Grand Final, 2008, MCG: Hawthorn 18.7 (115) def. Geelong 11.23 (89)

Geelong had won all but one game on their way to a second consecutive grand final berth.

A year earlier they had started what would become their own dynasty, humiliating Port Adelaide by a record-breaking 119-point margin.

The Hawks were the youthful underdogs, a side that very few gave a true chance up against this brewing superpower.

100,012 spectators watched on, transfixed, as the two long-time rivals went head-to-head in an ultimate arm wrestle.

As the game finally broke open in the third term, Hawthorn were the beneficiaries, charging towards victory.

Powered by the eventual Norm Smith Medallist Luke Hodge, in a typically heroic display, the Hawks claimed one of the more unlikely grand final victories of the modern era.

The club’s favourite son, Shane Crawford, achieved the ultimate footy fairy tale, a maiden grand final win in the last game of his career.

The Hawks had announced themselves as the Cats’ primary threat to their dynasty.