Cats open 2019 with win over Magpies

Geelong helped key forward Tom Hawkins celebrate the birth of his second child on Thursday with a win over Collingwood by seven points at the MCG. The Magpies got the better of the Cats in the first quarter, leading by nine points at quarter time. The second quarter was an arm-wrestle with each side scoring just one goal.

Geelong dominated the scoreboard in the third quarter with four goals six behinds to one goal one; a better conversion would have seen them in front instead of level at the final break. Charlie Constable’s first goal in the debut game put the Cats ahead by a goal, a margin that stood for seven minutes until Magpie Dayne Beams levelled the scores. Callum Brown put his side six points up with less than ten minutes to go and it looked like it might be the Magpies’ night.

But two quick goals to Hawkins and then Brandan Parfitt had the Cats in the lead – Patrick Dangerfield sealed the win with a shot he should probably have put straight through the middle but ended up being a ‘handy point’, making the margin seven points where it would stay.

Six new Cats accounted themselves well – two of them from other clubs, the other four making their AFL debuts. Constable had 21 possessions and kicked a goal. Tom Atkins, Gryan Miers and Jordan Clark rounded out the debutantes. Retreads Gary Rohan and Luke Dahlhaus both did enough to prove the Cats right in bringing the former Geelong Falcons home.

Magpie Jame Elliott’s return to AFL football was a huge success, after missing the entire 2018 season with hamstring issues. Geelong stalwarts Dangerfield, Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood and newer midfield gun Tim Kelly, along with Dahlhaus, were the Cats’ best.

GEELONG CATS: 2.2, 3.4, 7.10, 10.12 (72) DEFEATED
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: 3.5, 4.9, 7.10, 9.11 (65)

GOALS
GEELONG: Ablett 2, Hawkins 2, Constable, Dahlhaus, Dangerfield, Duncan, Parfitt, Selwood
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: Elliot 3, De Goey 2, Beams, Brown, Cox, Treloar

BEST
GEELONG: Kelly, Stewart, Dangerfield, Dahlhaus, Ablett, Selwood
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: Treloar, Moore, Pendlebury, Phillips, Elliott, Sidebottom

INJURIES
GEELONG: Nil
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: Nil

CHANGES
GEELONG: Nil
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: Nil

REPORTS
GEELONG: Nil
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES: Nil

UMPIRES: Harris, Haussen, Stevic

CROWD: 78,017, at MCG, Melbourne

GEELONG CATS TEAM
IN: –
OUT: –
NEW: Luke Dahlhaus, Tom Atkins, Gary Rohan, Jordan Clark, Charlie Constable, Gryan Miers

B: Jack Henry, Mark Blicavs, Mark O’Connor
HB: Jake Kolodjashnij, Harry Taylor, Tom Stewart
C: Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan
HF: Luke Dahlhaus, Esava Ratugolea, Tom Atkins
F: Gary Ablett, Tom Hawkins, Gary Rohan
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Tim Kelly, Brandan Parfitt
INT: Jordan Clark, Sam Menegola, Charlie Constable, Gryan Miers
EMER: James Parsons, Ryan Abbott, Jordan Cunico, Quinton Narkle

COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES TEAM
IN: –
OUT: –
NEW: Jordan Roughead

B: Brayden Maynard, Jordan Roughead, Jack Crisp
HB: Jeremy Howe, Darcy Moore, Tom Langdon
C: Chris Mayne, Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom
HF: Josh Thomas, Mason Cox, Jaidyn Stephenson
F: Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Jordan De Goey
FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Dayne Beams, Adam Treloar
INT: Tom Phillips, Callum L. Brown, James Aish, Travis Varcoe
EMER: Ben Crocker, Tyson Goldsack, Brayden Sier, Levi Greenwood