Geelong’s tribute to two club legends ended in fitting style — and Gary Ablett capped off the party in the best way possible.
After a first-half scare, the Cats kicked away from the Suns in the second half, booting eight of the last nine goals to run out 37-point winners, 13.11 (89) to 8.4 (52).
It was a fitting win for Ablett and Joel Selwood, who celebrated their respective 350th and 300th game celebrations with Geelong’s third win of the season.
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Selwood finished with 22 touches and a team-high 14 contested possessions, while Ablett had 14 disposals — and one monster goal.
With just minutes left in the game and the Cats destined for victory, Ablett marked just outside 50m. And at 36 in game No. 350, Ablett proved he’s still got it, unleashing a kick from well beyond the 50m arc and nailing the goal with ease.
“He wanted it, his teammates wanted to get it to him and he didn’t let them down,” legendary Hawthorn goalkicker Jason Dunstall told Fox Footy.
“It’s a beautiful kick, late in the game. He has caught that as clean as you possibly could.”
After Gold Coast kicked the first goal of the game, the Cats slammed on four consecutive majors off Suns turnovers to take the early advantage.
But the first quarter of the game was marred by a shocking injury to Suns young gun Matthew Rowell, who was helped off the ground favouring his right shoulder.
Rowell, the clear Rising Star favourite and one of the biggest emerging stars in the AFL, landed awkwardly and heavily on his shoulder after being tackled by Cat Brandan Parfitt.
“That’s disastrous for the Suns and for the AFL in general,” Fox Footy commentator Mark Howard said.
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Suns football manager Jon Haines confirmed Rowell had suffered a dislocated shoulder, with the severity of his injury to be determined by scans.
Despite the blow, the Suns steadied early in the second term to boot four goals without Rowell to Geelong’s one.
And it was on the back of their pressure, recording an ‘elite’ 210 according to Champion Data’s pressure gauge. The Cats had an ‘average’ 183 rating.
“When Geelong were able to get possession, they had nothing clean,” St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt told Fox Footy. “For the first half of that second quarter, the Suns were able to score when they went inside 50.”
“The Suns were just at them (the Cats) … it was a really mature response.
“And because of this, they looked so much more assured behind the football and the Cats weren’t able to slice their way through with time and space.”
The Suns’ intensity didn’t drop off after half-time, but costly kicking errors allowed the Cats to pounce and score off turnovers, booting five goals to three in the third term.
Gold Coast took the lead early in the third term after Sam Day nailed two crucial majors. But the Cats’ small forwards worked their way into the game, with Brandan Parfitt, Luke Dahlhaus and Gary Rohan kicking goals to give Geelong scoreboard ascendancy.
While the Cats had scored primarily off opposition turnovers, five of Gold Coast’s first eight goals came directly from centre bounces.
After this round, the AFL will play five weeks of games in hubs. Geelong will spend a week in Sydney before being based in Perth, while Gold Coast will alternate between New South Wales and Queensland.
AFL games this season are being played with shortened quarters of 16 minutes plus time on, down from the usual 20 minutes plus time on.
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