Hawks pick Jonathan Simpkin for Grand Final while Fremantle are unchanged

JONATHAN Simpkin will play his second Grand Final in seven days after getting the nod at Hawthorn while Fremantle are unchanged.

Big game ... Jonathan Simpkin is selected by Hawthorn.

HAWTHORN have selected Jonathan Simpkin to replace the injured Brendan Whitecross in their team for Saturday's AFL grand final.

The Dockers have named an unchanged side.

Simpkin's selection comes after he was best afield for the Hawks' VFL affiliate Box Hill in their grand final win on Sunday, which now gives him the chance to play in two premierships six days apart.

Pain to drive Hawks

It will be the 25-year-old's first AFL game since round 20 and just the 18th of his career.

The hard-running midfielder-forward has had to battle enormously hard for his AFL chance.

First rookie-drafted by Sydney ahead of the 2006 season, Simpkin didn't play an AFL game in his two years with the Swans before being delisted at the end of 2007.

He joined Geelong's VFL side in 2008 and was eventually rookie drafted by the Cats ahead of the 2011 season.

He won the Geelong VFL side's best and fairest award in 2011 but didn't make his AFL debut until round nine last year.

Hawks can beat Dockers maze: Woosha

He played four AFL games in total for the Cats, including their elimination final loss to Fremantle, before being delisted at the end of last season and joining Hawthorn as a free agent.

He has played 13 games for the Hawks this season, but was not selected for any of their previous finals and was not listed even as an emergency for last weekend's preliminary final against Geelong.

He gained his chance with his strong VFL performance on Sunday after Whitecross sustained a serious knee injury against the Cats.

The Dockers kept faith with the side that proved far too good for Sydney in Saturday night's preliminary final.

Luke McPharlin, Chris Mayne and Michael Johnson all trained on Thursday and were declared ready to play in the grand final, after missing the club's open training session on Tuesday.

Mayne suffered back spasms before the win over Sydney, while Johnson and McPharlin have recently returned from calf injuries.

Key Dockers ready for Grand Final

Simpkin is one of only four Hawks who have not played in a grand final before.

The others are Brian Lake, Bradley Hill and Max Bailey.

In contrast, Zac Dawson and Danyle Pearce are the only Fremantle players with grand final experience.

Dawson played in three grand finals with St Kilda, for a draw and two losses, while Pearce played in Port Adelaide's 2007 grand final loss.

Re-live the live chat and see the full teams below.

AFL GRAND FINAL
HAWTHORN HAWKS v FREMANTLE DOCKERS, 2.30pm (EST) Saturday at the MCG

HAWKS
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Shaun Burgoyne, Josh Gibson, Grant Birchall
C: Isaac Smith, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis
HF: Luke Breust, Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli
F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, David Hale
Foll: Max Bailey, Brad Sewell, Luke Hodge
I/C: Liam Shiels, Jack Gunston, Bradley Hill, Jonathan Simpkin
Emg: Shane Savage, Taylor Duryea, Matt Spangher

In: Jonathan Simpkin
Out: Brendan Whitecross (knee)

DOCKERS
B: Michael Johnson, Zac Dawson, Paul Duffield
HB: Lee Spurr, Luke McPharlin, Danyle Pearce
C: David Mundy, Ryan Crowley, Tenday Mzungu
HF: Cameron Sutcliffe, Chris Mayne, Nathan Fyfe
F: Zac Clarke, Matthew Pavlich, Michael Walters
Foll: Aaron Sandilands, Matt de Boer, Stephen Hill
I/C: Hayden Ballantyne, Nick Suban, Lachie Neale, Michael Barlow
Emg: Alex Silvagni, Jack Hannath, Tom Sheridan

In: -
Out: -