GEELONG CRUISE PAST WEST COAST INTO GRAND FINAL
Ben Jensen 24 September 2011

By Ben Jensen twitter.com/thecattery GEELONG CATS v WEST COAST EAGLES GEELONG easily accounted for West Coast at the MCG today in front of a smallish crowd of 59,455, cruising into their fourth AFL Grand Final in five years against Collingwood next weekend. The Cats led from start to finish, Travis Varcoe opening the scoring a goal in the fourth minute, the Eagles not even scoring until a behind nearly 12 minutes into the first quarter. The Cats were never really in doubt however the big news was Steve Johnson may miss the Grand Final after suffering a dislocated patella (kneecap to you and I) in the third quarter. Johnson was stretchered off but as the final quarter was starting he walked back around the boundary line to the interchange bench to a standing, cheering ovation, so may yet rise from the ashes Buddy Franklin style.

James Podsiadly was leading goalkicker for Geelong with three, Tom Hawkins kicked two in another great MCG-performance (the MCG specialist that he is), Allen Christensen and Varcoe kicking two apiece. For the Weagles Josh Kennedy kicked three, Nic Naitanui two including an absolutely ripper in the last quarter.

James Kelly proved his AFL All Australian selection this week was deserved and in fact might have earned a starting spot; along with Joel Selwood who really turned it on against his brothers, was best afield for the Cats. Backmen Matthew Scarlett, Harry Taylor, Andrew Mackie and Josh Hunt all had good games - Hunt even slamming home a goal from 60m out on his right boot! Chappy and Bartel lit it up in the middle along with Selwood & Kelly, Joel Corey was quite good in his first game back and Trent West, who started in the ruck with Ottens on the bench, was terrific. Ottens was fairly quiet so watch out Magpies. Matthew Stokes and Corey Enright were quiet achievers, still touched it 21 times each.

For the Eagles Beau Waters had an amazing 38 possessions but probably overused it a bit, Daniel Kerr was our favourite with 30 and Nic Nat only had 18 but gee they counted. Naitanui's first goal came courtesy of first a silly free kick then a silly 50m penalty from a centre-bounce in the first quarter with literally four seconds on the clock. His goal cut the quarter-time deficit to 22 points and gave his side a bit of a sniff. They booted the first two of the second quarter before the Cats pegged back a couple themselves to Hawkins and Selwood to steady the ship. The Cats took a 25 point lead into the main break, with the Eagles still a sniff at it if they really turned it on.

Fortunately for Geelong fans West Coast didn't and Geelong stretched the lead to 44 points by the 12 minute mark of the so called 'Premiership Quarter'. Johnson kicked the second but as Podsiadly was preparing to kick the third, was being attended to by trainers as the crowd hushed and feared the worst. Optimism soon set in though, folk hoping it was a 'Buddy' injury and not like Menzel the same night, who of course did his ACL and will be out for around a year. The Cats booted seven goals to the Eagles' two for the term, a highlight being Josh Hunt's 60m bomb on the opposite foot, an event not believed to have occurred before.

With the Cats in front by 56 points at three quarter time the game was over and Geelong's task was to avoid further injury; use the expression 'put the cue in the rack' if you must. That they did, although not before Tommy Hawkins and 'Hubba's man Varcoe' got their second each. The focus of Geelong fans turned to next week, and whether or not they'd be there.

Grand Final ticket allocations have been decided already by ballot; official advice from the club is to check your credit card for charges between now and tomorrow night. If you haven't been charged it's unlikely you received a ticket unfortunately. Standing room tickets go on sale on Monday for members who didn't score a ticket between 12noon and 5pm until sold out; at $150 it's a bit rich but probably worth it. (Full club advice)

GEELONG: 5.7, 8.11, 15.14, 17.15 (117) DEFEATED
WEST COAST: 2.3, 5.4, 7.6, 10.9 (69)

GOALS
GEELONG: Podsiadly 3, Hawkins 2, Christensen 2, Varcoe 2, West, Wojcinski, Selwood, Bartel, Johnson, Stokes, Hunt, Chapman
WEST COAST: Kennedy 3, Naitanui 2, LeCras, Shuey, Darling, Kerr, S.Selwood

BEST
GEELONG: Kelly, Selwood, Ling, Scarlett, Chapman, Podsiadly, Mackie, West
WEST COAST: Naitanui, Waters, Kerr, Gaff, Shuey, Hurn

INJURIES
GEELONG: Steve Johnson (dislocated knee - touch and go for Grand Final)
WEST COAST: Nil reported

UMPIRES:

FIELD: Chris Donlon (1) Matt Stevic (9) Ray Chamberlain (18) EM: Mathew Nicholls (15)
BOUNDARY: Michael Saunders Mark Thomson Darren Wilson Robert Haala
GOAL: Chelsea Roffey Adam Wojcik EM: Mark Canning

CROWD: 73,400 at MCG, Melbourne

FIRST GOAL: Travis Varcoe, Geelong (4 minutes)

EMAIL SENT OUT TO ALL MEMBERS BY GEELONG FOOTBALL CLUB TODAY

2011 GEELONG CATS GRAND FINAL BALLOT
A supervised random computer ballot based on registrations has been conducted for eligible members who registered their barcode/s in the 2011 Grand Final ballot.

For Priority Group 1 Members, this determines the order of allocating tickets on a next best available basis.

For Priority Group 2 Members, this will decide:
(a) who is successful and unsuccessful and (b) the order in which tickets are allocated.

Members who are successful in the ballot will automatically have their credit card charged this weekend (24 and 25 September). Rejected credit cards will be followed up via phone and any payments that have not cleared by 5pm (EST) Sunday 25 September will result in tickets being cancelled. These tickets will be reallocated to the member(s) next in the ballot.

The $4 registration fee (per ticket) will be retained to cover administration costs incurred in the set up regardless of whether the registration was successful or unsuccessful.

SUCCESSFUL REGISTRATIONS AND TICKET COLLECTION
Members can log on to geelongcats.com.au or ticketek.com.au from 9am on Monday 26 September to see if their registration in the ballot was successful by checking the account number (issued at the time of registration).

Members are advised to double check the account number to ensure that the correct account has been searched for and that the account has not been missed when looking through the successful list.

Unfortunately if your account number does not appear you have not been successful in obtaining a Grand Final ticket. If you are unsure as to whether your number was successful or require confirmation please contact Membership Services on 1300 GO CATS (46 2287).

Tickets can be collected from Victorian Ticketek agencies as of 12noon Monday 26 September or at the MCG on Grand Final day. Tickets must be signed for and collected by the credit card holder along with presentation of appropriate ID.

ACCESS TO STANDING ROOM
Eligible members who were not successful in the ballot but still wish to attend the Grand Final will have access to purchase a Standing Room ticket. These tickets are strictly limited and will be sold on a "first come, first served" basis via the Ticketek website or telephone (1300 796 939) services only. There is a limit of one ticket per eligible member, however eligible members can purchase a maximum of eight tickets in one transaction (barcodes for all members are required). Standing room tickets will be available from 12noon Monday September 26 until 5pm (unless sold out prior). Members who have been successful in the ballot will not be able to access a Standing Room ticket.

Standing Room Prices
Adult - $150
Concession - $102
Adult eligible members may only purchase tickets at adult prices and junior/concession eligible members may only purchase at the concession price only.

Purchased Standing Room tickets can be collected from Victorian Ticketek Agencies or any National Collection Agency from 9am Tuesday 27 September. Tickets may also be collected from the Ticketek box office at the MCG on Grand Final day.