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Geelong vs Sydney

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

Round: 23   Venue: Kardinia Park   Date: Sat, 01-09-2012 1:45 pm   Crowd: 20,045  
Geelong 4.3.277.5.4712.7.7917.10.112 C:  Chris Scott
Sydney 4.5.295.8.387.12.5411.12.78 C:  John Longmire
  SYD by 2GEEL by 9GEEL by 25GEEL by 34  
Brownlow Medal 3 Joel Selwood (GEEL)2 Harry Taylor (GEEL)1 Shane Mumford (SYD)

Match Report

Geelong sounded a warning to other finals participants when they comfortably defeated Sydney at Kardinia Park on Saturday. The win ensured the Cats finished sixth on the ladder and they face the very difficult task of winning four consecutive finals if they are to defend their premiership title. But such has been Geelong's form over the past two months, it's a challenge seen by many as within the realms of possibility. Given that Sydney were playing for a top two finish and a home final, Geelong's win was full of merit. The Cats will play Fremantle in next week's Elimination Final and, if other results go as expected, would face either Sydney or Adelaide in week 2. A second win would then see the Cats face Hawthorn, who have not beaten Geelong since the 2008 Grand Final, in a Preliminary Final.

Saturday's game was an even affair for the first half but the third quarter saw Geelong flex their muscles and they kicked the last five goals of the term to turn a six-point deficit at the 10-minute mark to a 25-point lead at the final change. Goals to Andrew Mackie, Jimmy Bartel and James Podsiadly in the first 10 minutes of the last quarter put the result beyond doubt. Tom Hawkins was again prominent, kicking four goals, while Podsiadly and Paul Chapman kicked three each. Joel Selwood and James Kelly were also fine players. Sydney were well served by the usual suspects, Josh Kennedy, Mark McVeigh and Ted Richards.

Despite a top-four finish, Sydney coach John Longmire would have some concerns over the Swans' form leading into the finals. Sydney lost three of its last four home-and-away games, all to fellow finalists and, while the losses to Collingwood and Hawthorn were marginal, Longmire would not be pleased that he charges gave up a comfortable lead in both of those matches. Sydney will travel to Adelaide to meet the Crows in a Qualifying Final. A loss would see the Swans face Geelong again in two weeks time, a game which would promise much fascination, given that it would be played at ANZ Stadium.

GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins 4; Chapman, Podsiadly 3; Johnson, Vardy, Christensen, Duncan, Lonergan, Mackie, Bartel
Sydney: McVeigh, Goodes 2; Jack, Kennedy, Mumford, Walsh, O'Keefe, McGlynn, Bolton

BEST - GEELONG ADVERTISER
Geelong: Selwood, Kelly, Chapman, Scarlett, Corey, Taylor, Bartel, Hawkins
Sydney: McVeigh, Kennedy, Jack, Armstrong

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Geelong: Kelly, Chapman, Selwood, Bartel, Scarlett, Taylor, Johnson
Sydney: Kennedy, McVeigh, Richards, Armstrong, Shaw

COACHES' COMMENTS
Chris Scott (Geel): In terms of a dress rehearsal [for the finals], it was a good result. The game was played we wanted it to be played.

John Longmire (Syd): We were a little bit stagnant at times and allowed them to be able to get on top through our ball use and through contested possession.

Umpires: B.Rosebury, J.Schmitt, S.Meredith

Source

Match report by Andrew Gigacz

Match stats

Geelong Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
3 Bartel, Jimmy 14 9 7 21 1 1 1 4 1 2 28y 272d 224 148
35 Chapman, Paul 15 6 3 18 3 2 0 1 0 1 30y 301d 242 324
28 Christensen, Allen 5 3 9 14 1 0 0 5 2 1 21y 105d 35 26
11 Corey, Joel 9 1 13 22 0 0 0 13 2 1 30y 197d 253 74
22 Duncan, Mitch 15 7 6 21 1 1 0 6 2 2 21y 83d 50 49
44 Enright, Corey 12 6 3 15 0 0 0 2 1 1 30y 353d 243 53
26 Hawkins, Tom 10 7 6 16 4 1 0 3 0 0 24y 42d 100 169
8 Hunt, Josh 8 2 7 15 0 0 0 1 1 1 30y 171d 185 24
19 Hunt, Taylor 2 0 5 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 21y 301d 40 10
20 Johnson, Steve 14 3 10 24 1 1 0 6 0 1 29y 59d 196 382
9 Kelly, James 17 2 6 23 0 0 0 16 2 2 28y 247d 212 77
13 Lonergan, Tom 6 4 4 10 1 0 0 4 2 1 28y 107d 96 47
4 Mackie, Andrew 14 3 3 17 1 0 0 5 2 0 28y 25d 172 78
32 Motlop, Steven 2 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 21y 173d 26 27
21 Murdoch, Jordan 9 6 2 11 0 0 0 3 0 1 20y 162d 7 4
31 Podsiadly, James 12 5 2 14 3 1 2 1 1 1 30y 357d 59 136
30 Scarlett, Matthew 13 7 8 21 0 0 0 0 0 1 33y 88d 283 17
14 Selwood, Joel 16 3 11 27 0 0 1 5 4 1 24y 98d 134 60
27 Stokes, Mathew 5 2 10 15 0 0 0 5 0 1 27y 284d 130 179
7 Taylor, Harry 15 14 6 21 0 0 0 2 0 0 26y 81d 111 22
36 Vardy, Nathan 8 3 1 9 1 1 10 1 2 0 21y 68d 10 7
12 West, Trent 7 5 10 17 0 0 26 5 0 2 24y 320d 40 18
  Rushed   2  
  Totals 228 100 133 361 17 10 40 89 22 20 26y 210d 2848 1931
Sydney Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
19 Armstrong, Tony 14 1 7 21 0 0 0 2 1 0 22y 338d 22 2
14 Bird, Craig 6 1 10 16 0 1 0 4 1 0 23y 224d 84 36
24 Bolton, Jude 7 5 10 17 1 1 0 6 2 1 32y 170d 298 165
37 Goodes, Adam 15 7 4 19 2 1 0 2 0 1 32y 237d 316 384
39 Grundy, Heath 6 1 14 20 0 0 0 2 0 1 26y 91d 112 21
4 Hannebery, Dan 6 2 9 15 0 0 0 4 0 0 21y 190d 74 25
15 Jack, Kieren 17 3 8 25 1 0 0 1 2 3 25y 65d 111 76
32 Jetta, Lewis 8 2 4 12 0 0 0 5 1 0 23y 120d 62 56
34 Johnson, Alex 6 6 11 17 0 0 0 2 0 0 20y 183d 42 1
12 Kennedy, Josh 14 5 10 24 1 2 0 3 1 0 24y 73d 83 48
9 Malceski, Nick 10 2 7 17 0 0 0 3 2 1 28y 17d 123 52
29 Mattner, Martin 8 5 10 18 0 0 0 6 2 1 30y 26d 212 40
21 McGlynn, Ben 6 5 10 16 1 0 0 3 3 1 27y 26d 103 110
3 McVeigh, Jarrad 16 4 16 32 2 1 0 2 0 0 27y 147d 191 139
41 Mumford, Shane 6 4 8 14 1 0 29 6 3 1 26y 58d 75 29
5 O'Keefe, Ryan 7 2 6 13 1 0 0 9 1 2 31y 221d 254 247
26 Parker, Luke 2 1 7 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 19y 312d 29 12
38 Pyke, Mike 3 4 7 10 0 0 2 1 0 5 28y 161d 43 13
25 Richards, Ted 9 3 11 20 0 0 0 1 1 2 29y 234d 178 31
30 Roberts-Thomson, Lewis 6 3 6 12 0 0 1 1 0 0 28y 359d 167 48
2 Shaw, Rhyce 8 1 8 16 0 0 0 3 0 0 30y 321d 184 41
17 Walsh, Tommy 3 1 6 9 1 1 0 2 1 3 24y 188d 3 3
  Rushed   5  
  Totals 183 68 189 372 11 12 32 68 21 22 26y 221d 2766 1579

Match highlights

Joel Corey had 13 tackles for Geelong vs. Sydney (AFL, Premiership Season, R23)
James Kelly had 16 tackles for Geelong vs. Sydney (AFL, Premiership Season, R23)
Tom Hawkins played his 100th V/AFL game: Geelong vs. Sydney (AFL, Premiership Season, R23)

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.