AFL preliminary final: How Geelong blew golden chance to stamp unexpected season

Geelong had the game completely in its control. After the first goal of the third term, the question was ‘Geelong by how much’? But perhaps the Lions’ win did Max Holmes a favour.

Geelong had the game completely in its control.

When Max Holmes intercepted a Dayne Zorko kick and popped it over the top to his skipper Patrick Dangerfield to put the Cats 25-points up early in the third quarter, it looked like the Cats by how much.

The Cats had put the Lions to the sword the previous term with seven goals to one of their own, with Gryan Miers providing some ridiculous highlights.

Suddenly in a matter of minutes, everything that could go wrong did go wrong – especially for those two aforementioned stars.

Holmes spent time off the ground with a hamstring injury, Dangerfield laid a dangerous tackle on Hugh McCluggage and the Lions overwhelmed the Cats in all facets of the game.

Brisbane won the inside 50 count 18-11 and the clearances 11-5 in the third term and piled on 5.4 to the Cats’ 1.1 in the third quarter.

Holmes had a long chat with Cats coach Chris Scott on the phone but came back on the ground in the fourth quarter.

However, after moving shakily on the wing following a dodge of a tackle, he was substituted out of the game.

Maybe the Lions’ narrow win was the football gods doing Holmes a favour. Missing two grand finals in the space of two years with hamstring blows would have been one of the cruellest footy stories of all time.

Max Holmes and the Cats walk off on Saturday. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

The Lions had all the momentum in the last quarter, and the Cats can hold their heads high for somehow hitting the front at the death in one of the best finals in VFL/AFL history.

The seesawing affair was symbolic of their season, with their inconsistency within games a common theme across 2024.

Ollie Henry’s performance was enormous.

With intercept king Harris Andrews standing him, the making forward was able to have a consistent impact throughout the match – especially in the second quarter – but he saved his best until last.

The former Pie turned it on when Geelong needed it most, clunking a massive mark and snapping truly on his left, and then bending another through to see the Cats hit the front.

It was among plenty moments of brilliance from Geelong in the final quarter.

Oliver Henry was stellar for the Cats. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Zach Guthrie’s mark. Lawson Humphries’ continued run from behind. Tom Stewart’s desperate rundown tackle.

However, it was unfortunate that what may be Rhys Stanley’s last moment in football was a miss from close range.

Some brutal Cats fans might say it sums up his time at the club, but he has been a warrior who has always given his all — including this year when many wrote him off.

STEWART WITH A HUGE TACKLE, AND HENRY PUTS THE CATS IN FRONT 🔥

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Irishman Zach Tuohy won’t feature again in the hoops, neither will champion Tom Hawkins.

However, in the end Tuohy and Hawkins weren’t even in Geelong’s best side.

It is an end of an era of sorts, but at the same time their finals runs signalled the start of an exciting new one with the likes of Ollie Dempsey, Lawson Humphries, Shaun Mannagh, Shannon Neale and more.

Getting this deep into the finals exceeded everyone’s expectations. And this side will be back.

But you can’t shake the feeling the Cats let a big opportunity slip on Saturday.