Fans jumping for joy over grand final

GRAND final week in AFL-mad Melbourne will be teeming with die-hard St Kilda and Collingwood fans

GRAND final week in AFL-mad Melbourne will be teeming with die-hard St Kilda and Collingwood fans.

 Those fans who have flown from interstate or travelled for hours on a bus from country Victoria, those fans who queued outside the MCG to get a ticket, or who just wear their team colours to work every day.

But the dedication of St Kilda fan Barbara Datson puts the rest to shame. She does her team's washing. All of it. Every week.

Ms Datson, president of the club's all-female Angels supporters' group, washes jumpers, shorts, socks, towels and everything else used on game day.

"I start at 9am," she tells The Australian as the dryer spins in the background.

"And sometimes I'm here to 8pm at night. But if they win on Saturday, and that's a big if, it will all be worthwhile. All the work during the year will have paid off. The players are just fabulous, and they have worked so hard."

Ms Datson, 57, was there last year when her team lost to Geelong, and remembers the last time St Kilda won a grand final - against Collingwood in 1966.

"I was listening to the radio at home, I was 14 at the time," she says. "I remember standing at the door and praying, with my hands clutched together and head down, until the last point was scored."

But Ms Datson admits her team is the underdog on Saturday and hopes they will surprise Collingwood "who are acting as if they've already won without even turning up".

Many are expecting Collingwood to win the premiership - much to the chagrin of every other football fan across the state and country, not just St Kilda fans such as Ms Datson.

Sportsbet is offering just $1.43 on the strongly backed Magpies for a $1 bet, while St Kilda is out at $2.85.

It is 20 years since the Magpies won their 14th premiership, having lost grand finals in 2002 and 2003 to the Brisbane Lions. They were defeated by St Kilda in 1966 by a single point.

Club membership at Collingwood, which was founded in 1892, has soared to 58,000, more than the national membership of any political party, en route to its minor premiership win this year.

Collingwood fan Tony Cunsolo, who has gone to the football every week for the past 35 years, can't wait for victory on Saturday.

"I'm desperate for it, absolutely desperate for it," he said.