Essendon will go into this Sunday afternoon's qualifying final clash with Sydney holding a healthy advantage over its rivals this decade.
Essendon has played Sydney 15 times in the 90s and has finished on top on 11 of those occasions. The Bombers have won the past three encounters with Sydney's last victory coming at the SCG in round 15 of 1997.
The Bombers also hold at impressive advantage at the MCG - the venue for this weekend's match. The two sides have played at the ground 10 times and Essendon has only gone down once and that loss came in the second semi-final of the 1923 season.
Overall, the two sides have played on 193 occasions with Essendon having come out on top 120 times, Sydney has won on 72 occasions and one match has been drawn.
Here are some other club statistics.
Highest scoresEssendon 28.16 (184) Round 18, 1964 at Windy Hill.Sydney 36.20 (236), Round 17, 1987 at the SCG.
Lowest scores (post 1924)Essendon 6.4 (40), Round 16, 1933 at Lake Oval.Sydney 2.7 (19), Round 18, 1964 at Windy Hill.
Greatest winning marginsEssendon 165 points, Round 18, 1964 at Windy Hill.Sydney 163 points, Round 17, 1987 at the SCG.
Most GoalsEssendon - Matthew Lloyd (13), Round 3, 1999 at the MCG.Sydney - Bob Pratt (15), Round Three, 1934 at Lake Oval.
The last time these two sides met was in round 18 this season when Essendon scored a 14-point win, 15.3 (93) to Sydney 11.13 (79).
An eleven goal first half set up the win for Essendon which was forced to fight hard to hold off a resurgent Sydney in the second half. Darren Bewick kicked four goals for Essendon - three of which came during a sensational second quarter.
This weekend will be the seventh time the two sides have met in a finals match with the Bombers having won five of the previous encounters. The last meeting between the two sides came in the 1996 preliminary final.
Sydney won that thrilling match by a point thanks to a Tony Lockett kikc after the siren. Sean Wellman, Dean Wallis, Damien Hardwick, Ben Doolan, Barry Young, Justin Blumfield, Dustin Fletcher, James Hird, Steven Alessio, Peter Somerville, Darren Bewick, Sean Denham, Michael Symons and Joe Misiti are players still at the club who played in that match.
