As it happened: Cats deliver Swans’ biggest loss in 25 years, Lions take care of GWS, Power cruise past Eagles

So there you have it.

The most anticipated match of the day ends up producing by far the most lopsided final margin of the day.

The heavyweight grand final rematch between Geelong and Sydney ended up being a virtual carbon copy of the last Saturday in September last year.

The Cats backed up their 81-point shellacking of the Swans in the 2022 premiership decider with a 93-point mauling tonight.

In the other games today, Brisbane easily accounted for GWS by 21 points, thanks to a career-high seven goals from Charlie Cameron, while Port Adelaide cruised past an injury-ravaged West Coast by 40.

Thanks for following all the action with us, and be sure to tune in again next Saturday.

Good night.

Sydney coach John Longmire spoke to the media after the game...

Q: John, how do you sum up today? Pretty tough night at the club.
A: It’s hard to put into words, really. You know, we needed to push back and compete harder than that. They were very good at it, they’re a very good footy club. Normally we show a bit more than that. It was disappointing.

Q: No goals in the second half. A warning sign for you?
A: Just wasn’t at the standard that we normally apply or the standard that the game really requires. You know, I think inside-50 differential probably in the second half wasn’t that great. The ability for them to score when they went inside their forward 50 and the lack of ability for us was quite stark. There’s probably a long list, but we needed to...we need to even a few more contests than we did. When it gets to that stage, it is pretty simple. You just need to get yourself in the game by needing a few more contests. There was probably a short burst there at the start of the last and probably one or two other instances where you looked and you thought, “OK, we’re going here.” It’s what the game requires and then we just dropped away far too easily, which is the disappointing aspect ... in the end, it doesn’t matter. The game doesn’t care. You’ve got to compete. Whether you’re not old enough or not big enough, strong enough, the game doesn’t care. You’ve got to be able to get to the level that the game requires, that the opposition demand. That’s where we fell short.

Q: Callum Mills on Tom Hawkins?
A: It’s what ... we’re faced with, our situation means we’ve got our All-Australian midfielder at fullback. That was the same last week, but our ability to be able to compete against the Tigers, even when challenged, was a lot better than it was tonight. The situation is what it is. We’ll try and get it better, we’ve just got to get the contest a bit more even.

Q: Was there much feedback after the game?
A: I don’t think it’s probably...probably not the moment to talk in too much detail. We will just let it sit there for a bit.

Q: Is it disappointing considering it was a grand final rematch?
A: It’s disappointing full stop. Just disappointing full stop.

Q: The knee injury to Roberts?
A: It was obviously bad enough to get subbed. I haven’t spoken to the medical guys. You have to say he’ll be on the injured list next week. They reckon a medial ligament. That was
thrown around.

Q: Will you get anyone back?
A: Not a certainty at this stage, so I don’t know.

Geelong coach Chris Scott spoke to the media after the game...

Q: Could you ask for anything more from that tonight? Such a special night for the club.
A: No, it’s rare to play that well against such a good team. It wasn’t that the good performance from our end was completely unexpected. We also acknowledge the challenges they’ve got. It’s also a rare situation when you’ve got a couple of dominant key forwards against a team that’s just been decimated in terms of their key defensive stocks. So we kind of modelled our whole range of scenarios and Mills on Hawkins was still one that we left out. Such was the challenge that was in front of them and the esteem which they hold him. So we’re aware of all that stuff. Still a really good performance and still early in the year, but we file like we’re moving the right way.

Q: Seeing someone like Sam Simpson come in like he did, and that first couple of minutes kicked a goal, and you see the team coming around him, how special is that on what’s already a special night for the club?
A: It’s really special. I think if you’re involved in footy for a long period of time, part of the challenge of being sort of optimistic about your career and your future is having to endure the really difficult times. It’s easy when you see...because most people just see the outcome game day, but they don’t see the dreary kind of repetitive work in rehab. So Sam’s obviously been through a long period when he was in that position, but for even, you know, bigger periods, it looked like he wasn’t going back at all. He had a history of soft-tissue injuries, he’s done a power of work on for the remedy, but it was the concussion issues that were really worrying. I’m proud of the way our club handled the situation. He was given the space that he needed, but we had a lot of faith in the sort of player that he could become and the investment that the whole sort of club has put in him I think will pay off for us. I think a few of the players have said already he’s a great teammate, they love playing with him. He’s enthusiastic. You would forgive anyone who’s been through that to mope around the club. He’s never done that, even when really struggling. His place on the list looked, if not in jeopardy, almost completely gone. But he just kept bouncing in, some positivity, just really nice when you see guys like that come through. He’s got a long way to go. It was a nice moment and worth spending a bit of time talking about.

Q: What was behind the late change tonight?
A: Jonathon Ceglar came out for personal reasons, so I don’t like talking about people’s personal issues. Suffice it to say that in the end it was good news. He’s had his first baby and just wasn’t appropriate for him to play tonight. Again, it is up to them to announce their news, but I think it’s out there they they’ve had the baby. Yeah, that’s the reason.

Q: Good to have a low-key sort of first game, Sam, he comes in as a late change?
A: I think so. Sometimes the build-up can be the hardest part. When you’re thinking about it the whole week and the late change makes it easy to come in, do your job. It was nice when we heard the news around Ceglar’s baby. It gave everyone a lift when Sam came into the team as well. Those little things, it is hard to say, but the boys were certainly up and about.

Q: What you got out of Mark Blicavs in the ruck and his clearance work, we know when the ball hits the ground, does this give you any, I guess, cause for thought that this is the best way to go as Mark as your predominant ruck?
A: Yeah, we’re always thinking about it. He is a unique player, I mean that literally. We’ll
fight hard to find someone that could play a similar role to him in the future. But I think that’s going to be difficult. There has been a strong argument for a long time that his best position is in the ruck. We’re biased towards our own players, but I look around the comp and I wouldn’t want anyone before him in that position, given what he gives as a package. It’s nice to have the flexibility. We’ve got those options. I would be surprised if that’s the way we go all the time, but it’s nice to know that we can do it. But we’ve known that for a while. It’s not a surprise to us that he played the way he did tonight.

Q: You said you’ve been building. Is there a particular area you feel like you took a big step
forward in to night?
A: I think the first three weeks we identified some issues that were almost beyond our control a little bit. We took some ... I wouldn’t even call them risks because we knew that, say, Hawkins, for example, was going to take time to build into the year and then we lost a lot of defenders all at once, which I think as we saw Sydney tonight, it cripples you when you lose a lot of players. One particular part of the ground. The part that was in our control that we were really disappointed with in the first three weeks was our work around the ball. I think those guys have really lifted the last three weeks. Irrespective of the challenges of the Swans, over a fair period of time they’ve been pretty good around the midfield. I wouldn’t underrate that performance tonight.

The Swans’ midfield is the part of the ground not hit hard by injury. They were torched. It meant their undermanned defence broke under constant pressure, and their decimated attack had few opportunities to score. An absolute smash up.

Geelong has reopened the wounds they left on Sydney in last year’s grand final by handing the Swans a 93-point defeat on the night they unfurled their 2022 premiership flag.

The Cats took the term ‘grand final rematch’ literally, opening up a 50-point lead late in the second quarter before the Swans stemmed the bleeding to cut the deficit to 35 points at half-time. But the reigning premiers blew the game open in the third quarter, kicking seven goals to the Swans’ solitary behind.

Sydney were always going to be vulnerable in defence without the McCartin brothers, given the firepower of Jeremy Cameron (five goals) and Tom Hawkins (five goals), but the Cats smashed them in all areas of the ground.

Click here to read more.

Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.Credit: Getty Images

Tom Papley spoke to Channel Seven after the game...

Q: I’m sure it’s tough after a game like that. Where did it go wrong tonight?
A: Yeah, look, it’s tough. Game of footy is a tough game. Think you’re going alright last week, then hits you in the face. Yeah, the contest early on, they came to play and we knew they’d come to play. We just didn’t do it. Look, it’s only a game of footy, I suppose. At the end of the day it’s your job when you have to show up each day. We will wear it. Sorry to our fans, let them down again, the members and sponsors, things like that. We will be back, we’ll stick together and come out of it.

Q: When it’s going wrong like that on the field, what’s happening out there? What are you trying to do to get it right?
A: Yeah, I think they’re a great side. You try to spark it. You try to bring the contest and surge it forward. The end of that second quarter, we sort of got that going. We sort of felt that our brand of footy with contest, get it forward pressure, we just couldn’t keep it going. To their credit, they fought back, yeah.

Q: You’ve spoken as a group. How do you come out of this as a group?
A: Yeah, look, it’s ... we show character. It’s obviously very hard, but it’s what footy is all about. It’s how you get out of it. It’s not ... you don’t just sit there, you’ve got to do something about it. We’ve got seven days to turn it around. We’ll review it and we’ll learn from it. We’ll stick together. We’re a great football club, great bunch of boys, we will stick to that.

The returning Sam Simpson spoke to Channel Seven after the game...

Q: Great to see you back playing at senior level. It’s been a while, 603 days.
A: I just heard that number before. Sure has been a while. It was good to be out there, a part of things again.

Q: Tell us about what has happened since the qualifying final in 2021.
A: Yeah, little bit. Just had some concussion stuff, won’t bore you with the details. It sort of just lingered for a while. Yeah, much more than I would have hoped. Yeah, just a lot of dizziness and stuff. A bit of a slow progression back into footy which probably cost me all last season. Yeah, but all good now. Very fortunate, lucky that the club was a great support through that time. Yeah, just glad to be back out running around, trying to get a kick.

Q: The feeling out there tonight, can you talk to us about how it was running out there and then being back playing AFL at the home stadium?
A: Well, first and foremost it was great to get amongst the home crowd again, hear a bit of
noise out there for us. Yeah, no, it was just...it was great fun.

Q: You get emotional?
A: I try and just... You have to stay in the moment a bit. I know that sounds cliched. I sort of said to myself before, “If I kick a goal, I’m going to play it cool.” Then I carried on like a pork chop. It does get the better of you at times, as you guys know.

Q: Sam, we loved every bit of it. Your dad Sean, a great player for Geelong. Families feel it intensely, particularly when out of the game so long. How was it? Did you have conversations with your dad about it through that time? I’m sure they’re the happiest people in Geelong at the moment.
A: Definitely. I think even in the build-up to this week and stuff, getting selected again, it’s great for your family and stuff like that. You know, as player, it’s a foot at the start line. It is awesome they can enjoy it, be along for the ride. Yeah, we sort of get to work as a player.

Q: Was there a time when you thought you wouldn’t play again at this level?
A: Yeah, yeah, if I’m being completely candid. Yeah, there was a couple of bleak days there was a couple of bleak days there, just wanted to get back to normal every day life. Yeah, that was gone for a little bit. Footy sort of took a bit of a back page. Yeah, I’m very glad to be back, that’s for sure.

Q: You can see the joy of your teammates, genuine affection. Chris Scott spoke pre-game.
Pre-game he was touching on your story, how wonderful they all felt, the whole club, to have you back out there. Must have been a great feeling for you.
A: Yeah, been unbelievable, you know. This is my seventh year now, so I spent a lot of time with the boys. It was just great to be out there, put the hoops on again.

Q: Jeremy Cameron can play.
A: Not too bad, is he?

Q: Unbelievable, how casual he is, how easy he makes the difficult look.
A: It is unbelievable. At times you’d get the front seat when out there. So, yeah, him and Hawk, he was unbelievable tonight. Another fantastic servant of the club. I was very lucky to have a front row seat to them.

Jeremy Cameron spoke to Channel Seven after the game...

Q: You’re on track right now to do something that’s a long way from home, but you’re averaging the right number to kick 100.
A: Yeah, well, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t really think that far ahead. That’s the easy answer really, isn’t it? It’s obviously nice to get on the end of it and like I’ve said time and time again, my job, Hawkins’ job and the other forwards that finish off the really good work, as you can see, the boys are delivering it lace out to me. The least I can do is kick it through the middle.

Q: Tonight it must have been really pleasing for the style in which you played. It was a really dominant powerful performance. Thought it started around the ball, but defensively it felt like there was a real appetite to close space quickly and create really good turnovers.
A: Yeah. You know, that’s the way we like to play. We’ve been working on it, you know. It’s sort of been mentioned a little bit, but even in the losses that we’ve had early in the season, we actually at times played really good. We know they’re really good teams that we come up against. We wanted to keep chipping away at it. It is awesome to be back at home, we wanted to take the space away, put them under the pump, make it easy for the backs so we can rebound.

Q: Have you ever been more relaxed playing football than you are now?
A: Probably not. Probably not. Yeah, they look after us down here, that’s for sure, you know. It’s nice to just be 15 minutes from the club, but plenty of...you know, it’s unique. It is really unique, just before I come in here, I was riding around on the quad bike. It is a little bit strange.

Q: You moving cows?
A: I wasn’t, I was just making sure they were all still there. Yeah, that’s just me and then you make your way in and you’re at the ground, be nice if we could finish off that far end (grandstand) there, but it’s a relaxed environment. It has been since the moment I’ve walked in here. It helps me play my best football.

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield spoke to Channel Seven after the game...

Q: How good was that tonight?
A: Really pleasing. Probably the first game we’ve put together four quarters, which is nice, to be back on the home deck, there’s no place like it. To unfurl the flag in front of the faithful, they’re the reason we exist as a club.

Q: From your own perspective, you were just outstanding tonight. It feels like you’ve been building. Was it a case of a delayed start to pre-season or a case of doing a heavy training load? What got your body rolling a bit?
A: I think a myriad of different things. Age doesn’t help but it’s nice. It does take a bit of time to get into that rhythm of the season, starting to get rid of a bit of that general soreness that happens at the start. It’s harder to get over as the years tick by. We’re a mature group, really. It was always going to take us a little bit of time. There were moments in the first three weeks where the games could have gone either way. We didn’t execute the way we would like. It’s never going as bad as you think, never going as well, so there is pleasing parts of the game starting to build.

Q: You with the captaincy, have you noticed anything different you’ve had to do or simply go out and do what you did tonight, play your best footy?
A: It is still focussed on first and foremost getting the job done individually and collectively if everyone has that attitude, plays their role, that’s what culminates ... We have so many mature leaders within the group, that makes the job very easy.

Mark Blicavs spoke to Channel Seven after the game...

Q: You came into this game, Jonathon Ceglar comes out as a late withdrawal, you get the tap on the shoulder, “Go play in the ruck for us.” Is that how it happened?
A: Pretty much. Put the shin guard on. Had to blow the cobwebs off, haven’t used it for a bit. Awesome being back here, the ground is in such good nick and really special occasion. Obviously Anzac Day approaching. Successful night.

Q: I know obviously the grand final last year was very, very special against this team. How were you able to replicate that again against such a quality team like the Swans?
A: We know if we don’t replicate that, they’re going to beat us all over the ground, an unbelievable team. We come in with the right attitude, we prepped really well, as we do every game. They’ve got really good contested players. We’re happy to defend them, try and get it forward.

Q: How good is it when you look up and you’ve got Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins up there?
A: It’s awesome. They do their thing, they’re amazing. They’re in great form. It’s good for us. Good bail-out options. Just kick it up in the air, they work their magic.