Patrick Dangerfield the star as Geelong beats Freo after Michael Walters misses with final kick
THE Cats needed a hero, and one stepped up with one inspirational act before Fremantle nearly stole the four points in another match decided by the final kick of the game.
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THE ground announcer at Simonds Stadium missed a perfect opportunity at three-quarter time.
Bonnie Tyler’s famous anthem ‘Holding Out for a Hero” had to be getting a run through the speakers.
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In case you’re not up with Bonnie’s work it goes:
“I need a hero,
“I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night,
“He’s gotta be strong
“And he’s gotta be fast
“And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight”
Geelong had been horrendous all day — at one stage they trailed by 34 points in the second quarter — and at three-quarter time Fremantle led by 19 points.
The regular hero Joel Selwood had been missing since the opening minute of the game, knocked out in a head clash with Hayden Ballantyne.
By the last break he’d been joined by Tom Stewart and Darcy Lang who’d also been ruled out of the game with injury.
There’s no prize for guessing which Cat decided to listen to Bonnie’s plea and you’re not getting any think music.
Patrick Dangerfield decided he could no longer be a part of such rubbish.
It all started with one inspirational act, a chase down of Fremantle’s Lachie Weller when he looked completely out of the contest.
Dangerfield caused the turnover and was then involved in a string of handballs which led to a goal to youngster James Parsons.
Two minutes later Parsons had another one as he was having a crack at being the hero.
When Tom Hawkins woke from his slumber to take a hanger and kick his first goal, the Cats were remarkably in front nine minutes into the final quarter.
For the next 20 minutes there was no more goals scored.
There nearly was one, in the final seconds from Fremantle’s Michael Walters.
After a number of Cats had choked with their opportunity to look after Bonnie — Hawkins and Rhys Stanley among those to miss gettable set shots — the game remained in the balance.
The Dockers were always going to get one last crack and it happened to be the final play of the match.
A brilliant centring ball from youngster Brennan Cox set the Dockers away with the ball ending up being sent to the hot spot at the top of the goal square.
After a frenzy of activity it ended in Walters’ hands who had a clear look at the goals from 20 metres out.
He missed and a second later the siren sounded.
Geelong had won the unwinnable game by two points.
Dangerfield had nine possessions in the final quarter to earn himself another three Brownlow Medal votes and hero status.
Earlier the story of the day had been all about Ballantyne, the Docker who has a chequered history with the Cats.
Who could forget Matthew Scarlett’s famous left hook to the chin of Ballantyne back in 2012?
This time the Dockers antagonist was actually innocent but that didn’t appease the locals.
Ballantyne’s head knocked out the Cats skipper in a fair contest where both players had eyes on the ball.
After getting rid of the heart and soul of the Cats, Ballantyne then went about rubbing it in their faces in the second quarter.
Playing in his first game of the season, the veteran continually seemed to get out the back of Geelong’s defence and kicked two goals.
His combination with Walters was exposing the home side for leg speed which has long been a query on this team.
Geelong were as bad as they had been for a long time in the opening half.
It’s almost like they were in a daze the moment their captain was sent into one.
And just quietly, this was the most inexperienced Fremantle outfit that Ross Lyon had served up in years.
Captain Nathan Fyfe was left at home while Aaron Sandilands also wasn’t rushed back with his spot taken by a former Geelong kid, Sean Darcy, who’d never played before.
Josh Deluca was the other Fremantle debutant and he showed plenty in the first half, gathering 12 possessions which was more than 16 Geelong players.
When the anticipated surge from the Cats didn’t come in the third quarter, things were looking ugly for a side that allegedly has aspirations of being a top four outfit.
That’s when Bonnie Tyler was required and at least we now know one fan of her music ... P Dangerfield.
GEELONG 2.0 4.5 7.9 10.14 (74) def FREMANTLE 1.1 8.3 11.4 11.6 (72)
Goals: Geelong: D Menzel 3 J Parsons 2 Z Tuohy 2 S Menagola S Motlop T Hawkins. Fremantle: D Tucker 3 H Ballantyne 2 M Walters 2 B Hill C McCarthy L Neale N Suban.
Best: Geelong: Dangerfield, Tuohy, Duncan, Taylor, Lonergan, Menzel.
Fremantle: Walters, Hill, Neale, Johnson, Weller, Suban, Darcy
Umpires: Shaun Ryan, Sam Hay, David Harris.
Official Crowd: 28,928 at Simonds Stadium.
VOTES (Scott Gullan)
3 - Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
2 - Michael Walters (Fremantle)
1 - Brad Hill (Fremantle)
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