Cats the last ones standing in epic battle

GEELONG is the premier for the second time in three years after coming from behind to stun St Kilda by 12 points in a classic Toyota AFL Grand Final at the MCG on Saturday.

The scores were level with just five minutes to play in a nail-biting final term, but a quick snap from Paul Chapman gave the Cats a lead they would not surrender despite the Saints' best efforts in the frantic final minutes.

Max Rooke played one of the best games of his career and the ball fittingly ended in his hands as the final siren sounded. He put aside his elation to bounce through the meaningless goal that confirmed the 12.8 (80) to 9.14 (68) final scoreline.

The Saints will rue the many opportunities they missed to secure their first premiership since 1966 during extended periods of play when they had the Cats on the ropes.

But where the Saints were left to lament, the Cats must be paid proper credit for their ability to take blow after blow and keep coming.

Chapman's heroics in the final minutes capped a gutsy 26-possession, three-goal display that saw him awarded the Norm Smith Medal.

Joel Corey (29 possessions), Gary Ablett (25) and Joel Selwood (24) all played critical roles in around the many stoppages.

Harry Taylor and Matthew Scarlett won their respective battles with Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, which had a significant bearing on the outcome.

Jason Gram was the Saints' most consistent performer with 30 touches while Lenny Hayes (24) and Leigh Montagna (23) were also prominent.

Steven Baker got the job on 2007 Norm Smith Medallist Steve Johnson and he carried it out to the letter, ensuring he had no influence.

Playing in their third straight grand final, the Cats could have reasonably expected to better handle the early pressure of the occasion and did.

Rooke set a ferocious tone with a brilliant chase down and tackle of Raphael Clarke that allowed him to goal from just inside 50. Cameron Mooney's effort sent Geelong to a 12-point lead soon after, but the Saints were beginning to get their house in order.

Brendon Goddard got the ball rolling with a set shot from 50 and despite Selwood's classy running goal, the game was turned on its head as St Kilda dominated the remainder of the term.

The Cats could not find a way through the wall of Saints in front of Mooney and their other forwards with most attempts going straight back down the other end.

Hayes capped a prolific first quarter with a goal and when Adam Schneider added the Saints' third, they were up by two points at the first break.

The trend continued in the second term when frequent showers became a constant downpour.

Sean Dempster went some way to justifying his late call-up with the first goal of the period, but his teammates squandered several quality opportunities to apply the blowtorch to Geelong.

For all their dominance, the Saints managed to get just 10 points up before Shannon Byrnes inevitably made them pay for their tardiness.

In the blink of an eye, Ablett had his side back in front after he worried Sam Gilbert into infringing close to goal. Tom Hawkins cut off an ill-advised pass across goal by Zac Dawson and then Chapman goaled almost directly from the restart to move the Cats two goals up.

But once again, St Kilda managed to conjure a complete momentum shift with a stunning three-goal burst inside the last two minutes of the half.

Clint Jones skidded one through from a stoppage and Koschitzke ran onto a long ball to soccer it through, levelling the scores with nine seconds on the clock.

But just as the crowd started heading for the concession stands, umpire Stephen McBurney took umbrage to Darren Milburn's reaction to Koschitzke's goal and put Schneider on the line. St Kilda was up by six points at half time.

The intense pressure of the first half lifted even more as the second got underway. With both sides looking to harry the ball-carrier, it brought stoppage after stoppage but Geelong was able to edge back in front thanks to Mooney's second.

Riewoldt, quelled in the first half by Taylor, escaped his minder's clutches to fire through an answer as the Saints once again contained the Cats in defence.

Chapman snapped truly from a rare forward foray, but Montagna's slick roving effort sent his side into a titanic final term with a seven-point advantage.

Hawkins' set shot in the second minute wobbled through to slice the margin to just one point with misses to Schneider and Dempster at the other end opening the door for the Cats to pull off their stunning rally.

St Kilda     3.2   7.7   9.11 9.14 (68)
Geelong     3.0   7.1   9.4   12.8 (80)

GOALS
St Kilda: Schneider 2, Goddard, Hayes, Koschitzke, Jones, Dempster, Riewoldt, Montagna
Geelong: Chapman 3, Mooney 2, Hawkins 2, Rooke 2, Selwood, Byrnes, Ablett

BEST
St Kilda: Gram, Hayes, Ball, Jones, Montagna, Baker, Goddard
Geelong: Chapman, Rooke, Milburn, Taylor, Selwood, Ablett, Corey, Bartel, Ling, Scarlett

INJURIES
St Kilda: Goddard (nose)
Geelong: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, Ryan, Rosebury

Official crowd: 99,251 at the MCG

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.