Hawks fans may dispute that, pointing to when veteran Shane Crawford had his premiership medallion hung around his neck, something over the years he must have feared would remain a dream.
But the Cats had been the best team all year, and by no small margin. One loss since round 21 last year. A record win in last year's grand final. Any number of players in the last couple of All-Australian teams. Significant favourites going into the game.
But on the day when mattered, they weren't the best. Hawthorn out-gutsed them. Out-hungered them.
And it was the Geelong forwards who were the weak link. The defenders were terrific, taking the obvious dangers for the Hawks out of the game. The midfield, brilliantly led by Gary Ablett, broke even across the day, also shutting down the obvious Hawthorn dangers.
Buddy Franklin was quiet. Jarryd Roughead was quiet. Trent Croad reinjured his foot in the second term and took no further part. Sam Mitchell was clearly the most frustrated player on the park as Cameron Ling shut him down brilliantly.
But the Cats couldn't kick goals. Even allowing for the 11 rushed behinds – an obvious Hawk tactic from the start – their inaccuracy hurt them all day. Chapman missed when Johnson was alone 15 metres out. Brad Ottens missed from 30 on the run with options inside. Cameron Mooney missed after the siren at halftime, and the Cats went in behind rather than in front.
In all, the Cats went into their forward 50 a massive 63 times to Hawthorn's 43. They had 34 scores to the Hawks' 25. Hawthorn rebounded the ball out of the attacking 50 more than twice as often as Geelong – 51-24. Possessions were almost the same, but the Cats had a vast amount more handball. The Hawks outmarked them 135-81, a huge discrepancy.
And so, two hours after the game finished, surrounded by people cleaning rubbish from the ground, with the industrial vacuums singing in the background, the Hawthorn players were out on the ground in their suits. But with their jumpers over the top. Singing the song in a circle in the centre square. Celebrating the win they richly deserved.
Sometimes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the underdog.
