Australian Football

Match Report

Hawthorn has reached a second consecutive Grand Final after a dramatic five-point win over its "nemesis" Geelong on Friday night. At the end of the home and away rounds most pundits had expected that these two sides would meet in the Grand Final and, although meeting a week earlier than the last Saturday in September, they produced a match that would have been well and truly worthy of the "Big Dance", with all the twists and turns that fans have come to expect from recent matches between these two teams.

Hawthorn kicked the first goal of the match via Jack Gunston and had a slight edge for a large part of the first quarter but wasted several opportunities, allowing the accurate Cats, with two first-term majors to Steve Johnson, to take a one-point lead into the first change, 4.0 to 3.5.

Geelong held sway for the first half of the second term with "Stevie J" kicking his third goal and Tom Hawkins his first to give the Cats a 15-point lead at the eight-minute mark. The Hawks pulled one back with a goal to Bradley Hill but Nathan Vardy snapped another for Geelong to put the Cats 17 points clear. Hawthorn then mounted a challenge, with goals to Gunston, Shaun Burgoyne and Gunston again closing the gap to four points at half time.

The third term was relatively even in the early stages with a goal to Hawthorn's David Hale at the four-minute mark getting a response five minutes later when Steven Johnson kicked his fourth. Luke Breust kicked another three minutes later to give the Hawks a 10-point buffer but Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood and Cam Guthrie kicked the next three for Geelong to put the Cats seven points ahead. Burgoyne temporarily stemmed the tide at the 21-minute mark of the quarter but the Cats kicked the last three of the term to take a lead of 20 points into the last quarter and it appeared as though the so-called “Kennett Curse” would continue.

Hawthorn looked set to mount a challenge when Lance Franklin kicked the first goal of the last quarter at the three-minute mark but Josh Caddy answered for the Cats five minutes later. As late as 13 minutes into the last quarter Geelong’s lead was still 19 points but the Hawks responded to the challenge with goals to Hill, Gunston and Burgoyne to snatch the lead. They added several more behinds to stretch the lead to six points before Geelong spirited the ball into the Cats forward line, where Travis Varcoe had a chance to kick a goal to level the scores and send the match into extra time. However, Varcoe's shot sailed just wide, enabling Hawthorn to snatch a heart-stopping five-point victory and send them into a Grand Final against the winner of Fremantle and Sydney.

Sam Mitchell, with 38 possessions, was outstanding for the victors, as was Burgoyne (three goals and 24 touches), Gunston (4 goals, 21 disposals), For Geelong, Johnson (32 touches and four goals), captain Joel Selwood (23 touches and a goal) and Matthew Stokes (21 possessions).

GOALS
Hawthorn: Gunston 4; Burgoyne 3; Hale, Hill 2; Guerra, Breust, Franklin
Geelong: Johnson 4; Motlop 2; Christensen, Hawkins, Vardy, Bartel, Selwood, Guthrie, Taylor, Murdoch, Caddy

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Burgoyne, Gunston, Hale, Birchall, Guerra, Hill
Geelong: Johnson, Motlop, Guthrie, Selwood, Taylor, Stokes, Duncan

BEST - THE SATURDAY AGE
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Burgoyne, Birchall, Gunston, Hale, Guerra
Geelong: Johnson, Selwood, Stokes, Taylor, Lonergan, Motlop

COACHES' COMMENTS
Alastair Clarkson (Haw): It was a game that ebbed and flowed al the way through. Both sides had their moments. We said to our players at three-quarter time, "Just because they've got their noses in front, it doesn't mean we can't come back and have our moment in the sun as well". So they just dug in and persevered. It was great to get the win in the end.

Chris Scott (Geel): We're all devastated understandably, but I'm really proud of our players, and I told them that straight after the game. We didn't talk to much but I think they've just been stellar this season. We have a lot to look forward to. We weren't quite good enough on the night. Hawthorn were.

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Whitecross (right knee)
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: Max Bailey replaced by Brendan Whitecross in the third quarter
Geelong: Josh Hunt replaced by Josh Caddy in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Margetts, Rosebury, Nicholls

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Leigh Matthews, Tom Harley, Michael Voss, Matthew Richardson, Tim Watson