CATS BEAT SWANS IN JOEL SELWOOD'S 200TH WITH SPOTLIGHT ON ADAM GOODES
Ben Jensen 8 August 2015

AFL ROUND 19 2015: GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS GEELONG made sure skipper Joel Selwood's 200th game was a happy one, defeating Sydney by 32 points despite being behind by as much as two goals in the first and second quarters. Prior to the game fireworks lit up the sky a few minutes before the bounce as the crowd of 27,910 streamed into the ground to see Selwood's milestone and the eyes of the wider AFL and political world were on Adam Goodes as he returned to the field following the 'booing' saga.

Goodes certainly had the goods early on the night kicking a first quarter goal, though his young opponent Jake Kolodjashnij in just his fifth game took the overall honours. He was greeted mostly positively by the crowd though a few faint jeers were heard at times. It was particularly pleasing to see how good Kolodjashnij and fellow young defenders such as Jackson Thurlow handled themselves.

The Cats started off pretty well but three goals in a row from the Swans saw them with a handy lead heading into quarter time. The opening goal was a classic from Andrew Mackie we've seen many times before, gathering the ball unmarked just outside fifty and slamming it home. Nobody loves a goal as much as Mackie, who gave his trademark high fives while giving a salute to the Brownlow stand as he made his way back to position.

A goal from Darcy Lang, his second for the quarter, pegged the lead at the first break down to just three points in favour of the Swans. Geelong had the lead after goals from Mitch Duncan and Tom Hawkins in the first seven minutes of the second term; the Swans the, had three unanswered goals of their own to take command. Hawkins and Lewis Jetta exchanged goals as the Swans took a handy 13 point lead into the main break.

The third quarter only saw three goals scored but they were all Geelong, the Swans scoring just the two behinds as the Cats also kicked five behinds, leading by eight points at three-quarter time but somewhat leaving the Swans off the leash and threatening a come-back. Goals were kicked by Mitch Duncan, Josh Caddy and crowd favourite Cory Gregson. All three had good nights, Duncan has clearly been a match-winner since returning from injury layoff and although Caddy had a few clanger kicks he like Selwood is so hard at the ball and hard to tackle. Gregson just keeps on keeping on.

At three quarter time there was an incident near us, possibly related but we honestly don't know - what we do know is there was a dispute of some kind with a number of people and a youngish bloke in a Kangaroos jumper. He was carrying a hand-written placard on canvas and eventually agreed to leave to diffuse the situation as a number of police and meaner than normal security guards looked on - who did a pretty good job in diffusing it all we must say. Refer the picture on right.

The Swans certainly didn't give up but they eventually succumbed to a fair avalanche of Geelong goals, kicking just the one final quarter goal at the eight minute mark as Dan Hannebery capitalised on a Geelong slip-up. Five goals by the Cats in the last made it a eight goal to one second half, a fair old belting in the end. Hawkins finished with four goals and Duncan, Lang and Caddy two apiece.

With a minute to go a chant of 'Gee-Long' went around the ground, loud enough to be heard at the ground and on TV. As the siren rang out Selwood was surrounded by his teammates as fireworks again lit up the sky. Incidentally Goodes equalled fellow Brownlow Medallist Bernie Quinlan on 366 career games tonight, a fine achievement. Goodes and the entire Sydney team received a great standing round of applause as they left the ground near where we sit; soon after Joel Selwood and Andrew Mackie made their way to our section and received an even bigger ovation, as they threw freebies into the crowd and embraced.

We've been geuinely spoilt since 2007 when Joel Selwood pulled on the boots after being recruited from Sandhurst via the Bendigo TAC Cup side. Three premierships and numerous other honours have happened along the way, with Selwood captaining the club since 2012. Next Saturday night Steve Johnson is due to play his 250th game as we play the Hawks in a home fixture at the MCG, after missing tonight's game through a silly suspension. The Cats were again miserly in defence, and hoping for another solid back half performance against the Hawks who are going for three premierships in a row.

GEELONG: 3.4, 6.4, 9.9, 14.11 (95) DEFEATED
SYDNEY: 4.1, 8.5, 8.7, 9.9 (63)

GOALS
GEELONG: Hawkins 4, Duncan 2, Lang 2, Caddy 2, Mackie, Gregson, Stokes, Motlop
SYDNEY: Jetta 2, B.Jack, Mitchell, Heeney, Goodes, Tippett, Parker, Hannebery

BEST
GEELONG: Selwood, Bartel, Enright, Motlop, Hawkins, Guthrie, Kolodjashnij
SYDNEY: Jetta, Grundy, Kennedy, Hannebery, Heeney

SUBSTITUTES
GEELONG: George Horlin-Smith who replaced Nakia Cockatoo in the fourth quarter.
SYDNEY: Zak Jones who replaced Toby Nankervis in the third quarter.

INJURIES
GEELONG: Ni reportedl
SYDNEY: Ben McGlynn (hamstring tightness) replaced in selected side by Zak Jones

UMPIRES:

Rosebury, Pannell, Mollison

REPORTS: Ted Richards (Sydney Swans) for engaging in rough conduct on Tom Hawkins (Geelong) in the third quarter

CROWD: 27,910 at Simonds Stadium, Geelong