The Cats completed their brilliant season with a massive win in the big one, thoroughly deserved. A good article by Jake Niall in The Age last week detailed the Catters’ progress to this point since 1999, when the final remnants of the teams who’d lost four Grand Finals between 1989 and 1995 were discarded and Mark Thompson replaced the goose Gary Ayres as coach. Geelong were heavily in debt at the time and the roles of president Frank Costa and renowned CEO Brian Cook, who both arrived at Kardinia Park that year, in repairing the financial situation and redeveloping the Cats’ home were given credit. So good on ‘em. Port were hopeless and in retrospect, lucky to make the Grand Final. They have improved sharply since last season, but one thing’s become obvious in recent years - a team needs to be finals-seasoned before they can win the flag. Teams don’t come from nowhere to win it; the Cats may’ve finished 10th last year but they played in the previous two finals series. Port’ll have another chance if they’re good enough, but like everyone else they’ll have to queue behind the Cats; the Jeelong players are mostly in their early- or mid-careers and the club set-up should ensure a few years of success.
The Cats ended up winning everything. Their Jimmy Bartel (29 votes) won the Brownlow Medal last Monday - did you take the $10 as I suggested? No-one thanked me…Bartel’s victory over his more favoured team-mate Gary Ablett (fifth with 20 votes) showed the umps place a higher value on winning the contested ball than flair in using it, although that’s no slight on Gablett who does plenty of both and won the AFL Player’s Association MVP a coupla nights later. The unexpectedly good performance of Lyin’ Simon Black (equal second, 22 votes) is further evidence of the value of being a ball-winner. Brent Harvey and Daniel Kerr both collected 22 votes too, Kerr was ineligible due to suspension. It was his third top-three finish and if Kerr can get through a year without being hurt or whacking someone he must surely win it. There was some criticism of the Brownlow now being the ‘midfielder’s medal’ and there being no recognition of key-position players like Darren Glass or Matthew Scarlett, but it’s fair enough. Possession is the law in footy. Worryingly, the Great Helmsman Demetriou wants to ‘re-examine’ the system of Brownlow voting.
Essadun finally appointed a coach last week, er, if you’re a Bomma best sit down and steady yourself. It’s former Richmond skipper Matthew Knights. No joke. The Dons had believed Mark Thompson would give them a hearing following the Grand Final, but after waiting two months the Dons gave up three days before the window opened, for reasons unknown. One-time favourites including Neale Daniher, Weegle assistant Peter Sumich and Damien Hardwick were passed over for Knights, coach of the Dons’ VFL affiliate Bendigo. The Essadun board faces a challenge from a seemingly small group of supporters angry over Sheeds’ sacking, but Knighta’s appointment might swell their numbers. The Dons’ stated reason for hiring Knights, he’s good at working with young players, does make some sense as the Dons have plenty of rebuilding and, probably, losing ahead. Knights could have a tough time. A couple more retirements last week, Hawk Joel Smith after 230 games (172 for Horforn) and Sainter Aaron Hamill finally succumbed to chronic knee problems, he played 180-odd.
At the MCG:
Geelong 5.7 11.13 18.17 24.19.163
Port Adelaide 2.2 4.4 5.5 6.8.44
Geelong played like a team on mission to meet their destiny. Most Port players performed as though they didn’t believe they should be there, i.e. uselessly. The Cats have been the best team all season by a margin and produced the type of flowing, skilful, high-scoring football for which the club is traditionally known, combined with the new mental toughness instilled this year. The Catters’style was the complete opposite of low-scoring, defence-dominated footy of the Swans and Eagles and the record winning margin comfortably eclipsed Hawthorn’s previous 96 points in 1988, over the Dees. Jeelong had a fairly tense build-up with closed training sessions, a tough decision to drop regular no. 2 ruckman Mark Blake for former skipper Steven King and David Johnson charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police. Johnson wasn’t in the team, but still. Bartel’s Brownlow win offered some lightness and celebration. In contrast Port treated the week like a carnival, with plenty of Cat-baiting from Mark Williams and his players; the pressure was all on Geelong, they said; Williams’d already picked out a spot at Alberton for the premiership team-photo; Blake’s axing suggested panic; Darren Milburn wouldn’t play; the Cats had no GF experience (10 of Port’s 22 played in their 2004 win). The Powder’s attitude suggested desperation rather than confidence. Blake being dropped was harsh but fair, he didn’t play well against Collingwood last week and his thin frame may’ve been a liability against Port’s powerful Lade and Brogan. Blake’ll get another go. Port replaced injured Michael Wilson (torn achilles tendon) with young defender Brad Symes.
Maybe it was Brett Ebert’s fault, the Port forward failed with the game’s first two chances at goals. Following a rushed behind, Ebert intercepted Cat Josh Hunt’s kick-in but Ebert’s snap just missed. A minute later Ebert led to mark Kane Cornes’s pass, but his shot hooked wide and short. In between them chances, Cat small forward Mathew Stokes had fallen awkwardly from a marking contest and wrenched his knee, Stokes was carried off and the Catters hadn’t started well. But a quick rebound and Paul Chapman’s long kick saw Cameron Mooney mark on the goal-line, he booted the game’s first sausage. The same players were soon involved again, Chapman collected James Kelly’s tap-on and passed to leading Mooney, he jabbed a short, sideways pass to Steve Johnson, who played-on and majored. Cats by 11 points. King came on and immediately whacked Port man Dom Cassisi in the face. Cassisi was tagging Gary Ablett and Kane Cornes opposed Bartel, the Cats had their Cameron ‘Cling’ Ling on Shaun Burgoyne. All three taggers won their duels early but the Cats had others step up, like Chapman and Kelly. The Powder’s first goal came when overzealous Cat backman David Wojcinski clobbered Travis Boak, then Warren Tredrea, conceding frees both times. Tredrea majored from his. Port’s disposal was generally terrible though, whether under pressure or no. Their Jacob Surjan fumbled a handpass, Cat Johnson stole the ball but missed the shot. From the kick-in the Flowers’ Troy Chaplin telegraphed a pass, Gary Ablett intercepted and drilled a running goal. The Pooer advanced from the restart and had a throw-in in the forward pocket, Lade tapped for Shaun Burgoyne to collect the ball, speed clear and snap truly. The Cats led by 7 points, they nudged ahead again as Hunt charged onto a loose ball and centered a kick towards Brad Ottens. He couldn’t mark but Chapman collected the spillage and passed to Steve Johnson, all alone. Johnson played-on and goaled. As the pattern took hold Cats Joel Selwood, Ling and Stokes (back on and fine) all missed shots, there was a great bit of play when Ottens chased and caught pacy Power backman Michael Pettigrew. With one minute remaining in the term a Cat smother and what appeared a throw from Joel Corey set a chain of handballs in motion, capped by Bartel’s terrific left-foot snap for a major. Kelly narrowly missed a shot after the siren to have Geelong 23 points up at the first break.
Port’s situation went from serious to critical in the first ten minutes of the second stanza. In the first minute Hunt initiated a Cat rebound, Corey’s pass found Stokes, he handballed off for Steve Johnson to bag a running major, Johnson’s third. Ling’s tough effort to wear hits and win the ball set up another Jahlong goal, Ling’s handpass collected by Max Rooke who thumped it home. Lucky frees to Stokes and Chapman, both for high contact, saw Chapman free-kick a goal. Chappy’d done one of them bending shoulder-rolls out of a tackle which is little more than ducking. But anyway. A superb, slick rebound move saw Selwood kick long towards Nathan Ablett, he was bumped heavily by Toby Thurstans and Nablett free-kicked a goal. Also fortunate, that. At the following centre-bounce Ottens got the ball to Gary Ablett, he handballed to runnin’ Andrew Mackie, long kick again and Nathan Ablett reeled in a one-handed, with-the flight mark. N. Ablett majored again and the Cats led by 53 points now, having kicked 5 unanswered goals in about 10 minutes. Port won the next centre-clearance, a free-kick to Peter Burgoyne who’d been switched onto the ball. The Sherrin went to Brad Symes, he punted long and Chad Cornes seized a good pack-mark. Chadley majored. But Port had placed two extra men in defence now as they tried to halt Geelagong’s run-on. They succeeded, aided by a few behinds from the Cats including two misses from Ottens and a shocker from Rooke, following his crushing tackle on Thurstans to win the ball. A rare Geelong mistake brought a Powder goal. Darren Milburn fumbled in the centre and his opponent, Tredrea, gave the ball to Steven Salopek, whose long kick bounced and eluded Hunt allowing Tom Logan to boot an easy major. Consecutive goals for Port had them 44 points down, but Geelong surged again. Gary Ablett broke a tackle, sped downfield and was tackled again but got a handball away, maybe. The ball came to Kelly, he passed for Chapman to mark, play-on and slam it through. Steve Johnson missed two late shots as the Cats led by a hefty 52 points at half-time. Richmond’s Jake King won the half-time sprint, giving the Tiges consecutive victories in the event. Huzzah!
Any thoughts of a Port comeback vanished in the first three minutes of the third Mario, the Cats bagging two goals. From the opening bounce Kane Cornes was caught in possession by Corey, the ball went to Stokes and he delivered to Mooney, leading into the pocket. Mooney goaled with a good kick. A minute later Mooney leaped to mark a Port kick-in, he steered a pass to leading Steve Johnson who played-on with a centering kick. Bartel marked in a pack and booted a close-range sausage roll. The Cyats led by 65 points now and could effectively start celebrating, although Mooney urged ‘em to press on. The Flowers’ only tactic was to flood and the scoring stopped for a while, the highlight of this period Chapman’s ride on and screamer over Tredrea. Cat fans jeered Tredrea, whose arrogant bow to home supporters last week was given excessive exposure and comment in the meedya. The Cats unleashed another barrage of goals towards the end of the quarter, great play from Stokes led to the first. His kick was spilled by Ottens but roving Johnson passed to Nathan Ablett, a handpass and Shannon Byrnes had a tap-through major. The Powder won the next centre-clearance, Danyle Pearce lobbed a kick forward and Daniel Motlop tapped-on for Tredrea to snap it through. Motlop’s only touch, almost. Cat Ottens missed a shot but King marked the Port kick-in, his returning punt was seized by Ottens on the goal-line and Ott couldn’t miss this time. King clutched the ball at the restart and handballed to Ling, his kick was gathered by Corey who handballed to Chapman, goal. Nathan Ablett benefitted from a soft free-kick to bag another, in-the-back against Pettigrew who had a shocker. Geelong’s next goal was a beauty, Chapman bobbed up in his defensive goal-square to affect a big spoil, Port’s Cassisi gathered but a fierce bump from Stokes forced the ball loose, a perfect kick from Bartel found running Selwood, pass to leading Mooney, mark and goal. The Cats led by 90 points after that. Mooney missed a simple shot and Port’s Ebert postered before the final break. More of the same in the final quarter. Chapman cantered through the centre with a bounce or two and kicked long, Mooney won a fortunate free kick as he slipped and was grabbed ‘round the head by Wakelin. Mooney majored. A Chapman punt also led to the next six-pointer, Ling roved the goal-square pack and snapped it through. That goal made Geelong’s lead 102 points. Corey Enright roved a ball-up and his kick was marked by Chapman over the hapless Pettigrew, Chappy punted another. Matthew Scarlett exchanged handpasses with Mackie and drove another long kick in, Steve Johnson marked at the back of the pack, played-on and dribbled it through. Mooney hooked his fifth after marking by the point-post and Mackie got on the score sheet courtesy a crude, ploughing tackle from Chad Cornes, plus a 50m penalty as Cornes didn’t return the ball. The Cats led by 128 points and finally put the cue in the rack. Port scored a few mangy points, including a poster from Justin Westhoff, before Shaun Burgoyne booted a decent running goal. But the cameras spent the closing minutes focusing on celebrity Geelong supporters like Steve Bracks and former players Barry Stoneham and Bill Brownless. Billy was crying, Gawd bless ‘im. After the siren Mark Williams shook hands with the Geelong players and had a few words with Bomber Thompson. “I apologized for all that stuff I said during the week,” said Williams. “I knew we were under the pump, I had to try something.”
Steve Johnson (23 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) won the Norm Smith Medal, for his terrific efforts when the game was notionally a contest in the first 40 minutes. A deserving winner although Paul Chapman or Matthew Scarlett would've been equally worthy medalists. Johnson’s ‘story’ may’ve swayed the meedya-employed voters, Johnson redeeming himself following early-season club suspension for drunkenness and a generally poor attitude. Chapman (21 touches, 7 marks, 4 goals) was a vital midfielder in the first quarter-and-a-bit as Bartel and Ablett were tagged, Scarlett (29 possies, 8 marks) not only thrashed Westhoff but marshalled the backline and did a mountain of rebounding. Cyat defenders Josh Hunt (15 disposals on Ebert) and Tom Harley (13 touches, 7 marks on Motlop) were great too and Corey Enright (29 disposals) was terrific against Danyle Pearce. James Kelly (20 possies) was a key Cat midfield presence early, Joel Corey (25 handlings) was good and Cameron Ling (25 touches, a goal) put Shaun Burgoyne out of it. Cameron Mooney (12 marks, 17 disposals, 5 goals) did the job at full-forward, granted plenty of supply. Brad Ottens and Steven King controlled the ruck. Let’s face it, they didn’t have a bad player. Nathan Ablett kicked 3 goals and Jimmy Bartel booted 2 majors. Port’s best was Kane Cornes (37 disposals, 10 marks), by the length of the Morphettville straight. Silenced Gary Ablett early and won a lot of the ball himself. Peter Burgoyne (36 possessions) battled hard from half-back and later in the midfield, Chad Cornes (32 touches, 6 marks, a goal) won plenty of the ball with limited impact. Those three had a third of Port’s disposals between them. Every other Powderman was absolutely useless, utterly disgraceful. Maybe Dom Cassisi (18 touches) was alright, for his game on Bartel. Warren Tredrea and Shaun Burgoyne kicked 2 goals each. Just a quick mention for Port’s retiring full-back Darryl Wakelin, 200-plus games and a 2004 premiership player and another Port retiree in Josh Mahoney, resurrected from a stalled career in the VFL to become a premiership player and a Port best-and-fairest winner. Great players and both are a credit to Williams.
Mark Williams had this to say: "Going into the game, we as a match committee thought Geelong were the best club by a long way in the competition. What we've seen today was what we expected from them. Last time we beat them, down at Geelong, four of them were out (injured) and we knew it was going to be a much different game. All credit to Geelong, I thought Mark (Thompson) and his group really did produce on the day . . . From last year to now we over-achieved, but I didn't see that particular result coming, that's for sure. We'll rejoice the efforts through the year and acknowledge we weren't good enough today . . . (on the margin) Ah well, we create records. That's what football's about, it doesn't hold us back. Port Adelaide have got the most premierships in football in Australia, that's the best record." Asked about his pre-game baiting of the Cats, Choco said "We were playing a card. We knew how good Geelong were and if we could spook them, we tried to, it was a card to play." Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson, facing the sack this time last year during an internal club review he later labeled ‘cr@p’, said “It’s been such a long time since we’ve won . . . there was this pressure to win and I think the players felt it and I think everyone that worked at the club felt it. I’m glad it’s gone, [now] we can just go ahead with our business . . . Early (in the game), I thought we were sharp, I thought we were very, very sharp . . . I love it when we put enormous pressure on opposition sides. The key to the day I suppose was to be able to sustain that for four quarters. I suppose it would have been a period in the third quarter [that I thought we had won it], which is rare. We hardly ever let ourselves relax, but I think even at three-quarter time we knew we were going to win. But the emphasis was on just being as professional as you can be and don’t lairise, just be workmanlike, just go out and play good, strong footy and finish the job.” On his un-contracted status, Thompson said re-signing with the Cats was “a formality”, and he’s looking forward. “Darren Milburn I think is our oldest player . . . he’s just turned 30,” he said. “You know, we’ve got so many good players who are 23, 24, 25, and we’ve got Tom Hawkins and we’ve got Travis Varcoe and Nathan Djerrkura, so there’s some really exciting talent coming through. Now they’ve got the pressure and the monkey off their back I think we can forge ahead.” Indeed.
So that’s it for another year, thanks once again to David Layton and the crew at FTS, thanks to all the e-mailers and regulars out there for reading the blather and just like Bomber and the lads, I’m looking forward to next year. See you then!
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 - 4:55 PM EDT
