilises a more traditional attacking structure. The Eagles' leading score involvement contributors are their true forwards.

West Coast's midfielders like to keep things simple.

They have a direct, no-nonsense style designed to maximise their advantages up forward. Even the loss of Andrew Gaff hasn't slowed them much — with the gap largely filled by Jack Redden and Luke Shuey.

The Eagles boast strong marking targets on each line, which empowers them to rush the ball forward with relative abandon and without too much fear of turning it over.

They are the competition's most kick-heavy team by a wide margin, and move the ball by hand far less frequently than their opponent Collingwood.

"We know the way they play," said Magpies defender Tyson Goldsack this week.

"It's the way the midfield uses the ball going forward, more so than the forwards themselves, that we really need to pay attention to."

If the Eagles' midfield does get on top — watch out.

They'll be feeding the AFL's most potent attack. The league average for points scored per inside 50 this year is 1.54 points per entry.

The Eagles top the list at 1.70 points per inside 50, but in the games in which both Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling have played that number has risen to 1.96.

That equates to an extra goal about every 12 entries.

With Kennedy fit and firing, everything opens up for them. Watch (below) how he beats Goldsack both on the lead and in the air, highlighting the difficulty of the match up he presents.

Some thought will be given to playing in front of Kennedy, to deny him the space in which to lead.

"At times it works, depending on where the footy is, the speed at which the footy is travelling, and how much pressure is on the ball," Goldsack said.

"Circumstances can change dramatically though, and in an instant, so we'll have starting points and ways to go about it, depending on certain scenarios."

The Pies will be wary of deploying an extra defender just to look after Kennedy, given that would potentially free up the dangerous McGovern at the other end of the field.

But if they choose to double team Kennedy and forgo their floating spare defender, then one of Darling, Rioli, Ryan, LeCras or Cripps could get off the leash. None of those options are too appealing either.

"We'll just rock up and our back six or seven will go about their business like they have all year," Goldsack said.

"We always get great support from our midfield, who help out with their pressure on the ball. So long as they turn up, and we turn up, we should be OK."

Although West Coast ran away with both the qualifying final and their round 17 encounter, a quirk of recent finals history could raise Collingwood's hopes of striking back on Saturday.

In the 18 seasons since the AFL adopted its current final-eight system, four Grand Finals (2003, 2005, 2006 and 2015) have been contested by teams that met in the first week of the finals. In all four, the loser of the qualifying final took revenge for their earlier loss.

While the sample size is much too small for the statistic to be treated too seriously, rematches do provide teams with the opportunity to reassess and readjust their tactics.

Last week Collingwood showed it had clearly heeded the lessons of its recent losses to Richmond and came armed with a plan to overcome the Tigers' turnover game.

West Coast was also far better equipped to take on Melbourne than it had been in round 22.

Whatever the result, it's safe to assume the Grand Final won't play out exactly like the qualifying final. These are two teams with vastly differing styles in the middle, up forward and down back.

The winner will be the one that is able to maximise its own strengths and play the game on its terms.