JARAD ROOKE LEADS CATS TO VICTORY OVER SWANS; VFL TEAM HOLDS THIRD PLACE
Ben Jensen 19 August 2006

By Ben Jensen THE CATS, with little to play for other than pride, defeated the Sydney Swans by twenty-seven points at Skilled Stadium today in one of the fiercest contests of the season. Geelong's best player was Jarad Rooke, who returned after a two week absence due to a shoulder injury. Fellow tough nuts Paul Chapman, Darren Milburn and Matthew Scarlett won their battles all day, Scarlett keeping Swan spearhead Barry Hall goalless. Joel Corey, one of Geelong's best in the loss to the Saints last week, had another strong game and was the pick of the midfielders.

Even more so than usual Rooke played like a man possessed. Although his opponent Adam Goodes also had a lot of the ball, most possessions came at Geelong's end of the ground and were ineffectual, many kicks skewing off the boot and heading straight for the boundary line. Rooke's goal in the final term sealed the win for the Cats, and was well deserved.

Brad Ottens opened up Geelong's account with two first quarter goals. Following his second goal, Ottens was swung into the ruck to replace captain Steven King. Almost immediately his replacement at full forward Tom Lonergan found himself on the end of a Steve Johnson long bomb in the goalsquare, and went on to kick his only goal of the day.

Brent Prismall looks set to have a long career with the Cats, kicking a handy goal from just inside fifty off just one step to cement his team's advantage over the Swans just prior to quarter time.

Sydney never gained the lead but did level the scores in the third quarter. Geelong lead by fourteen points at quarter time, eight points at half time and went into the final quarter with a handy twenty-five point lead, after withstanding a Sydney Swans onslaught in the first half of the third term to level the scores at 7.3 (46) apiece.

The Swans while dominating play in the middle of the third quarter only managed one goal and two behinds, before the Cats put the foot down with four goals in the final five minutes to leap to a twenty five point lead.

David Johnson took a courageous mark in the forward line, and quickly handballed to a running Gary Ablett. Ablett had little of the ball up until this point, and after running on to kick the goal gained in confidence and had a hand in several goals from then on.

The Cats hung on despite a spirited Swans fightback early on in the final term. However the win was soured by another incident involving Cameron Mooney. Mooney was still named in Geelong's best, but may find himself on the sidelines for the final two matches, against Melbourne next Saturday at home and Hawthorn in the final round at Telstra Dome.

GEELONG: 5.3 (33) 7.3 (46) 11.5 (71) 14.6 (90) DEFEATED
SYDNEY: 3.1 (19) 6.2 (38) 7.4 (46) 9.9 (63)

GOALS
GEELONG: Brad Ottens 3, Steve Johnson 2, Darren Milburn, Tom Lonergan, Brent Prismall, Jimmy Bartel, Josh Hunt, Cameron Mooney, Gary Ablett, Jarad Rooke, Joel Corey
SYDNEY: O'Loughlin 3, Grundy 2, O'Keefe 2, Bolton, Richards

BEST
GEELONG: Rooke, Chapman, Milburn, Scarlett, Mooney, Ottens, Corey SYDNEY: Goodes, O'Keefe, Jolly, Kirk, Buchanan, J Bolton

TRU ENERGY VFL ROUND 19 GEELONG V PORT MELBOURNE

Geelong's VFL team looks set for a strong finals series with another win - their fourth in a row over Port Melbourne to maintain outright third position. Kent Kingsley kicked another bag, this week four goals, while Ryan Gamble kicked three. For the Boroughs former Hawthorn and Adelaide listed player Tim Hazell continued his push for a second crack at AFL level with five goals.

In next week's final round the Bendigo Bank Cats host fifth placed Werribee in another AFL curtain raiser.

GEELONG 7.3 10.5 12.14 14.18 (102) DEFEATED
PORT MELBOURNE 3.1 5.4 8.5 13.6 (84)

BEST
GEELONG: Koulouriotis Kelly Ablett Stokes Wojcinski Grima
PORT MELBOURNE: Obst Shaw Hazell Nayna Raines Cotchett

GOALS
GEELONG: Kingsley 4 Gamble 3 McCarthy 2 Callan Stokes Varcoe Byrne Koulouriotis
PORT MELBOURNE: Hazell 5 Carroll 2 Smith 2 Cotchett 2 McMahon Pleming