Warren Tredrea believes Fremantle can upset Hawthorn in Saturday's Grand Final

The once-ugly Dockers will pull off one of the AFL’s great Cinderella stories by beating Hawthorn on Saturday, writes Warren Tredrea.

FREO will win the flag.

The once-ugly Dockers will pull off one of the AFL’s great Cinderella stories by beating Hawthorn on Saturday to win this year’s premiership.

Star-studded Hawthorn won’t be able to handle the heat inside the MCG kitchen.

Like last year’s grand final against Sydney, dominating general field play won’t be enough for the Hawks to taste premiership glory.

Alastair Clarkson’s outfit doesn’t want Saturday’s decider to come down to a good old-fashioned scrap.

It wants to be able to play the game on its own skilful terms. But astute Fremantle coach Ross Lyon won’t allow this to happen.

There is a recurring theme between grand final teams Lyon has been involved with.

Whether it was at Sydney as an assistant coach in 2005-06, as senior coach at St Kilda in 2009 and 2010 or with his current crop at Fremantle, his teams play the same way.

They like it tough, contested, in the clinches and they love controlling the game on their own terms and tempo.

They will fight, scrap and claw until they get their way.

As good as the Dockers’ game plan is, they don’t lack for quality personnel.

Ross Lyon

Unlike Lyon’s Saints in 2009-10, who used the under-sized Jason Blake as a second ruckman, Fremantle has two dominant centre square big men in Aaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke.

It has the most balanced midfield mix in the competition to complement the towering ruck duo.

Danyle Pearce and Steven Hill offer the outside run while the heavy inside lifting is performed by contested ball magnets David Mundy and Michael Barlow. But it doesn’t stop there.

Defensively, the Dockers’ on-ball brigade is brilliant with super tagger Ryan Crowley leading from the front.

He is the best tagger in the business and is so good he has opposition players looking over their shoulder before the first bounce. This is a sign that they are already mentally beaten.

Much of the pre-grand final talk has been about Crowley going to Hawk star Sam Mitchell.

While this is the obvious match-up, don’t rule out Crowley sitting on inspirational Hawthorn skipper Luke Hodge.

Hodge was unusually quiet last week and as good as Mitchell is, Hodge is more valuable to Clarkson’s team.

The final integral piece of Lyon’s midfield puzzle is Nathan Fyfe.

The Norm Smith Medal favourite plays just as well as an inside mid as he does as an outside player and I’m still dumbfounded he missed All-Australian selection.

I have seen the star Docker play five times live this year and have awarded him votes every time.

If last week’s stellar preliminary final performance against Sydney is anything to go by he is well on his way to making September his playground, just as Andrew McLeod did for the Crows in 1997-98.

Fyfe’s brilliant 27-disposal game, including 15 contested possessions, six clearances and two goals, was as good as I have seen and it will take a big effort from one of Hawthorn’s prime stoppers, Brad Sewell or Jordan Lewis, to curb his influence. This September baby, who turned 22 last week, is destined for greatness.

The cream on the top for the Dockers has been the return of veteran skipper Matthew Pavlich. This year hasn’t been kind to Freo’s greatest player, who has managed just 11 games - the worst return of his career.

Luke Hodge

But like a fine wine, Pavlich is coming good at the right time while others have shown signs of hitting the wall.

Pavlich looms large in attack this week and is surrounded by a perfect mix of talented and committed smaller players.

While Pavlich has always been the Dockers’ main man inside 50, he is no longer playing with the weight of the world on his ageing shoulders.

Chris Mayne - the best defensive forward in the competition - filled in admirably for Pavlich when he was sidelined.

Now he becomes the ideal second forward.

Then there are fellow pressure kings Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters, who not only apply relentless forward pressure but also hurt the opposition on the scoreboard.

Their ability to force mistakes has created numerous scoring opportunities inside Fremantle’s attacking 50.

Throw in a resting ruckman and midfielder and the Hawks defenders will have their work cut out for them.

Clarkson’s backmen like dropping off their opponents and that’s why the Dockers will try to separate the Hawthorn defenders at every opportunity, forcing them to defend one-on-one without the security of a plus-one assisting defender, who is usually Josh Gibson.

Down the other end is Fremantle’s solid defence.

If All-Australians Michael Johnson and Luke McPharlin can stay fit, the 2013 premiership cup will be heading west.

The grand final will be close and, like many before it, will be a battle of defensive attrition.

In the preliminary final, the Dockers beat the Swans at their own disciplined defensive game and they must reproduce that type of display this week. Their intensity was the best I have ever seen on an AFL arena.

The team which pressures the opposition the longest will win this grand final. When fatigue sets in late, look for one act of defensive desperation to decide the ultimate prize.

That act will come from Fremantle. When the temperature in the kitchen reaches boiling point, it is the Dockers - not the free-flowing Hawks - who’ll be left standing.