Both midfields are so evenly matched that Charlie Hayes and Alexander Daly will spend the entire afternoon cancelling each other out in a joyless, grinding stalemate, which is really the most honest metaphor for existence I can offer you. Carlton's home advantage amounts to a slightly better-maintained pitch, which will make precisely no difference to the cold, indifferent universe conspiring to ensure nobody scores. I predicted this result with the enthusiasm of a man filing his own death certificate.

Both sets of defenders are standing firm like a fortress wall tonight, and I can see this being a war of attrition where neither side can find the killer blow. Carlton's home advantage gives them a slight edge in the trenches, but Hyde's Mason Ferdinand sweeping up behind the backline makes them incredibly difficult to break down. A point each feels like the brutal reality of this encounter.