Geelong Cats crush Melbourne by 111 points to guarantee home qualifying final in Round 23 at Simonds Stadium

GEELONG looked ominous in thumping Melbourne by 111 points, locking up a top two spot and home qualifying final in a fortnight’s time.

Patrick Dangerfield celebrates a big win for Geelong.

GEELONG has a glint in the eye for what lies ahead.

Rag-dolling vulnerable sides had not been part of the Cats’ repertoire this season.

These Cats tended to lowered themselves to the level of their opposition, played in bursts, let golden opportunities slip and left fans wondering who the real Geelong was.

But not on Saturday.

Geelong tuned up for a legitimate premiership tilt in style with four quarters of methodical business against Melbourne at Simonds Stadium, locking away a crucial top-two spot after the path was cleared by Adelaide’s stunning upset loss on Friday night.

The tone was set in the opening minutes with back-to-back centre breakaways from Patrick Dangerfield and capped with a flurry of goals to Sam Menegola, Josh Caddy, Jimmy Bartel and Daniel Menzel at the end.

There was ominous conviction in the way the Cats put the Demons to the sword with 10 goals in a brutal final quarter to win by a crushing 111 points.

Dangerfield’s stranglehold on Brownlow Medal favouritism will only tighten after he bounced off his opponents with contemptuous ease on his way to 32 possessions, 10 clearances and a whopping 16 inside 50s.

Geelong's Josh Caddy celebrates a goal.

Melbourne, too, perhaps had a glint in the eye for what lies ahead … Mad Monday, end-of-season trips, the off-season. It was a sour end to Paul Roos’ three-year rebuilding term but not the first time a Melbourne side has endured a nightmare afternoon at the Cattery in recent years.

The game was effectively put to bed by quarter time after Geelong slammed on eight goals to break 38 points clear.

Tom Hawkins received the timely injection of confidence he needs, kicking four goals for the term in a masterclass of power marking, savvy leading and calculated set-shots.

There could have even been a fifth had Steven Motlop opted to give a cheeky handball over the top late in the quarter.

Hawkins loomed with an aura rarely seen this year and it will go a long way to alleviating the mental demons that have weighed on him as he questioned whether the game was starting to pass him by.

The key forward, who remains so important to Geelong’s structure, finished with a season-high six goals and five contested marks — cherry ripe for finals.

But while Dangerfield and Selwood were the cream, mature draftee Menegola played his way into Geelong’s finals team in style, launching two final-quarter goals to put the exclamation point on his 27 possessions.

In his final game at the helm of Melbourne, Paul Roos suffered his worst ever loss as a senior coach.

Menegola is yet to play in a losing Geelong side. He has the second-best endurance at the club behind Mark Blicavs and complements a midfield that will only brim with further depth when Scott Selwood returns in a fortnight.

Promisingly for Geelong, Blicavs was involved in much more play than past weeks, Harry Taylor swept brilliantly from defence and Daniel Menzel returned in style with four goals.

Saturday’s match still made for a few nervous moments for Geelong.

Dangerfield crashed spectacularly to the ground after being tackled by Sam Frost. He stayed down nursing a shoulder, only to shake off the trainers like Lazarus to play out the game seemingly unimpeded.

Joel Selwood, too, stayed down after being battered in a scrimmage of bodies in the centre. He came to the bench appearing to complain about a whack to the back of the head or neck, only to also return not long after and proceeded with his typical dogged attack.

Defender Jake Kolodjashnij did not return after leaving the field in the third quarter and was later seen with an ice pack on his left calf.

GEELONG CATS 24.11 (155)

MELBOURNE 6.8 (44)

GOALS

Geelong Cats: Hawkins 6, Menzel 4, Menegola 3, Bartel 3, Caddy 2, Motlop 2, Selwood, Taylor, McCarthy, Duncan

Melbourne: Garlett 2, Brayshaw, Vandenberg, Hogan, Weideman

Originally published as Geelong Cats crush Melbourne by 111 points to guarantee home qualifying final in Round 23 at Simonds Stadium