Just how will the West Coast Eagles respond to what has been the most controversial period in the club's relatively short history?

That is the million-dollar question as last year's champion team prepares to defend its AFL premiership against the side that pushed it to the limit on the final day of the 2006 season.

Star midfielder Ben Cousins, the man at the centre of the club's latest off-field dramas, won't be at Telstra Stadium on Saturday night as he tries to overcome a problem with substance abuse.

And while his absence might detract from the contest as a spectacle, it will do nothing to deter viewers from tuning in to see how the Eagles cope without the presence of one of their biggest names and on-field leaders.

Everyone in the football world will have a microscope on John Worsfold's men.Will the tumultuous events of the club's rocky off-season bring the 22 players who take the field closer together on Saturday night and indeed for season? Or could the Eagles fall in a heap?

Saturday night may well tell a tale as to what path the reigning champs will take in 2007.Recent injuries to key movers Chad Fletcher and Ashley Hansen will hurt the Eagles. While they still have plenty of big names - Chris Judd, Daniel Kerr, Dean Cox and Norm Smith medallist Andrew Embley will all play - the big unknown is whether they will be able to cover their missing stars.

Throw in some questionable pre-season form, and the Eagles have hardly had a great preparation for a heavyweight bout.

On the other side of the coin, the Sydney Swans look strong heading into this Grand Final rematch.

Physically, and based on pre-season results, Paul Roos' side appear better-placed for round one than they have been since becoming an AFL power.

With a 3-2 record from their five dress rehearsals, and with Peter 'Spida' Everitt champing at the bit to run out in Swans colours, the Swans are hungry to make amends for last year's unfinished business.

Saturday's clash will give Swans and AFL fans their first real glimpse into how Roos will use Spida and Darren Jolly this season.

The Swans haven't had any real off-field concerns, and they will field close to a full-strength side.

Their attacking arsenal of Barry Hall, Ryan O'Keefe, Michael O'Loughlin and Nick Davis is always threatening. And when you have dual Brownlow winner Adam Goodes looking to add to his game by going forward and kicking goals, that can only spell trouble for opposition backlines.

The odds seem heavily stacked against the Eagles, but great sides have a knack of defying the odds.

Can these two sides turn on another epic? With each nail-biter the two teams play out, surely we're getting closer to a blow-out.

But with the tight, tough contested footy these two sides play, it seems unlikely fans from either side will be leaving early to beat the traffic.

Sydney Swans

B: Richards Barry Malceski
HB: Kennelly C Bolton Dempster
C: Buchanan Kirk McVeigh
HF: O'Keefe O'Loughlin J Bolton
F: Davis Hall Mathews
Foll: Everitt Goodes Fosdike
I/C: Ablett Jolly Phillips Vogels
Emerg: Laidlaw Moore Schmidt
New: Peter Everitt, 32, Hawthorn

West Coast

B: Wirrpanda Glass B Jones
HB: Waters Hunter Hurn
C: Embley Priddis Braun
HF: Chick Staker Stenglein
F: Armstrong Lynch Seaby
Foll: Cox Judd Kerr
I/C: Graham R Jones Rosa Selwood
Emerg: Brown LeCras Sampi