Geelong has held off a gallant Adelaide outfit in an unconvincing performance that no less moves them back into the top four, for now.
The Cats’ 42-point win ended up flattering Chris Scott’s men, who will be disappointed in numerous momentum swings towards the Crows before pulling away late.
If Adelaide had kicked straight early on, the game could well have been different. Four minor scores opened the game for the visitors, all of them gettable shots. It was never going to take long for the Cats to flip the tables, and although they started with accuracy troubles of their own, they took the lead at quarter time and never surrendered it.
However, it wasn’t off the back of hard work across the 22. In what was potentially a sign of the Cats thinking they had the game won before the opening bounce, they were comfortably defeated in contested possessions (150-163) and also lost clearances (44-51).
For much of the clash, it was the Tom Stewart show. The three-time All-Australian did as he liked across half-back, collecting an enormous 16 marks and 17 intercepts among his 40 disposals.
Tom Atkins also laid a remarkable 17 tackles, two short of the all-time record in a performance AFL Nation’s Adam Cooney labelled “extraordinary”.
On the flip side, despite what was overall impressive performance, Matthew Nicks’ troops have now lost their last five games, four of those by six or more goals.
With the percentage boost, Geelong now jumps Fremantle to enter the top four, however the Dockers and St Kilda both have chances of their own to knock out the Cats this weekend.
In Saturday afternoon’s other clash, Brisbane stamped their premiership credentials when overcoming a 30-point first quarter margin to salute against GWS.
The Giants, coming off a big win against West Coast in Mark McVeigh’s first game in charge, looked as though they’d turned a corner in their season when kicking five of the first six goals and eight in total for the opening term.
However, Brisbane, coming off just their second loss of the season, had other plans as they turned the tide and eventually stretched the margin to 26 points in their own favour.
The Giants wouldn’t die wondering, but the Lions at the Gabba simply had too much firepower, eventually claiming victory by 14 points.
Lachie Neale once again did the damage for the Lions, gathering 39 disposals and kicking two goals in a clear best on ground performance. He was well supported by Jarrod Berry who played one of the best games of his young career, headlined by 33 possessions (10 contested) and a goal.
It’s a big fortnight upcoming for the Lions, who take on fellow competitors Fremantle and St Kilda in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, GWS lost no fans in their gritty performance, and they’ll hope to inflict full toll on North Melbourne next week with their newfound form.