Essendon's Dustin Fletcher, 37, and North Melbourne's Brent Harvey, 34, may be the oldest and third-oldest players in the competition, but they will again be key men in their teams' season-defining clash.
The game's ever-quickening speed might be reducing the lifespan of most AFL footballers, but Fletcher and Harvey seem to have discovered football's fountain of youth.
Fletcher has played the most games of any current player (363) and Harvey (341) is his closest pursuer, but despite their long football journeys, both are playing almost as well as ever.
AFL.com.au caught up with the pair at Windy Hill this week, when they reflected on a rivalry that dates back to round 18, 1997, and admitted they had inspired each other in their football twilight years.
Harvey on Fletcher
"As a 14-year-old, I watched 'Fletch' when he first played in '93 and remember just how tall, skinny and lanky he was. But he was also extremely agile and would get his hands to everything.
"And, it's amazing, 20 years' later nothing's changed. His body shape hasn't changed. He's put on a little bit of weight but the way he plays and everything is still exactly the same.
"A couple of months ago, I watched a replay of an old Essendon game on Foxtel. You see Fletcher playing then and you watch him today at 37 and you can't tell the difference. He's a freak.
"A couple of weeks ago he was tagged by a defensive forward. At 37, that's a pretty big compliment. And when Essendon hung on to beat us in round one this year, I reckon the last two times we went inside our forward 50 'Fletch' was the one who ran back with the flight of the ball and got his fist to it.
"I think they're the things everyone remembers Dustin Fletcher for - the last-ditch dives to stop a goal inches from the line, and his spoils when he comes from nowhere and gets his hand in to stop a certain mark.
"'Fletch' was a big part of those great Essendon sides of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His versatility has probably been what's set him apart. He'd played on a monster key forward like Wayne Carey one week and then match up on a lightning-quick small like Stephen Milne the next. He's been given every single match-up you can think of in footy.
"When you get to 30, you only tend to get one-year contracts at footy clubs. When I turned 30 I looked at Dustin and thought 'Dustin Fletcher's 34 now and he's going OK.' So you draw inspiration from that and admire it from afar.
"I think the way 'Fletch' is going he can definitely go on next year. I hope he does because he's been a superstar of the game and he's continuing to be a great player still.
Fletcher on Harvey
"Obviously, I came into the game a little bit earlier than Brent, but I remember his ability from the midfield to get forward and kick a couple of goals to get his team going.
"And he's been able to do that week-in, week-out throughout his 17-year career, which makes him one of the greatest the game has seen.
"I keep an eye on how he goes. Once you get towards the end of your career, obviously a lot of the guys I came through with aren't playing anymore. But to see the way he goes about his footy is something I look to and try to do myself.
"I think Brent's ability to perform on game day is exceptional. Of course, I'm on the outside, but he looks like he still loves the contest and loves to be involved in that team atmosphere.
"There's no doubt a lot of time goes into stopping him when we play the Kangaroos.
"We still have a good look at him because he's been doing what he does really well for a long time now, and if we can somehow stop his run and drive it makes our job a lot easier. It's hard because he can do everything.
"I'm not one of those players who can remember games too well, but I reckon I would have played on Brent at some stage. It would never have been for a long period, but there would have been the occasion where we spent some time on each other.
"I don't know Brent really well, but we have a few guys at Essendon in Ricky Dyson, Brent Stanton, Michael Hurley and David Zaharakis who come from where Brent's from in Melbourne's northern suburbs and they all can't speak highly enough of him.
"I know to survive at this level for so long means he's very good at what he does and a very good person."
