AFL: Cats dominate Pies 100-32 to move to preliminary final

Geelong will play the Lions for a spot in the 2020 grand final in Brisbane after annihilating Collingwood by 68 points.

Tom Hawkins of the Cats celebrates a goal during the AFL first semi-final match between Geelong and the Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Geelong will play the Lions for a spot in the 2020 AFL grand final next Saturday night in Brisbane after annihilating Collingwood by 68 points when kicking 15.10 (100) to 5.2 (32).

The Cats were ruthless from early on in the first quarter and had the sudden-death semi-final under control from early in the second quarter in a dominant performance.

Held to just 35 points and 51 points in their last two outings against the Magpies — the most recent in round 7 and the other in last year’s qualifying final — Geelong were potent in attack and brilliant in defence.

Their triumph means the top four sides in the home-and-away season are the last quartet remaining in the race for the premiership.

Minor premiers Port Adelaide will play reigning flag holders Richmond in Adelaide next Friday, while the ultra-consistent Cats will tackle the blossoming Brisbane for their preliminary final on their home turf.

In their only clash this season at the SCG in round 6, Geelong defeated Brisbane by 27 points. The Power defeated the Tigers in Adelaide in August by 21 points.

The Gabba will hold few concerns for Geelong given their remarkable performance against the Magpies, whose season ended in miserable circumstances.

Collingwood went from one of their best finals wins in recent memory over the Eagles in Perth to a thrashing rarely seen in the finals.

The Magpies’ first goal came at the 23-minute mark of the opening term when Jamie Elliott burst through a pack.

The second did not come until the seven-minute mark of the last quarter when Brodie Grundy kicked accurately from a set shot.

The margin between those two goals exploded from 15 points to 73 points.

The Magpies were able to kick three goals in succession in what truly was the junk-time period of the final and added a fifth and final goal of 2020 in the final stages.

The 1.0 (6) they kicked to half-time equalled their lowest-ever tally of scoring shots in VFL/AFL history, matching their scoreline at the main break in the 1960 grand final.

Ten Magpies had three or fewer disposals to half-time. Veteran defender Harry Taylor had the least for Geelong with four.

It took six minutes for the combatants to find their rhythm — it can be argued the Magpies never did — before Tom Hawkins hit the post from long range to start the scoring.

From there it became a rampage. Geelong led by 22 points at quarter-time, 54 points at the main break and 55 points at three-quarter time.

Importantly for the Cats, Coleman Medallist Hawkins rebounded strongly with four goals after tallying five behinds against Port Adelaide in the qualifying final.

Across the board the Cats were dominant in a comprehensive, classy performance.

Mitch Duncan finished the match with 30 disposals, but other Cats including Cam Guthrie were prolific in possession.

In contrast, it was difficult to find any winners for the Magpies. Jamie Elliott was lively early. Jack Crisp did some good things in defence.

Taylor Adams was brave after suffering an injury early. But, really, it would be a stretch to say any Magpies had the better of their rivals, which is scarcely surprising given the score.

As any cricket fan will tell you, The Gabba is famous for the Vulture and Stanley Street ends of the ground.

The configuration for Australian Rules is different, with the two famous ends bookending the wings.

On this October night, with the Pies as cold as ice and the Cats’ claws sharper than ever, the Main St end was prominent in showcasing the brilliance of Patrick Dangerfield.

The Brownlow Medallist crashed the pack in the opening minute of the second term, which helped Luke Dahlhaus to a goal. But the two goals he contributed in that term were remarkable.

Positioned against the boundary-line fence, the Geelong superstar twice executed perfect checkside kicks from the most acute of angles.

If Geelong had the Midas Touch, Dangerfield again proved himself the King of the Cats.

If he can excel at the same end over the next fortnight, it could well become the Dangerfield attacking arc.

For at the start of the last term, he kicked two in three minutes as the party continued for the Cats.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said it was a complete performance by his side, which did receive some criticism after a 16-point loss to Port Adelaide in the qualifying final.

But he said the Cats did not consider the ramifications of a straight-sets exit in the finals, nor draw any additional motivation to avoid that.

“There are easier places to be at this time of the year,” he said.

“Pressure is a privilege. There is a risk. You put yourself on the line and if you don‘t come up, there will be criticism.”

Although Geelong were triumphant over the Lions earlier in the season, Scott said a glance at Brisbane‘s season at large was all his side needed to do to be aware of the threat posed by the club he played in two premierships with.

“There is no risk of [us] underrating them,” he said.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley admitted he felt shock at the magnitude of the defeat and the manner in which their season came to an end.

He said there were no signs during the week the Magpies had reached the end of their tether but the key signals were flashing red alarms from the opening minutes.

“It just looked like we could not go. It was as comprehensive a loss as you are going to see, I would have thought,” he said.

“We didn‘t think we had [hit the wall] until it was obvious that we had. It was not evident in our language. [But] you are not going to see a game as one-sided as that ever.

“One of the words I would use to say how we are feeling at the moment is shock. We were ambushed.”