Geelong attacking guns Tyson Stengle and Jeremy Cameron have fired the Cats to an 84-point torching of Port Adelaide in the first AFL qualifying final.
The Cats will host a preliminary final at the MCG in a fortnight after belting the Power 20.18 (138) to 7.12 (54) at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
Port are pitched into a home knockout semi-final against the winner of the Western Bulldogs’ elimination final against Hawthorn on Friday night.
The Power face the prospect of a so-called straight-sets exit from the finals for a second year in a row and have concern over midfield ace Zak Butters, who was substituted because of a rib injury.
The Cats, with Stengle and Cameron kicking four goals each, dished out the second-biggest finals defeat to Port despite the late withdrawal of five-time All Australian Tom Stewart.
Jeremy Cameron celebrates an incredible goal in the first quarter. (Getty Images: Michael Willson)
Stewart, suffering a hamstring injury, was substituted out of his side’s round 24 thrashing of West Coast, though the Cats say he was scratched from the final because of illness.
Star Geelong forwards Stengle and Cameron combined with Shaun Mannagh (three), Gryan Miers (three), Shannon Neale (two) and Jack Bowes (two) to overwhelm a lacklustre Port.
Cameron’s first two goals defied football logic. Five minutes into the game, the key forward collected a handball running towards a boundary line and, a step inside the paint, curled a remarkable snap through from 30 metres.
In the second term, the four-time All-Australian kicked another stunner: using the outside of his left boot, he dribbled through from near the boundary line.
Cameron’s teammate Max Holmes was superb — his 28 disposals featured five inside-50s and also seven rebound-50s — while captain Patrick Dangerfield (24 touches), Zach Guthrie (27), Miers (21) and Mannagh (23 disposals) were prominent.
Port briefly hit the front in the second term but then meekly conceded 10 of the next 11 goals and were held goal-less in the third quarter.
Midfielder Ollie Wines (23 touches), Ryan Burton (21) and Willem Drew (21) were the home side’s main ball-winners.
Star trio Butters, who had just eight disposals before being subbed, captain Connor Rozee (16 possessions, one goal) and Jason Horne-Francis (18, one goal) were all subdued.
Look back at how the action unfolded in our live blog.
Key Events
Port Adelaide vs Geelong live
That’s it from the blog tonight!
Well there you go, how about that for a start to the finals series? Another unpredictable result in a stupidly unpredictable season.
The fallout from this game will continue for some time, but all eyes will turn to the MCG tomorrow night as the Western Bulldogs tackle Hawthorn in maybe the most highly-anticipated final of the weekend.
I’ll be back tomorrow night on the blog for that one, and I hope to see you again then.
Chris Scott is reflecting on a fantastic night for Geelong
In typical Chris Scott fashion, he’s not getting ahead of himself at all. Pleased, but circumspect.
“I try as hard as I possibly can to think about each game in isolation, much less the seasons. It was logical that they were good enough to finish second, earn a home final, team full of stars that if the game was on their terms they were going to be hard to stop.
“To play the way we did on the night is something we should be proud of and should feel good. But been in the game long enough to know that if you start getting ahead of yourself because you have one good night it will bite you pretty quickly.”
He’s also commented on that Jeremy Cameron goal in the first quarter as a sign things might have been heading the Cats’ way:
“For a long time I’ve been a big believer that to do good things you need a bit of luck. I see [Cameron] at training and have seen him play enough that I know it’s not all luck, but you need things to go your way.
“He is an unbelievably skilled player and we depend on him. Guys that haven’t been there before, you are not human if you are not thinking “I wonder how this is going to go”, so when one of your best players slots one like that it is a bit calming. I don’t believe in this stuff, but if it’s kind of is this edging towards being our night or their night that helps a bit.”
Did Port’s poor finals record impact the players tonight?
Ken Hinkley thinks it might have:
“I think those questions come about once the game turns badly. Maybe there is a moment where they dwell on stuff they didn’t want to happen tonight that did happen. I think that’s fair.
“But I think we hit the lead there at one point and felt like they were still OK. And that we were playing OK at that point, even though we were probably lucky to be that close. There is no doubt about the question. And how they feel about that.
“I’ve asked them to quickly unpack what tonight was and get themselves ready to play again next Friday.”
Key Event
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley fronts the media after a horror loss
This could be interesting. Updates coming in this post.
Ken Hinkley is trying to stay positive and remain philosophical about it all, tough as that may be:
“Tonight was really, really disappointing. We weren’t at the level we needed. Maybe 40 minutes, but we were probably lucky to be in it for the first 40 minutes to be fair. Then Geelong just done a number on us big time. It’s disappointing performance clearly, but something that we have been better at for a large period of the last eight to ten weeks. It’s not going to be easy to explain the performance tonight.”
Hinkley was asked what concerned him most tonight:
“Everything concerned me. We have been great in defence and we are 57 or 58 points over the last six or eight weeks and we gave up tonight 140 or something nearly. That’s the first point.
“We have been very good at denying opposition marks in their forward 50. They took 22. There were so many parts. That’s why I’ve got to move forward quickly and talk around what we have typically been to what we were tonight. And what we were tonight was so far off the mark.
“We all understand it, we all get it. We understand that it was qualifying final, an opportunity. We didn’t execute like we should have.”
What’s next for these teams?
So Geelong will have a week off, and then (after a fortnight of debate about playing finals at Kardinia Park) will play a preliminary final at the MCG. That will most likely be against a non-Victorian team – one of Sydney, GWS, Brisbane or Carlton.
Port Adelaide will play a sudden death semifinal next week (I think most likely on Friday night) against either the Western Bulldogs or Hawthorn. In other words, one of the hottest and most dangerous teams in these finals.
This result has reshaped the make-up of these finals already. The Cats are a win away from a grand final.
Patrick Dangerfield is feeling good
Patty Dangerfield has been speaking to Channel Seven about this incredible win, and the many fresh faces in this Cats team who have haven’t yet tasted premiership success.
“Really proud of our guys, the way they attacked the week. A little bit of a disruption yesterday with Stewey obviously, but we had a really clear game plan with what we wanted to go after.
“You give our coaches a couple of weeks and we were very confident if we could bring our game and stay at the level long enough then good things would happen.
“It brings a freshness, but it also reinforces the guys that we are bringing in. Jack Bowes could have gone elsewhere for more money but chooses Geelong. Tanner Bruhn comes home, the growth of Oliver Dempsey. Lawson Humphries. Some wonderful stories and the list goes on.”
Key Event
FT: Geelong demolishes Port Adelaide by 84 points to advance to preliminary final
A night that might take some time for us to get our heads around. Geelong has just wiped the floor with Port Adelaide, taught the Power a lesson in finals footy and sent a message to the rest of the league.
The Cats dominated the first quarter but didn’t put it on the scoreboard, then Port responded in an entertaining second but somehow slipped further behind. Then Zak Butters was subbed out at half-time and Port Adelaide visibly went to water. All their spark disappeared and Geelong just took them apart.
Geelong was tough, composed, classy and absolutely ruthless in every element other than set shot goalkicking. The Cats are clearly all the way in this premiership race, and might be timing their run to perfection.
Port Adelaide now face an uphill task to save their season. The threat of straight sets is very real, and the heat on Ken Hinkley this week is going to be scorching.
Shannon Neale makes it an 84-point lead
Eighty-four points! Eighty-four! It’s just remarkable.
There are nine Cats out there who didn’t play in the 2022 flag. There may well be a perfect mix of experience and hunger in this Geelong squad, ripe for another premiership push.
Make it four for Jeremy Cameron!
Just the boring old set shot goal from 55 metres out for Jeremy Cameron. All a bit dull, really, by his standards.
It’s a 79-point game with 5:22 on the clock. The crowd is thinning out dramatically.
One more Jeremy Cameron special for good measure!
Jeremy Cameron has missed a couple of routine set shots tonight, but kicked three of the best goals you’ll see on the run instead.
This time he’s gone charging through the pack in the middle of the 50, scooping the ball up with one hand and snapping across the body on his right boot. He’s a left-footer, of course. Freak.
Tyson Stengle dances his way through the defence! He has four!
A gorgeous little dummy and sidestep from Stengle sent Byrne-Jones to the shop, allowing the red-hot Cat to skip through and snap another one.
They’re having some fun out there, a lot of smiles on Geelong faces. Seven minutes to play still.
Gryan Miers has been subbed off
Can’t imagine there is any real injury concern there given he just kicked a goal about 30 seconds ago. Maybe something they just want to rest.
Zach Tuohy is on as the sub for the last 12 minutes of this game.
Gryan Miers skips through another one for the Cats
As Patty Dangerfield puts his feet up on the bench, his Cats continue to go to work out on the field.
Miers strolled to about 45 out on the angle and absolutely laced one low and hard through the guts. Back to a 10-goal Geelong lead.
Jase Burgoyne finally breaks the Port Adelaide drought
Took some ridiculously slick hands from Willie Rioli in the pocket, but finally the Power fans have a goal to cheer.
Rioli seemed to scoop that up on the run from behind him, then poked a little five-metre kick across to Burgoyne who converted from the goal line.
Gryan Miers kicks Geelong’s sixth straight goal
Took them only a couple of minutes of this last quarter, but the Cats are on the board again.
It has been criminal how much space Geelong’s forwards have had out the back of the Port defence tonight. Yet again Mannagh was able to look up outside 50 and see a clear option in a paddock behind the back line.
Miers marks in the square, kicks the goal and makes it a 61-point game.
Key Event
3QT: Cats sensational and lead Port by 55 points
Of all the possible results that had gone through my head tonight, I’m not sure this one featured. It’s a Geelong whitewash, a complete bloodbath now as the Cats hold a 55-point lead that could very easily be more.
Now Geelong are in the incredible position of thinking about who to rest with a preliminary final in mind. Meanwhile, Ken Hinkley will already be bracing for the backlash as he plots his path to a semifinal next week against one of the form teams in the league, possibly without Zak Butters.
It’s a remarkable evening which has flipped the flag race on its head. Geelong has been that good tonight. And there’s still a quarter to play.
Shaun Mannagh has a third goal!
One of a number of great Geelong stories this year, Shaun Mannagh, has kicked his third goal in his first AFL final.
The Cats’ small forwards have been insatiable tonight. Connor Rozee took on three tacklers, and even though he broke two he couldn’t get past Mannagh. Holding the ball, and an easy finish for goal.
No news on Zak Butters yet
Any word on the injury to Butters
– Query
Nothing really, other than the suggestion it is a problem with his ribs and Ken Hinkley saying he is “sore”.
Four minutes to play in the third quarter, Geelong lead it by 49 points and the life is dripping out of this contest.
Anything for Willem Drew to worry about here?
I’ll be honest, I have absolutely no clue what the MRO/tribunal’s standard for suspension on these things are anymore. But I’ll take a punt and say Drew will probably be okay.
