Danger drives Cats home over Hawks but star to miss Grand Final

PATRICK Dangerfield has played 18 seasons of AFL football, and may have saved his very best for his 359th game.

Those 35-year-old legs, clad in his customary long socks, charged out of the middle and into attack time and time again, his superman cape in the blue and white hoops having been pulled out of the cupboard in Moggs Creek and brought up the highway.

CATS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

Geelong is into its seventh Grand Final this century, firmly putting the old foe Hawthorn back into its box with an imperious 30-point victory at a heaving MCG, winning 17.13 (115) to 13.7 (85).

The Cats kicked 11.6 to 7.1 in the second half after the Hawks had started full of youthful bravado, the older bodies taking a little while to shake off the rust accumulated after a week off.

Mabior Chol's major cut the margin to 18 points with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it was enough to summon nervous glances among Cats fans and journos with near-finished match reports alike, but Tyson Stengle's soccer home in the pouring rain – backed up by Bailey Smith's curler – sealed the win.

It's one of the defining rivalries of football, and was played in front of a near-completely full MCG, the MCC Members turning away desperate fans who had hoped to squeeze into the crowd of 99,567 – the largest non-Grand Final attendance since 1971. Even Dangerfield wasn't born back then.

However, Geelong will take on the last Saturday in September without champion defender Tom Stewart, who was concussed in the first quarter after a crude, in-the-back tackle from Chol, for which the big Hawk is likely to be suspended.

Hawthorn – riding high from a powerful semi-final win over Adelaide – was on the same page in the first quarter, while Geelong appeared to be attempting to communicate in different languages, well and truly off its game, stuttering and fluffing its disposal.

The Hawks ran in waves, and if forced into slow plays, utilised short, sharp kicks that found an inexplicable number of players loose in attack, summed up by Dylan Moore managing to deliver a pass between the outstretched arms of two Cats to Conor Nash for the Irishman's major.

The break in play as Stewart was helped from the field appeared to help Geelong settle, and the Cats instantly entered their inside 50 with much more composure, Dangerfield saluting with the side's first.

The Cats closed within a handful of points with three straight goals of their own, but Mitch Lewis had different ideas, kicking his second from the square and his third from outside 50, back-to-back, both set up by Jack Gunston as a hobbled Jack Henry (rolled ankle) trailed forlornly after him.

Nick Watson kicked a stunning, curling major from the tightest of angles, only matched by an outstanding set shot from Jeremy Cameron on the wrong side of the 50 paint from an equally acute spot.

The small Geelong forwards and the midfielders – led by Smith and Dangerfield – seemed to finally find Google Translate, once again speaking the same language as they flicked and surged and spun and linked.

And after all that footy, the Cats held just a one-point lead at the main break.

Breathe. Begin again.

The wind literally changed during the break, a cold front rolling in from Geelong way, with a band of rain looming.

Stengle went to the left, stopped, watched James Sicily dive the wrong side and kicked on the right.

Dangerfield was ripping it out of the middle, sending it into attack with that booming kick, miraculously keeping the ball in play, or spoiling it out of bounds, and snapping goals.

The only thing that briefly stopped him was the 100kg knee of Jeremy Cameron in his back, Danger bouncing up with a grin like that slightly manic five-year-old kid in the playground. A small rest on the bench, and he was ready to go again.

He finished with an astonishing stat line of 32 disposals, three goals, 21 contested possessions and eight clearances.

Sam Mitchell flicked the magnets – Chol was moved into the ruck to try and keep up with Mark Blicavs at ground level, Jarman Impey moved forward, Changkouth Jiath was injected into the game, and the Hawks kicked two quickies.

Geelong steadied, driven by Dangerfield, and the match-winning lead was established by three-quarter time.

The concussion/bye question

Chol fell into the back of Stewart when tackling him in the first quarter. The star Cat was rolling on the ground in pain, and it was initially anticipated to be a wrist or shoulder injury, but he was eventually ruled out with concussion. Adelaide AFLW skipper Chelsea Randall missed her 2022 Grand Final with concussion, and the placement of the finals bye is likely to be firmly in the spotlight.

The oldies setting the tone

Dangerfield wasn't the only star veteran on Friday night, with Gunston a constant thorn in Geelong's side throughout the game. He well and truly won his battle with Henry (and sometimes Zach Guthrie), leading and kicking truly, and setting up his teammates on a number of occasions. There's plenty of life in the old Hawk yet.

Midfield masterclass

Geelong's engine room reigned supreme. No tag was sent to last week's hero Jai Newcombe, the Cats instead backing Tom Atkins to go head-to-head with his fellow hard-nut. Blicavs was well and truly out-tapped in the ruck, but the Geelong midfielders sharked with ease, recording a centre-clearance dominance of 20-5.

GEELONG 1.3 6.7 13.11 17.13 (115)

HAWTHORN 3.4 6.6 9.7 13.7 (85)

GOALS

Geelong: Cameron 3, Dangerfield 3, Stengle 3, Mannagh 2, Neale, Blicavs, Holmes, Martin, Miers, Smith

Hawthorn: Lewis 3, Gunston 3, Ginnivan, Nash, Watson, Macdonald, Impey, Moore, Chol

BEST

Geelong: Dangerfield, Smith, Atkins, Holmes, Miers, Guthrie

Hawthorn: Amon, Gunston, Nash, Chol, Sicily

INJURIES

Geelong: Henry (ankle), Stewart (concussion)

Hawthorn: Ginnivan (finger/hand)

SUBSTITUTES

Geelong: Jhye Clark (replaced Stewart at quarter-time)

Hawthorn: Changkouth Jiath (replaced Butler in the third term)

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