Finals are nothing new to Bomber veteran Joe Misiti – he will embark on his 10th finals campaign next week. As an 18-year-old and in his first year of senior football he was lucky enough to play in the 1993 premiership, along with a number of other “Baby Bombers” - including current teammates Dustin Fletcher, Mark Mercuri and James Hird. Misiti said the match against Collingwood Friday night will be like a final and he can't wait to take the Magpies on.

Misiti has since realised how lucky he was to play in a premiership at such a young age and how they don’t come around that easily. Misiti is out of contract at the end of the season and he is all to aware how quickly an AFL career can end. ""There is no doubt about it - this could be my last finals campaign - you just don't know what is around the corner. Especially after winning the flag in 1993 - everything just seemed to come so easily and it was like that was going to happen every year. I am a little bit smarter now and who knows what could happen next year - I might not be playing or we might not make the final's series. I have to treat this like gold.""

Misiti said the team has been in solid form over the past month and is slowly starting to build some momentum heading into September. ""We have approached it as a six week finals' series. Last week was a huge game for us as well against the Fremantle Dockers. A lot of people said they couldn't get a gauge on us because we hadn't played too many sides in the top eight over the past month. Week one we have got over and done with and now we have five weeks to go,"" the former Keilor Park player said.

This season has been one of the closest in the history of the game and apart from Port Adelaide, Misiti agrees there hasn’t been a standout team. ""As the coach has said all year - there is not too many standout teams out there. There are a lot of good teams on their day and we are one of them. It is just a matter of who improves the most from here to grand final day.

""Finals are a little bit different - it is a bigger game and a bigger crowd and there is a lot more at stake. The older blokes that have been around a bit longer know what to expect and our job is to help the younger guys out and give them a few tips when finals do start so they can contribute as much as possible. When I first played in my first final's series I had blokes like Bomber Thompson, Mark Harvey and Gary O'Donnell around. I see myself as filling their shoes to give the young blokes a bit of help,"" Misiti said.