They certainly will. For the first time since the first grand final in 1898, there will be no players with grand final experience under their belt. It's an extraordinary fact given 11 recycled players will feature. And when you consider that the two biggest active grand final droughts will be broken on Saturday as well, with Adelaide playing in their first premiership decider since 1998 and Richmond playing in their first since 1982, there is a real freshness about the 2017 grand final. It will be thrilling to witness 44 men "learn on the go" as their understanding of what it takes to win a grand final grows throughout the day.

Will the fast start or the slow burn prevail?

Adelaide and Richmond have both scored comfortable wins in their opening two finals this year, but they have gone about their victories in very different ways. The Crows blew GWS and Geelong out of the water to end those matches as contests before half-time. Richmond, on the other hand, have taken a little longer to "crack the shell" of the Cats and the Giants. Scores were level between the Tigers and Cats halfway through the third quarter, while Damien Hardwick's men only led by one point against GWS at half-time before eventually running away with the win. But if Richmond can effectively employ their "slow burn" against Adelaide, they will be a huge chance of victory.

Can Richmond's pressure negate Adelaide's slick ball movement?

To slow down Adelaide in the first half, the Tigers will have to bring the same manic pressure that has been the hallmark of their first two finals victories this September. In truth, they will probably have to raise the pressure stakes even higher, because the Crows are no slouches when it comes to harassing the opposition. Adelaide are arguably the best movers of the ball in the competition, with their transition footy often catching opposition defences off guard. Richmond simply have to put the clamps on the Crows in the first half otherwise Don Pyke's men will threaten to deliver the knockout blow early on as they have done against GWS and Geelong in the last few weeks.

Can Richmond stop Adelaide's forward line?

It's a footy cliche, but the midfield battle will certainly go a long way to deciding the contest and that rings truer for Richmond than it does for Adelaide. The Crows have one of the most potent forward lines the game has seen for a long time. Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Charlie Cameron, Tom Lynch and Josh Jenkins have caused many headaches for opposition coaches this year. If Adelaide's star-studded midfield, containing the Crouch brothers, Rory Sloane and Richard Douglas, at least breaks even with their Richmond counterparts and provides enough supply to their attacking zone, it's going to be very hard for the Tigers to win. A lot rests on the shoulders of Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Dion Prestia and co.

Can the game's third-best defence stop the best attack?

Given how dangerous Adelaide's forward line is, it comes as no surprise that they had the No.1-ranked attack during the home-and-away season with an average of 110 points a game. But they are coming up against one of the best defences in the competition. The Tigers ranked third for points conceded in the regular rounds and in the past eight weeks they've only let through an average of 62 points a game. Teams employ an all-ground defence these days, but Richmond's back six, led by Alex Rance, David Astbury and Dylan Grimes, have been superb all year and it will make for an intriguing battle in the Crows' forward half of the ground.

Will Richmond's forward set-up unsettle Adelaide's back line?

There will arguably be even more intrigue at the other end of the ground where Richmond's unorthodox forward line comes up against Adelaide's more conventional back line. For most of the year, the Tigers have opted to use just one key forward (Jack Riewoldt) together with a fleet of small and mid-sized forwards. It's been very effective for them and could cause a few issues for Adelaide, who are quite tall in defence. Daniel Talia, Jake Lever and Kyle Hartigan are all key-position backmen who could find themselves a little bit out of their depth at times, especially when the ball hits the ground. Richmond have to exploit those situations as much as they can and hit the scoreboard accordingly. The Tigers would also undoubtedly want more from Riewoldt, who has only kicked two goals in his two finals matches so far.

Is there any point in tagging Dustin Martin?

Probably not. The Brownlow medallist is in the elite league of players who are "untaggable''. There have been times throughout the year where opposition sides have tried to put Martin off his game, most notably Geelong's Scott Selwood down at Simonds Stadium, but he still manages to have an influence. Almost every time he touches the ball, the Tigers look like they will score and it's going to take a team effort from Adelaide to try to curb the Richmond superstar's influence and restrict his possession count. He will undoubtedly spend time up forward too, where he can easily wreak as much havoc as he does in the middle of the ground.

Do we read much into the last time they played?

Not really. Adelaide and Richmond haven't met for five months and when they last did, it was played at Adelaide Oval in front of 51,069, mainly Crows, fans. Adelaide ran rampant and inflicted one of only two huge defeats that Richmond suffered in 2017 - by 76 points (the other being by 61 points against the Saints). The Tigers have come a long way since then, winning 12 of their past 15 games to become one of the best teams in the AFL. The two sides will meet at the MCG and there will be far less support for Adelaide this time around. Interestingly, since that round six meeting, Adelaide have only made three changes to their line-up and Richmond have made just the four. These are two extremely settled sides.

Will the MCG factor sway things Richmond's way?

There's every chance it will. Few teams play the MCG better than Richmond and their record at the ground this year is phenomenal. They have won 11 of 13 clashes there and their only two losses were an after-the-siren horror show against Fremantle and a nine-point loss to Sydney. But the home of football holds no fears for the Crows. They have only lost two of their past 10 games at the venue, although their form at the MCG in 2017 hasn't been totally convincing - a pair of hard-fought wins over bottom-10 sides Hawthorn and Carlton and a draw against another also-ran in Collingwood after trailing by 50 points.

Will experience have an impact?

There is no doubt that Adelaide are a more seasoned outfit with just three players yet to crack the 50-game barrier. On the other hand, Richmond head into the grand final with seven such players. Nine of the grand final's 12 least experienced players will be wearing yellow and black, including Jack Graham (four games) and Nathan Broad (11). Adelaide are also a lot more experienced than Richmond in terms of finals games (140-84). The most experienced finals campaigners for the Crows are Eddie Betts (12), Richard Douglas (12) and David Mackay (12) and for the Tigers, Josh Caddy (eight) and Shaun Grigg (six) lead the way. As well as Richmond have been travelling in recent months, those stats will surely give Adelaide an advantage.