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More than 60,000 fans are set to pack out Optus Stadium for the grand final showdown between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.

A 57-year flag drought, a late COVID-19 scare, the chance at AFL immortality - welcome to the 2021 grand final between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium.

The Demons last won the flag in 1964, and they'll enter Saturday night's decider as the sentimental favourites given their decades of pain and suffering.

Some say they have been cursed ever since they sacked Norm Smith as coach midway through 1965.

Melbourne have made the finals just twice since 2006, but they've been able to escape from years of mediocrity to be just one step away from winning a 13th VFL/AFL flag.

The Bulldogs broke a 62-year premiership drought in 2016, and nine players from that team now have a chance to add a second flag on Saturday.

If they do that, they will etch their names into Bulldogs folklore, given the club's only other flag was in 1954.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge would be considered an immortal by the club's fans if he can guide the side to a second premiership within the space of six years.

But talk of greatness has been largely avoided within the Bulldogs camp.

"We don't talk about that a lot, if at all," Bulldogs head of football and former star Chris Grant said.

"One of the things that Bevo has been really diligent but also really focused on is creating new memories, new history all the way through.

"The reference to 2016 hasn't been very strong at all.

"It's naturally there, but Bevo and the boys haven't referenced that because they're on a journey.

"The journey will be 2022, 2023, 2024. So Saturday is a game and an opportunity, but it's not the end of their journey."

It wouldn't be grand final week without a few hard-luck stories on the team selection front.

Bulldogs duo Ryan Gardner and Laitham Vandermeer were axed to make way for Cody Weightman (concussion) and Alex Keath (hamstring).

Former Demons skipper Nathan Jones was the heartbreak story on the Melbourne front.

Unable to break back into the side for the finals, the 302-game veteran returned home to Melbourne to be present for the birth of his twins, and he announced his retirement shortly after.

Jayden Hunt, Jake Melksham, and James Jordon all missed out on a spot in the 22 for the Demons, but one of them could get their chance on the big stage via the medical sub role.

More than 60,000 fans will pack out Optus Stadium for the decider.

A total of 10,250 tickets were made available for the general public and they sold out in nine minutes, with the online queue peaking at 180,000.

Grand final fever has well and truly hit Perth, but there's been two COVID scares along the way.

The first came on Wednesday, when it was revealed that a truck driver from NSW tested positive to the virus shortly after leaving WA.

Early signs suggest that he didn't pass on the virus to anyone while in the state, but the WA Government is still nervously waiting to see if any community cases pop up.

The second scare came when a woman who flew from NSW to Perth tested positive.

Luckily, airport officials discovered she didn't have a valid exemption, and she was swiftly placed in hotel quarantine before she could pass the virus on to anyone in the community.

The stage is all set for an epic grand final, and there's sure to be plenty of heartbreak and ecstasy once the final siren sounds.