AFL 2021: Geelong Cats to play in 11th preliminary final in 15 seasons after cruising past GWS Giants

The Geelong Cats ended the Greater Western Sydney Giants’ season and advanced to the preliminary finals on Friday evening.

The Cats have an insane record of making preliminary finals. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Geelong will play in yet another AFL preliminary final.

The Cats took advantage of an undermanned Greater Western Sydney in Perth on Friday night, winning their semi-final clash by 35 points.

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They held off an early final-quarter attack from the Giants, who kicked three goals in as many minutes at the start of the term to get the margin back to 20 points.

But Geelong steadied, Tom Hawkins adding two late goals to finish with five in the 15.13 (103) to 10.8 (68) win at Optus Stadium, where they will meet Melbourne in the preliminary final next Friday night.

It will be Geelong’s fifth appearance in the penultimate week of the season in six years and their sixth since they last won the flag, in 2011.

The Cats weren’t perfect, but their performance was noticeably better than what they dished up in their 43-point qualifying final loss to Port Adelaide a week earlier.

They managed it with a massive input from Joel Selwood in his record-breaking 333rd game in a Cats jumper.

The brave run of four consecutive wins from the Giants ends. They haven’t played in Sydney since 19 June, some 73 days ago.

And cruelly, the first goal on Friday night came from the boot of their former key forward of nine years, Jeremy Cameron.

It broke the initial arm wrestle, that went for almost 17 minutes.

Cameron looked dangerous throughout and finished with two. Along with Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan (two), he provided a headache for the Giants defence.

Zach Tuohy was the most prolific winner of the footy for Geelong. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Hard way to goal

It’s fair to say the Giants were forced to work a lot harder for their goals than the Cats.

That was inevitable before the opening bounce when key forward Jesse Hogan pulled out due to a calf injury.

His withdrawal compounded the loss of Toby Greene midweek to suspension. And Hogan was hardly replaced with a like-for-like player; former skipper and defender Phil Davis was brought in for his 11th game of the season and his first since the Giants’ Round 20 loss to Port Adelaide.

With Hogan out, it left Harry Himmelberg the only one of the Giants’ top-four goal scorers for the season on the ground – and he had his hands full with Mark Blicavs.

As a result, the Giants went goalless in the first term and trailed by 14 points at quarter-time.

Even when Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly got going in the second quarter and a few goals came, the Giants had to work for them.

They kicked three goals in that term, none from set shots.

Geelong, leading by 15 points at the main break, had kicked 5.8. All five goals came from either free kicks, or as a result of marks.

Shane Mumford kicked the Giants’ first goal from a set shot after the three-quarter-time siren. It only managed to drag the margin back to 32 points, though.

Return of the Irishman

The return of defender Zach Tuohy from three games out with a hamstring injury has come at a good time for the Cats.

He had 12 touches in the first term, running across half-back; left alone by the Giants who tried to run an extra player up the ground.

The Cats will probably need to play the remaining games of this final series without Brandan Parfitt, who injured his hamstring in the first term.

There was a nervous moment for the Cats midway through the third term when key forward Hawkins left the ground with a corked thigh; not the first person to suffer one after colliding with Giant Shane Mumford.

Hawkins left the ground for a few anxious moments, but returned a few minutes later to provide a reminder of why he is such an important player.

He took a ruck knock deep in Geelong’s forward line, knocking the ball into the path of Isaac Smith, who kicked the Cats’ ninth goal and opened up a 32-point lead.

For the second time in his career, Tom Hawkins kicked five goals in a final. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Early preview

Next Friday night’s final will be the first between Melbourne and Geelong since the Demons beat the Cats in the 2018 elimination final.

The Demons beat Hawthorn in the semi-final a week later before being demolished by eventual premier, West Coast, by 51 points in the preliminary final. That game was at Optus Stadium.

It will be the first time that the Cats and the Demons will meet in a preliminary final since 1954. Melbourne won that game by 17 points before Footscray crunched them by 51 points in the grand final.

CATS 2.5 5.8 10.9 15.13 (103)

GIANTS 0.3 3.5 5.7 10.8 (68)

ELBOROUGH’S BEST Cats: Hawkins, Menegola, Tuohy, Gutherie, Smith, Blicavs. Giants: Kelly, Whitfield, Haynes, Hopper, de Boer, Ward.

GOALS Cats: Hawkins 5; Cameron 2, Close 2, Rohan 2, Menegola 2; Ratugolea, Smith. Giants: Himmelberg 2, Stone 2; Haynes, Hill, Kelly, Lloyd, Mumford, Ward.

INJURIES: Cats: Parfitt (hamstring) replaced by Z Guthrie, Hawkins (corked leg). Giants: Hogan (calf) replaced in selected team by Davis, Sproule (shoulder), replaced by Peatling.

UMPIRES Donlon, Chamberlain, Meredith

VENUE Optus Stadium

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES

3 Hawkins (Cats)

2 Menegola (Cats)

1 Kelly (Giants)