DESPITE being regular September players in the past few years, it might surprise some to learn that St Kilda and West Coast have never played each other in a final.

Since 1991, the Saints have played 25 finals and the Eagles 38 but none of those games have been against each other.

But that is not to say the two have not had some epic encounters over the years.

The most significant game in recent times between the two came in 2007, when the struggling Saints, who had lost their previous four games, had to face the reigning premiers at fortress Subiaco.

The playing field had been levelled to a degree with Eagles stars Ben Cousins and Chris Judd both out of the team. That said, West Coast was sitting pretty at 8-3 and looked set to be headed for a third successive Grand Final.

St Kilda took the Eagles by storm in the second quarter of the match, booting seven goals to one. They set themselves up with a lead that the Eagles never could win back.

It was a stunning victory to celebrate the 350^th game of club legend Robert Harvey who had 30 possessions in yet another outstanding performance.

It wasn’t the first time the Saints had beaten the Eagles against the odds at Subiaco however.

In one memorable encounter in early 1998, it was the Saints who were undermanned with co-captains Nathan Burke and Stewart Loewe both on the sidelines as well as Andrew Thompson and Barry Hall.

The Eagles had led by three goals at three-quarter-time and looked set for a win, but the Saints fought back hard to win the game in the dying minutes after a controversial free kick against Ashley McIntosh resulted in a goal to Gavin Mitchell and a two-point win to St Kilda.

Daniel Healy and Peter Everitt each kicked six goals on a day when both celebrated their 24^th birthdays. Coach Stan Alves later said it was the best game he had been involved in throughout his time at St Kilda.

Fifteen years on from that famous win there is a strong West Coast flavour at Linen House Centre. Senior coach Scott Watters and assistants Dean Laidley and Jaymie Graham all played at the Eagles while another assistant coach Tony Micale was briefly on West Coast’s coaching staff.

Saints forward Beau Maister spent several years on West Coast’s rookie list where he played 23 senior games, while current-listed Eagles Jamie Cripps and Mark Hutchings were once Saints.

There have been a host of past players to represent both teams such as Paul Harding, Fraser Gehrig, Ian Dargie, David Sierakowski and Peter Melesso.

Dual West Coast premiership coach Mick Malthouse also spent part of his playing career at St Kilda before moving on to Richmond.