CHRIS' UNOFFICIAL GEELONG CATS HOME PAGE

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2012

HEADLINES

PREMIERS AGAIN!

GEEELONG 18.11.119 d COLLINGWOOD 12.9.81

Geelong has won its 3rd flag in 5 seasons with a sensational 38 point win over 2010 premier Collingwood in front of 99,500 at the 'G. Geelong got off the perfect start with Varcoe kicking a goal in the first 12 seconds. He added a second soon after before Cloke lifted the Pies with three great goals. The Pies shot out to a 3 goal lead early in the second term, and The J-Pod injured his shoulder and he was subbed off for Mitch Duncan. The Cats would not lie down. Stevie J, who recovered from a serious knee injury in the Preliminary Final, added his second goal, as did Selwood before Bartel kicked a beauty from the boundary line to reduce the margin to only 3 points at the main change. Tom Hawkins chose the third term to realise the promise everyone had in him. He soccer one through early in the term to give the Cats the lead before the Goal Umpire missed the ball hitting the post for the Pies. Yes Hawkins did the same thing in 2009 but that was from a hurried snap, this time the Goal Umpire was right behind the flight of the ball and he still missed it. But Hawkins responded with a great diving mark and goal to reinstate the lead. The Pies responded but this time it was Bartel that took a courageous mark and then calmly slotted his second goal from the pocket. Then some great work from Stokes saw advantage awarded to Bartel who handballed to Duncan and he slotted one from 50 and Geelong were 8 in front. Sidebottom responded straight out of the Centre to continue the amazing game. Then the moment of the match when Hunt kicked quickly on his right foot to a 2 on one contest. First year player Alan Christensen soared in between Heath Shaw and Alan Toovey and he took the mark of the match. He moved the ball quickly to Bartel, who again linked up with Duncan who kicked the ball long to Ottens. Otto could not mark but he pushed over Ben Reid handballed forward and Hawkins soccer his third for the quarter and the Cats were 8 up at the final change. If Hawkins was good in the third he was unbelievable in the last but he could not kick straight! Three strong marks against the injured (well that's the excuse the Pies will use for the thrashing) All Australian Centre Half Back Ben Reid saw two behinds before Johnson basically snatched the ball out of his hands to coolly snap his third goal and the margin was 15 points. Then another one of those moments when Varcoe (who is often criticized for not doing this) put his body on the line and nearly took a mark with the flight of the ball in the backline. He and Duncan followed the ball all the way down the ground before Johnson passed to Duncan and Varcoe roved the ball off the Duncan and snapped his third goal with his left foot. The Crowd were going nuts (I have never seen so much passion in my life) and they smelled blood. The Pies had a few chances to get back in the game but after kicking them from everywhere earlier in the match Cloke (who hardly had had a touch since Tom Lonergan was moved on to him) missed this time. Geelong got the ball forward, Wojcinski, Kelly to Bartel on 50 who marked. This champion calmly slotted his 3rd from 50 and the match was over and he sealed the Norm Smith Medal in the process. GEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG then echoed around the 'G which pissed off the Pies fan next to me who claimed we couldn't come up with our own chant. I remember other clubs doing that well before the Pies last year. I didn't take the bait instead just yelled even louder when Stevie J kicked his third from the same spot Bartel had goaled in the second term. He then sprayed the Pies with water and told someone to F Off! The win was capped off when Harry O'Brien was pressured, shanked a left foot pass, Varcoe handballed to the Mayor (Ling) who snapped on his left to send the crowd over the edge again. This was a sensational performance and for me it is the best of the three premierships that I have seen. 2009 was pretty close but to be able to enjoy the last term made this one a bit sweeter! I dislike both Collingwood and St.Kilda equally so it had nothing to do with the teams we beat. As I mentioned above the reaction of the Crowd for the whole match was amazing and that topped it off. Well done to Chris Scott for making the right changes this season to top off the work Thompson had done but didn't have the drive to change with the times and continue to compete.

I decided to take the season off updating this page week after week but maybe I chose the wrong season to do so? It didn't mean I didn't follow this Great Club any less if anything I was interested and excited to see how we would fair without Ablett and Thompson. When I first saw the fixture a 3-2 result from St.Kilda, Hawthorn at the 'G and Freo and Sydney away in the first 5 rounds would have been a good result. So to only lose 3 matches for the season (although to not fire up for Essendon after Bomber left us for them was disappointing) was a sensational effort. And to beat Hawthorn and Collingwood 3 times in the season was brilliant. I hope Jeff Kennett is choking on his words that Hawthorn are mentally tougher than us because not only have we won 7 straight against them since '08 including a win over them in a final. I would start to question their mental edge after giving up that lead in the Prelim Final against the Pies. But I am not complaining defeating the Pies in the Grand Final has topped everything off. Well maybe one against the Hawks next season for back to back? But until them I am off to enjoy this one. WE ARE GEELONG THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL!

E-Mail me at get_chris@hotmail.com