The betting says there is nothing separating the two sides going into thematch and most good judges are finding the two sides difficult to split.
The battle of the respective forwards lines has grabbed the imagination ofthe football-starved Melbourne public.
The Bombers are led by MatthewLloyd and ably supported by Dean Rioli, James Hird and Mark Mercuri.
The Kangaroos rely heavily on superstar Wayne Carey but Corery McKernan,Brent harvey and Winston Abraham can all be match-winners.
The Carey question is an enthralling one - who will stand him at theopening bounce?
Sean Wellman is the obvious choice - a former All-Australian centre-halfback who is very rarely beaten. He has the class to go with Carey.
Other options include Dustin Fletcher who has taken on and beaten some ofthe best forwards around and Paul Barnard who took him last season.
The wildcard is youngster Aaron Henneman who has shown himself to be aplayer of the future in recent years. As everyone knows, Kevin Sheedyenjoys pulling suprises and Henneman would be just that.
At the other end, Mick Martyn is certain to get the job on Matthew Lloyd.Some will tell you Martyn's record is excellent on Lloyd and statisticsmight back that up.
However Michael Martyn hasn't played on Lloyd for some time and there islittle doubt Lloyd has developed significantly over the past two seasons.It shapes as an enthralling duel.
If the Bombers can control the midfield they will go a long way to cuttingoff the supply to Carey and winning the match.
If John Barnes can make a contest at the centrew bounces he should have toomuch mobility for Matthew Capuano and McKernan. That will be important.
But it is the work of Joe Misiti, Mark Mercuri, Chris Heffernan, SeanDenham, Adam Ramanauskas, Jason Johnson and Mark Johnson at the foot of theruck contests that will be crucial.
If the Bombers can continually win the ball out of the centre - as theyhave done for much of the Ansett Cup series - they will be very hard tobeat.
Overseeing everything will be the battle of the coaches - Sheedy v Pagan.Two more contrasting characters you would not meet but both are proud menwho will be very keen to win this match.
There has been no love lost between these two clubs in recent seasons andthis match promises to add significantly to the growing rivalry.
They have been very physical matches and there is no reason to think thisclash will be anything different.
