Geelong has shocked the football world, putting in the most dominant first half of any side this season before coasting to an easy 68-point win over Collingwood.
The strong crowd in Brisbane were stunned, with the Cats piling on five goals to zero in the second quarter before restricing the Pies to just one behind in the third quarter to take complete control of a contest which they dominated right from the outset.
Geelong’s trademark kick and mark game was on full display, as they took a whopping 120 uncontested marks compared to Collingwood's 38.
Patrick Dangerfield was his side's best player, kicking four goals including two memorable efforts from the boundary line.
After Collingwood’s thrilling one-point Elimination Final win last week, Saturday night’s finals smashing will be a bitter pill for the Pies to swallow over the summer, while the Cats will now take on Brisbane for a spot in this year’s Grand Final.
"That's the best performance I've seen the Cats put together this year"
— AFL Nation (@AFLNation) October 10, 2020
- Dwayne Russell#AFLCatsPies #AFLFinals
Here’s everything you need to know!
The stats: The numbers behind Collingwood’s shocking first half
Collingwood’s first half score of just 1.0 (6) was barely believable, setting multiple unwanted records the process.
It was Collingwood’s lowest half time score since Round 22 1981, while it was just the second time in AFL/VFL history that they've had just one scoring shot at half time, with the other time coming in the 1960 Grand Final.
The miniscule half time score was the lowest score of any side to half time since Melbourne’s one goal against West Coast in the 2018 Preliminary Final.
It was also the club’s second-worst half time deficit (54 points) in a final, with Collingwood 84-point margin against Essendon in the 1984 Preliminary Final the only other time they’ve trailed by a greater margin.
Unfortunately for Nathan Buckley, it was a night of unwanted record breaking and a poor way to end a season of fluctuating form.
FULL SCORE
Geelong: 4.4, 9.6, 9.8, 15.10 (100)
Collingwood: 1.0, 1.0, 1.1, 5.2 (32)
GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins 4, Dangerfield 4, Miers, Dahlhaus, Guthrie, Menegola, Selwood, Stanley, Tuohy
Collingwood: Mihocek 2, Elliott, Grundy, Stephenson
BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Hawkins, Duncan,Selwood, Stewart, Menegola
Collingwood: Adams, De Goey, Mihocek
Reports: Nil
Injuries
Geelong: Rhys Stanley (knee)
Collingwood: Taylor Adams (elbow)
Crowd: 21,396 at The Gabba