Grand final this afternoon sees Collingwood play Geelong for the AFL flag. Who'd have thought that the winner could have a profound effect on the economy?

"Every Collingwood premiership in the past 100 years had either led to an Australian recession, depression or a prolonged period of sub-par growth," a National Australia Bank economist said on Friday. "Will back-to-back premierships drive us deeper into the abyss?"

New Zealanders should be hoping there is no rugby league corollary, where a team from a lower socio-economic demographic can drive the country into economic hardship - if the Warriors win tomorrow, New Zealand could be in real strife. They've already had their credit rating cut by Standard and Poor this week from AAA to AA+.