the sydney blue sox hosted the perth heat in the preliminary final series at blue sox stadium. the blue sox and heat split their season series 4–4. the four game series played in sydney in november 2012 was also split 2–2. over the three abl seasons played up until this series, perth has the better record head-to-head against sydney, with a record of 18–9. the two teams have met in one postseason series before, in the 2011 major semi-final: the perth heat won the series 2–0 in sydney.