The penultimate match of Round 21 saw Geelong hosting Port Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium. The Cats needed a win to keep in touch with the other top four sides, while Port Adelaide’s squad appeared to be crumbling at the seams as it prepares to bid farewell to veteran coach, Ken Hinkley.
Since Port has virtually been eliminated from the finals race, and Hinkley announced earlier this season that he would step aside and hand the reins over to assistant coach Josh Carr, the end of the season has been a farewell tour for the soon-to-be-retired Hinkley.
For the Cats, aside from their ladder position, Jeremy Cameron is currently leading at the Coleman Medal with 69 goals, and is coming off an 11-goal effort against North Melbourne. This is certainly another game that Cameron can look to add to his tally, as Port’s side are heavily diminished, even losing Connor Rozee late due to illness.
While most of the focus has been on Jeremy Cameron, it was Max Holmes who kicked the first goal of the game after first collecting the ball in a stoppage at half back. Both sides had shots at goal and missed before Patrick Dangerfield kicked Geelong’s second goal of the game.
Finally, with almost 15 minutes gone, Port kicked their first goal through Joe Berry. After several missed opportunities for both teams, Port then got their second goal in a row through Ollie Lord.
With 25 minutes gone, Jeremy Cameron kicked his 70th goal of the season after being collected by Port defender Josh Sinn in a marking contest. However, the two sides ended all square after Will Lorenz kicked Port’s third goal of the term.
Despite sharing the spoils in the first quarter, Geelong’s class shone through in the second, with Jeremy Cameron kicking his second, again from the goal square. Jack Bowes then doubled Geelong’s lead before Shaun Mannagh missed two gettable opportunities at goal. Then, Travis Boak was able to get Port’s first score of the second quarter.
Unfortunately for Port and the contest, this was Port’s only goal for the second quarter as Geelong continued to press their advantage. Gryan Miers kicked his first goal of the game, while Cameron added goals three and four just before half-time to extend Geelong’s lead to 30 points at the main break.
The action didn’t get any better for Port at the start of the second half, with Shannon Neale kicking his first goal within the first minute of the restart. Neale followed his first goal with a second only a few minutes later, the second coming from directly in front of goal and only 30 metres out. Geelong’s lead then blew out to 49 points after Brad Close goaled, ten minutes into the second half.
Finally, Port managed to break Geelong’s six-goal run through Mitch Georgiades, kicking their first goal of the second half and their only goal of the third quarter. Unfortunately, the respite was temporary for the Power, as Shannon Neale kicked goal number three for the quarter and game.
New Cat and former Blue, Jack Martin, then kicked four goals in a row, all within six minutes of game time. Max Holmes capped off an excellent quarter for the Cats, kicking his second goal with less than a minute remaining in the quarter. This meant that the Cats headed into the final quarter with a mammoth 79-point lead.
If there was ever an argument for the mercy rule…
Port then kicked back-to-back goals through Mitch Georgiades at the start of the final quarter, which cut the margin back, but not to a point where they could even contemplate threatening. Cameron then added to his season goal tally with goal number five for the game, ending Port’s albeit brief run of goals.
Tyson Stengle then kicked a goal from the goal line before Jed McEntee responded for Port. The Cats then kicked three goals in a row through Jack Bowes, Tyson Stengle, and Oliver Dempsey before Ollie Lord kicked a goal for Port. Jeremy Cameron kicked goal number six for the game with less than two minutes remaining.
In the final minute, with the result beyond doubt, Cats players continued to try to feed the ball to Cameron but were ultimately unsuccessful in getting him additional opportunities to hit the scoreboard as the siren rang with the Cats comfortably ahead by 88 points.
The Cameron show continues
Jeremy Cameron continued his 11-goal form from last week, kicking six goals in another impressive outing. This takes Cameron’s season goal tally to 75, and he is currently 24 goals clear at the top of the race for the Coleman medal. Given that there are only three games left in the season, it seems utterly improbable that the key forward will be caught from here.
The only remaining question is whether Cameron continues this form and reaches 100 goals for the season. If he did, he would be the first forward to reach the mark since Lance Franklin did it in 2008. Again, given that he only has three games remaining, if Cameron does reach the mark, he’ll need Geelong to go deep into the finals race, perhaps kicking goal 100 in the Grand Final if the Cats make it.
That’d be a scene.
Not a solo effort
It wasn’t like Cameron was in it by himself, as Jack Martin and Shannon Neale were also instrumental in kicking goals. Both of these players were prolific in the third quarter, where Geelong truly took the game away from Port Adelaide. Much will be made of Martin’s flurry of goals, but Shannon Neale kicked all of his goals in the third quarter, as well, and even started the second half with back-to-back goals as Geelong continued their charge.
Aside from Cameron, Martin, and Neale, Max Holmes, Jack Bowes, and Tyson Stengle also kicked multiple goals for the Cats during the game, while for Port Mitch Georgiades and Ollie Lord were the only multiple goal scorers for Port Adelaide.
Another injury blow for Port Adelaide
While it doesn’t quite account for all their poor results in the last month, the club has had a rough run of injuries in the last month. Even heading into this game, Port was forced to make four changes with Miles Bergman, Jack Lukosius, Logan Evans, and Connor Rozee all missing the game due to injury or illness.
This game was no exception, unfortunately, with young Port gun Jase Burgoyne subbed out of the game in the third quarter after suffering an ankle injury. Burgoyne pulled up sore after running through the middle of the ground by himself. Hopefully, the injury isn’t too seriou, andd he won’t miss any football as the season comes to an end, as Port are running out of players.
A test for the MRO
We’re going to see people divided on this, and that’s okay.
Tom Stewart attempted to smother a handball from the oncoming Ollie Wines in this game, and in doing so, left his feet, and made contact to Wines’ head. Normally, this would never have been an issue – a footy act gone awry. However, the retirement of Angus Brayshaw due to concussion-related injuries, of which a collision with Brayden Maynard in similar circumstances contributed heavily to, prompted the AFL to change the rules. They now place the onus on the player attempting the smother to exercise a ‘duty of care’.
Did Stewart do this?
Will the match review officer cite him?
And if so, what will the outcome be?
Already, social media responses are balanced and fair. Haha, just kidding. They are all over the place! It will be interesting to see how the AFL handles this, if they choose to handle it at all, given Wines was apparently okay following the hit.
Super Sub
The sub rules have been an interesting topic of conversation, with the AFL confirming that the rule would continue going forward despite the change of leadership, even though the rule is unpopular with large swathes of the fanbase.
While there is controversy surrounding the rule, Geelong used the rule to full effect in their game against Port Adelaide. New recruit Jack Martin was named as the sub for this game and only came into the game in the middle of the third quarter for ruckman Rhys Stanley in what is surely the polar opposite of a like-for-like swap.
However, Martin made the most of his limited game time. In a six-minute span, Martin kicked four goals straight in a blistering spell. While the Cats already had a comfortable lead before the run of goals, the goals turned a comfortable margin into a blowout and occurred just before the end of the quarter, killing the game as a contest.
The run home
The win still finds Geelong still engaged in a battle for spots in the top 4. The Cats have another home game next week at GMHBA Stadium against Essendon in another game that they should win before ending their season away from home. The Cats will then travel to Sydney in round 23 to take on the Swans before finishing their season against the Tigers. The Cats should win all three games, which should allow them to retain their spot in the top four heading into the finals.
For Port, only three weeks are left until Hinkley officially hands the reins of the club over to Josh Carr. Port Adelaide will face Fremantle in Adelaide next week, with their spot in the finals very much up for grabs. Port Adelaide will then head to Marvel Stadium, where they take on Carlton in Round 23. Then, in the final game of the season, Port will play off against Gold Coast in round 24 back in Adelaide to finish out their season.
