Chris Scott

Cale Hellyer reporting for AFANA from Geelong, Victoria

(Ed: note: Our newest contributor, Cale Hellyer, will be sending match reports from Victoria for the rest of the season.)

North Melbourne has continued its roller coaster season with a Round 15 victory over a disappointing Geelong side. After an even start to the game which saw the Kangaroos trail by a solitary point at quarter time, the Roos kicked into gear during the second quarter and never looked back.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Domain Stadium, Perth

Despite some atrocious kicking on goal, the West Coast Eagles overran a determined Geelong Cats in Round 9. It was a close game until the fourth quarter when West Coast players finally found their kicking radar and took the Cats apart. The game was evenly matched for much of the first half with Geelong getting out to an early lead with a couple of quick goals. One was a gift when the West Coast runner ran too close to Tom Hawkins giving away a 50 meter penalty right in front of goals. Steve Johnson slotted a clever goal from the left pocket and Jordan Murdoch was lively in Geelong’s forward line kicking two of his own. The Eagles' Josh Kennedy kicked two in the first quarter to keep the game even.

Janet Linn, reporting for AFANA from Melbourne, Australia

A traditional rivalry began the 2014 Finals series with Hawthorn and Geelong meeting in the First Qualifying Final at the MCG. This was a match up that promised everything and, in front of almost 75,000 excited fans, it delivered on that promise early with a torrid opening quarter of hard physical contests, wayward kicks, nervous fumbles and both teams taking the game on at full throttle.

Rick Browner reporting from Patersons Stadium for AFANA

  

Matthew Pavlich celebrated his 300th game in fine style against Geelong and the Dockers joined the party defeating the Cats by five goals. Patersons Stadium in Perth was bursting at the seams as the Freo faithful packed in to cheer Pavlich on his special day. Football and fairy tales are rarely mentioned in the same sentence, but this game was the exception. The Dockers have been a thorn in the Cats’ side for several years and the Round 9 clash proved more of the same as the Dockers got out to a game winning lead in the first quarter.

Brook "Boris" Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA

Geelong went into the Round 7 clash with Richmond holding an imposing record. The Cats had beaten up the Tigers in the last ten clashes between the two combatants with an average winning margin of 65 points. To find the last Richmond victory against Geelong you have to flick the pages of AFL history book back to Round 9, 2006 - a sobering thought for a Richmond team already struggling to regain any of the solid form it displayed in 2013. Complacency would not be an issue for the Cats who tasted defeat for the first time this season at the hands of an impressive Port Adelaide in the previous round.

Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from the Melbourne Cricket Ground

All week Australian Rules Football fans were agog with the excitement of two stunning Preliminary Finals. The first promised a nail-biting encounter between two teams that have shared an astonishing rivalry since Hawthorn upset Geelong - the overwhelming favorites - in the 2008 Grand Final. In the eleven games since taking that Premiership, Hawthorn has not beaten Geelong again. With a week off after winning the Qualifying Final against Sydney, the Hawks had their best chance yet to take the Cats and advance to the Grand Final.

Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from Melbourne, Australia

After a disappointing loss against Hawthorn in the Qualifying Final last week, Geelong coach Chris Scott was not about to take an over-optimistic approach to the Semi Final against Port Adelaide. However during the week he did say that he was confident “our best footy will still be good enough” to progress the Geelong’s Finals’ campaign.

Port Adelaide was coming fresh off one of the upsets of the season, after bundling huge Melbourne club Collingwood out of the Finals series with their “never say die, run all day” brand of football. Given the basket case that was Port Adelaide just over twelve months ago, coach Ken Hinkley and the Port players could have been excused for resting on their laurels and satisfying themselves with their gains so far but that is not the Power way and so a great contest got underway in front of over 52,000 fans on a glorious evening at the MCG.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Perth

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon proved his adage that he and his Dockers will take on Geelong, “Anywhere, anytime,” when his team powered away for a win at Simonds Stadium in their Qualifying Final encounter. Geelong had a 99% win ratio at Simonds going into the game and had every reason to expect another notch in their belts. It was a bruising and often spiteful match that epitomized the standard of play in a Finals series.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Patersons Stadium, Perth

Geelong gave the West Coast Eagles a football lesson when they beat them hands down in a one-sided display at Patersons Stadium in their Round 21 match. From the get-go Geelong were all over their opponents, kicking the first two goals before the crowd had all taken their seats. From there on it only got better for the Cats.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Prior to their recent dominance, the Geelong Cats had not won a Premiership since 1963, the same year Beverly Hills mayor and Paramount executive John Mirisch was born. Mirisch has an affinity for blue and white because those are the colors of his college team and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 1963 was also the same year the Dodgers defeated former cross-town rival the New York Yankees in the World Series.