AFL loses it for game of the year ‘benchmark’ as Cats come from nowhere

The Geelong Cats have come from the clouds in an absolute thriller at the MCG to celebrate its captains milestone in style.

Great scenes after a brilliant Cats comeback. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Geelong have celebrated Joel Selwood becoming the longest serving captain in AFL history by pulling off an extraordinary 37-point comeback over the Collingwood Magpies.

The 16.8 (104) to 13.13 (91) win looked unlikely when the Cats piled on nine goals to three in a frenetic third quarter to turn a five-point deficit at halftime into a 30-point lead at three-quarter time.

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But while not ideal, the Cats did finish the quarter with a goal and a behind to Jeremy Cameron, cutting a 37-point lead to five goals for the final term.

While the third quarter belonged to the Pies, the fourth quarter was all Cats as Geelong booted 7.2 (44) to 0.1 (1) in the fourth to romp home to the victory.

Jeremy Cameron stood up when he was needed the most, nabbing six, including three in the final quarter, equalling his best game for the club.

What a win for the Cats! Photo by Michael Klein

A Luke Dahlhaus behind put the Cats ahead 23 minutes into the final term, and despite Jamie Elliott evening it up for the Pies soon after, Tom Hawkins and Cameron put the game beyond doubt.

After the game, after his record 227th game as captain which took him past Carlton legend Stephen Kernahan, Selwood was awed by the performance.

“This group, seriously,” he said. “There is just something special about it. We had confidence at three quarter time even though the third quarter just wasn’t ours. We got outplayed big time but outstanding by the boys. Big efforts and big moments going into that final quarter.”

The reaction to the match was swift, with some already calling it the game of the season so far.

162-game former AFL star Daniel Harford told 3AW: “It’s an extraordinary game of footy!”

7 New Melbourne’s Andrew McCordmack wrote: “That’s a decent benchmark to beat for game of the season”.

Jeremy Cameron came up huge. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

10 News’ Caty Price tweeted: “Cracking game.. well done @joelselwood14 - a brilliant comeback on a record breaking night.. true champ.”

ESPN’s Kane Pitman added: “Joel Selwood is an absolute king. Brilliant way to celebrate a legend of the game”.

ABC News sports lead Kyle Pollard wrote: “Dahlhaus was huge in the last quarter. The 2011 grand final feels familiar here. Take a tall out of the mix and the Cats look more dynamic. And Selwood willing himself was massive too. What a silly game.”

Author Titus O’Reily joked: “We have to wait for the dust to settle, but I suspect the review will identify that not playing the fourth quarter was a tactical mistake by Collingwood.”

Gemma Tognini wrote: “If you’re gonna choke you may as well go big. Nothing like blowing a five-goal lead... That being said, I survived the Tony Shaw years so this is nothing tbh.”