Geelong were perfect but Dangerfield was best | Graham Cornes

In a team full of good players on the day, Dangerfield was clearly the best player on the ground, writes Graham Cornes.

The City of Melbourne played its part. Over 100,000 people crammed into the MCG to welcome the grand final back for the first time in three years. The unpredictable Melbourne weather was perfect. The AFL did its job. The pre-match entertainment, so often maligned was probably the best ever.

Nothing stirs the emotions pre-game more than Mike Brady when his ageless lungs belt out Up There Cazaly. If there was a separate national anthem for the southern states, it surely would be that song. Then there was Robbie Williams. He presented as a hot-pink, strutting peacock, won us over dedicating “Angels” to Shane Warne, then evoked tears when he channelled Johnny Farnham.

To top it off, he wooed Delta Goodrem. Then little Levi Ablett, son of Gary Jnr, won our hearts. More tears.

However, when the pre-match entertainment is done, regardless whether it’s Meatloaf or Robbie Williams, grand final day will be judged by the football.

The game failed us. When we craved a close contest, we got an annihilation.

Geelong completely dominated, so much so that the Swans could only take the ball inside their forward fifty, 32 times.

Patrick Dangerfield greets fans after the AFL Grand Final. Picture: Morgan Hancock

Geelong more than doubled that. The Cats gave Sydney no time, no space and denied them possession. The Swans hard running, quick moving, accurate-disposal game was non-existent. It evaporated under the constant heat of Geelong’s pressure. Geelong reduced the Swans to a level of incompetency that rejected their status as a grand finalist

Both teams came into the finals with good form, but Geelong has been the best team of the last half of the season. They were favourites to win and with good reason.

The oldest team to take the field in a grand final, maybe the oldest team ever, they defied the logic that footballers are finished when they hit 30. The three best players on the ground were, Patrick Dangerfield 32, Isaac Smith 33, and Joel Selwood 34.

Isaac Smith won the Norm Smith Medal by four votes from Dangerfield, but it’s obvious the selectors overlooked contested possessions, clearances and goal assists.

Nobody in the competition hunts the ball better than Dangerfield, head down, as he hunches his shoulders and attacks the ground ball with blind ferocity. In a team full of good players on the day, Dangerfield was clearly the best player on the ground.

Overall, however, the victory was a triumph for coach Chris Scott.

Often maligned by Cats supporters he has made his critics eat their words. Not that there weren’t times when the criticism had been justified. He had at his disposal some of the game’s great players, yet his game plan, based on possession and slow build up, seemed pedestrian. Additionally, his starting mid-field was often puzzling.

Geelong Assistant Eddie Betts and Tyson Stengle. Picture: Darrian Traynor

But there was none of that Saturday. The Cats, repeatedly won the contested ball and kept the ball in motion with aggressive, positive movement. Scott’s body of work, capped now by the 2022 premiership, confirms his status as one of the greats. He was obviously struck by that realisation when medical sub, Brandan Parfitt kicked a sealing goal immediately after taking the field, as he could be seen brushing away the tears.

There were great stories everywhere in that Geelong team.

Dangerfield: Brownlow Medallist, eight time all-Australian had not played in a premiership team.

Selwood; more finals games than any player in history. The only Geelong player to play in four premierships - the first and fourth 15 years apart.

Tyson Stengle, sacked by the Crows but now has a premiership medal and finished third in the Norm Smith Medal voting.

I hope whoever it was who made the decision to sack him from the Crows, has learned a valuable lesson about working with young footballers whose childhood had been troubled. Sam De Koning, one of ten kids from that huge family on the Mornington Peninsula. He forced his way into that elite Geelong team with a no-nonsense, assured defensive game. Never flustered, his expression never changes as he repeatedly repels opposition attacks. He plays with an assuredness that belies his modesty.

It was the cliched, complete team performance and despite the huge margin and the fact that the game was well and truly over before the final siren the tears flowed freely.

One wonders why big tough men cry so freely when they have so convincingly won a premiership. Relief perhaps? The pressure is off and the emotions that have been bottled and controlled for so long are suddenly released and the tears flow. Tears of joy maybe? Tom Hawkins and Joel Selwood are great warriors of the game.

No, it was something much stronger than joy. Ecstasy, that overwhelming emotion that very few experience, overcame them. It wasn’t a great grand final but it broke the mould because it certainly was a great day. The tears proved it.

Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan in 2014. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media

Hawks saga shows AFL must lift its game

There was a pall of sadness hovering over the preparations for this year’s grand final. In the end the game itself was a release from the tension and the pressure. But only temporarily.

The accusations of indigenous former Hawthorn players are horrific, barbaric even. Surely not? Unfortunately yes! Regardless of the outcome of any investigation, the stigma will stain the club for decades.

The revelations in ABC journalist, Russell Jackson’s explosive report are in much greater detail than is in the official Hawthorn investigation of previous accusations by one its favourite sons, Cyril Rioli. Connected observers in Melbourne suggest the accusations come from a disaffected ex-Hawthorn player who has been less than delighted with Alastair Clarkson’s appointment at North Melbourne. An aggrieved ex-player who wasn’t interviewed in the Hawthorn review, sought a platform to air his grievances. What journalist wouldn’t salivate a such a story. Jackson’s report has shaken our football world to its core. It will be heralded for many years to come but it lacks two things: context and perspective.

With regards to context: under what circumstances would a football official charged with the wellbeing of his players, encourage a footballer to go to great lengths to sever connection with his family? It’s almost always the other way round, where the club bends over backwards to accommodate the needs of the player’s family. How could that person even consider suggesting a player and his partner terminate a pregnancy? Such news always brings celebration and a hearty round of congratulations.

Then there is the matter of perspective. Jackson has presented the sorry saga from the anonymous players’ and their partners’ point of view. The three men accused, Alastair Clarkson, Chris Fagan and the lesser-known former development officer, Jason Burt, were named in the report but no response from them was presented. Clarkson and Fagan have both issued fierce denials and will obviously get the opportunity to defend their reputations but regardless, their reputations have been impugned and their careers threatened.

However, there is a greater sadness. Regardless of “procedural fairness”, it’s 2022 and we thought, of all organisations, the AFL was trying harder and doing more to promote and improve the lives of our First Nations Peoples. Apparently not.