Geelong blows Hawthorn away with dominant third quarter
It took some time but the Cats finally got going after halftime on Monday. And they showed that reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
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You can finally breathe out Cats fans.
After Geelong copped eight days of questions about its premiership defence, another hour was added for good measure, before the exhale came.
Smashed around the ball for the better part of 14 quarters to start the season, the Cats finally got humming against the old rivals in the third term to pull away from Hawthorn and set up an 82-point win.
It was as if the Easter bunny was late on Easter Monday, and as the Cats laid an egg in the first half, the chocolates came just after the rain.
The heaving downpour just before halftime made the game simple – Hawthorn had owned the clinches to lead clearances 24-10 and contested possessions 70-58 – Geelong had to win the contest for its season to survive.
So that old brigade rolled up their sleeves and silenced the growing doubters as Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Atkins, Cam Guthrie and Mark Blicavs got to work around the ball, with some help from an excellent Max Holmes.
The dominance was stark in the premiership quarter as Geelong simply eviscerated Hawthorn.
The Cats won 59 more disposals, 24 more contested possessions, 10 more clearances, had 22 more inside-50s and kicked 10 goals to nil.
It was simply as dominant as a team can be.
The siffest competition the Cats felt in the second half was Jeremy Cameron running through a boundary umpire mid celebration.
It’s funny how the game can fall into place once the midfield is right.
Cameron kept the Cats afloat in the first half but with proper supply, Tom Hawkins was back to his old self.
Anonymous during the past fortnight, Brad Close and Tyson Stengle came into the game and subbed on for Jed Bews, Ollie Henry had four shots on goal in 30 minutes.
Suddenly this looked like that premiership side again – free flowing, intimidating and sure in defence.
The statement win Geelong fans were desperate for arrived, eventually.
The first half should not be forgotten – Geelong was woeful at times and repeated past issues of not being able to get a handle on the ball – but with a meeting against a lowly West Coast to come on Sunday it might not be too long before the Cats machine is humming again.
If the midfield clicks like it did in that third quarter, the reigning premier will get the chocolates plenty of times this year.
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