Geelong have rediscovered their ruthless premiership greatest with a near-perfect 93-point thrashing of Sydney within the AFL grand ultimate rematch.
After cantering to a 81-point win over the Swans in final yr’s decider, the Cats left extra scars on John Longmire’s workforce with one other obliteration on an evening they unfurled their tenth premiership flag at GMHBA Stadium.
Apart from a short interval of resistance from the Swans late within the second quarter on Saturday, Geelong have been in all the time in management to shell-shock the guests with excessive strain and triumph 20.10 (130) to five.7 (37).
It was the Swans’ heaviest defeat in 289 video games beneath Longmire, eclipsing the 89-point belting to Hawthorn in 2015 as they added a meagre 0.3 within the second half.
Star Geelong forwards Tom Hawkins (5 objectives) and Jeremy Cameron (5) took full benefit of the Swans’ decimated defence with out Paddy McCartin, Tom McCartin and Dane Rampe.
Callum Mills, who started his profession as a defender, began on Hawkins in a transparent peak and weight mismatch, however the experiment ended halfway via the third quarter when the Swans co-captain shifted again into the midfield.
Cameron continued his extraordinary begin to the season as arguably the very best participant within the AFL to be firmly in Brownlow Medal rivalry.
The match began in ominous trend for the Swans when Geelong’s Sam Simpson, who has battled concussion points, booted the opening aim and was mobbed by teammates to the delight of the parochial Cats crowd.
The Cats stormed to a 27-point lead at quarter-time, earlier than breaking Sydney’s spirit within the third time period to take a 78-point benefit into the ultimate change.
This was equal to something they produced throughout their spellbinding 16-game winning-streak to say final yr’s flag in a efficiency that can offers rivals throughout the AFL shudders.
“It’s rare to play that well against such a good team,” Geelong coach Chris Scott mentioned.
“We feel like we’ve been building so it wasn’t like the good performance from our end was completely unexpected.
“We additionally acknowledge the challenges Sydney have gotten – it is a uncommon scenario after we’ve acquired a few dominant key forwards in opposition to the workforce that is simply been decimated when it comes to their key defensive shares.”
Geelong have levelled the ledger at 3-3 after opening their premiership defence in shaky fashion with consecutive defeats to Collingwood, Carlton and Gold Coast.
Legendary captain Joel Selwood, who retired after 355 games and four premierships following last year’s premiership, returned to lead the unveiling of the flag before the match.
He was joined by 2011 premiership skipper Cameron Ling and Geelong’s AFLW captain Meg McDonald.
On a disastrous night for the Swans, they lost youngster Matt Roberts to a knee issue during the second term to add to their mounting injury list.
Longmire said the performance was “onerous to place into phrases”.
“We wanted to push again and compete more durable than that. They have been excellent at it. They’re excellent footy membership. And usually we present a bit greater than that so it was disappointing,” he mentioned.
“It simply wasn’t the usual that we usually apply or the usual the sport actually requires.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
