There is just something about a Saturday twilight preliminary final.
On Saturday afternoon at the MCG, Geelong and the Brisbane Lions fought out a battle that will go down in the annals of football lore.
I’m not sure what it is, but there is something about a game of such significance that starts in the daylight and ends under the bright lights that adds to the spectacle.
As dusk descended over East Melbourne, the 93,066 people inside the coliseum witnessed a Lions side wear down the Cats by pure will. This was a team that was simply not going to let the ghosts of MCG past stop their run to redemption in 2024. Not at this hurdle, anyway.
This was football at its best. Every contest mattered. Every chance at a major was so significant. Players in their 25th and 26th game of the season pushing their bodies to the nth degree.
After an even first term where it took 19 minutes to see the first goal, the omnipresent Geelong contesting their 14th preliminary final in 21 seasons, blew the game open with a seven-goal second quarter.
Gryan Miers’ goal assist cross along the ground to Ollie Henry would’ve made Trent Alexander-Arnold blush, before the final three goals were added in burst before half time. Back-to-back snaps from Ollie Dempsey and Miers from the southern pocket at the Punt Road end lit up the MCG.
The hoops looked to be headed to yet another Grand Final when a horrid Dayne Zorko turnover allowed a walk-in Dangerfield goal at the three-minute mark of the third quarter.
The margin was out to 25 points, the Cats had kicked four goals in a row and the Lions were on the rack.
Oscar McInerney was bravely competing in the ruck with a dislocated shoulder but was clearly hampered, and the Cats had looked lethal going forward in the second quarter with 50 per cent of their inside 50s resulting in a goal. They had gotten pace on the ball out of congestion which left Brisbane’s defence under the hammer.
Finals are decided by such fine margins. If Brent Daniels had not decided to take a needless advantage with the Lions still 19 points in arrears of the Giants last week, they likely wouldn’t have even been here.
Similarly, if Shaun Mannagh kicks a drop punt instead of a dribble kick at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter, the margin is back to 25 points, Brisbane’s momentum snuffed, and we probably have a repeat of the 2022 Grand Final next Saturday.
The Lions kicked five of the next six goals after Mannagh’s miss, with four in nine minutes. You have to ride your luck in this caper, and it was clear this Brisbane side wasn’t going to die wondering.
After half time, it was clear the Lions had an objective to move the ball as quickly as possible off half back to expose a Cats midfield that at times has struggled against pace. They constantly looked to change angles off half back and get run from behind through the corridor. It’s risky footy as it can leave you incredibly exposed on turnover, but the constant pace limited the ability of Geelong’s best defender in Tom Stewart to get set up behind the ball as he had so effectively in the first half.
Cam Rayner celebrates a goal. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
They successfully took away Geelong’s preferred kick-mark game, and by having to defend so intently the Cats lost composure moving the ball forward. Chris Fagan in his post-match media commented on the fact that standing the mark so often is exhausting, and that he thought the Lions could expose a side that had only played once in a month. The Cats final round game against West Coast and first final against Port were extremely low-pressure affairs after half time thanks to the Cats’ dominance.
Brandon Starcevich, Harris Andrews and unsung hero Ryan Lester, who’s job on Jeremy Cameron was incredibly significant, had magnificent second halves in defence, but were helped by some uncharacteristically poor forward 50 entries.
At the 16-minute mark, Jarrod Berry, the villain of last year’s Grand Final when his 50m penalty allowed Steele Sidebottom’s sealing set shot, chose not to take the ball out on the members wing, but brilliantly handballed over his head to Starcevich. Nine seconds later Cameron Rayner brought the margin to single digits for the first time in 45 minutes.
Footballers are judged by their performance in big games. Rayner for years has carried the mantle of being an ‘underperforming’ No.1 draft pick for the majority of his career but his 14 disposal, 2 goal second half will be remembered by Lions fans for generations.
Geelong were hampered by the drama surrounding their brilliant young wingman Max Holmes, who suffered another hamstring injury in a Preliminary Final.
He was the heartbreaking story of their 2022 triumph when a hamstring injury in the penultimate week against the same opponent denied him a premiership medal.
Holmes was off the ground for 14 minutes in the third quarter whilst the medical staff put him through a barrage of fitness tests. He came back on the ground before eventually succumbing to the injury in the opening minutes of the last quarter. His loss was significant. He’d had 20 touches and 600 metres gained prior to his substitution.
Through a five goal to two third quarter, the Lions had turned a 19-point deficit into a two-point lead as they turned for home. Joe Daniher, forced to spend a majority of the quarter in the ruck after McInerney’s shoulder again dislocated five minutes into the third quarter had been extremely effective, with the Lions winning both clearance and contested ball significantly.
The final term started with the Cats dominating territory, but crucially, not being able to make it count. After 9 minutes they led contested ball by eight and inside 50s by seven, but only had a poster to Mannagh in the opening 20 seconds and a rushed behind from an Ollie Henry snap to show for it.
In only Brisbane’s third inside 50 of the quarter Charlie Cameron’s clever chip found Callum Ah Chee, who converted. This was quickly followed by sub Connor McKenna unselfishly centering to Logan Morris to walk in from the goal line. 12 points.
Brisbane had been here before though. In too many games at the MCG in the last six years, they have had handy buffers in the last quarter but been completely unable to hold their nerve. Missed opportunities in front of goal had killed the Lions time and time again.
Light rain beginning to fall only added to the drama. A Shannon Neale set shot looked to be home before Daniher in his quasi Ruckman role marked on the goal line, before inexplicably playing on and launching the ball 60 metres aimlessly for a turnover. The resulting sequence ended in a Jeremy Cameron miss from a set shot.
With 7:55 on the clock, young Lion Kai Lohmann took his third hanger of the day, but spurned the chance to make it a 15-point margin, pushing his kick from 30 out to the right.
It was a big moment, made even bigger when the Cats went coast-to-coast from the kick in and Henry kicked his third of the day. A 12-point swing in 60 seconds.
Jeremy Cameron missed a snap he’d normally eat to bring the margin under a kick. All of a sudden the Cats had the territory, the repeat entries and the momentum.
The pressure was palpable. Dangerfield dropped a sitter on the Members wing. Eric Hipwood, with Charlie Cameron one-on-one with Zach Guthrie inside 50 badly mishit his drop punt.
A towering Rayner mark on the wing led to Zac Bailey alone on his forward 50 having only Jack Henry between himself and glory. If he goals, it’s an 11-point lead with under 180 ticks to go. Henry did just enough to stop Bailey’s momentum before Tom Stewart mowed him down in as big a defensive play as you’ll see in a final.
The Cats streamed forward through Tanner Bruhn. Rhys Stanley couldn’t mark, but Cameron at the fall of the ball handballed to Henry, who snapped home his fourth of the day. Cats in front, by a point, 2:45 to go.
There was 38 seconds between Rayner’s mark and Henry’s goal. It was high stakes finals football at its best.
After 2 repeat ball ups, Geelong looked to be away out of the middle but Atkins’ kick was smothered by Daniher. Noah Answerth, the last name you’d expect to have the most crucial centre clearance of the game, kicked forward. Charlie Cameron couldn’t mark, but critically brought the ball to ground before he was clattered by Jack Henry.
It was a free kick, but it didn’t matter. Ah Chee had picked up the loose ball and in one step snapped truly to the City end. Lions back in front. 2:12 on the clock.
Will Ashcroft, the second-year sensation who cruelly missed last year’s run to the Grand Final with an ACL, nicks a Mitch Duncan handball. He finds Hipwood, who fires out a haphazard handball to Rayner. He gathers, sees an unguarded goal square, and lets fly on his left from 50. The massive Lions flag behind the goals tells the story before anything else. In just 60 seconds Brisbane have gone from the pits of despair to ecstasy.
They lead by 11 points with 1:45 to play.
The Cats launch forward again. Duncan, looking for redemption for his errant handball, looks to be streaming into an open goal.
Jack Payne stretching every sinew, grabs the back of his jumper and mows him down before he can handball to Cameron. 1:20 to go.
Dangerfield kicks a high ball to the teeth of goal. In, the pandemonium Andrews infringes Stanley at the top of the goalsquare. If he kicks the goal, the Cats will have 30 seconds to nick it. Extremely possible in this age of 6-6-6 and the way teams set up for these moments to exit out the front of stoppage.
He slams the shot, and the Cats season, into the post.
The Lions had looked defeat in the face for a second straight week and lived to tell the tale. They were through to the Grand Final to face Sydney.
This had had everything. When people in our little corner of the earth proclaim our strange game is the greatest on earth, the final quarter of this game should be exhibit A.
As the siren sounded, Channel 7 commentator Alistair Nicholson proclaimed: “Those that were here will never forget what they saw”.
Indeed they won’t, Alistair.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
After achieving the ultimate goal of a premiership in 2024, history and the loss of a key forward will present the Lions with a…
Former Brisbane Lions AFL premiership player Aaron Shattock is in a critical condition in hospital after a horror excavator accident at his Gold Coast…
Chris Fagan has signed an extended deal after the club's stunning rise to this year's premiership. Fagan, who at 63 became the oldest coach…
North Melbourne are AFLW premiers for the first time, after the league's best defence strangled reigning champions Brisbane in a comprehensive overturning of last…
The AFL free agency period is underway, with Hawthorn recruit Josh Battle and new Adelaide Crow Isaac Cumming the first names to switch clubs…
Just days after basking in premiership glory, Joe Daniher has announced his immediate AFL retirement. The big key forward informed teammates of his decision…
