SUMMARY

The fierce modern-day rivals meet again in a final for the first time in nine years with a place in the Grand Final up for grabs.

Geelong has a formidable record against Hawthorn in recent times with four consecutive victories by an average of 44 points, though the margin was much closer in their only meeting this year on Easter Monday. While the Cats won the last time they faced the Hawks in a final nine years ago they have not beaten their arch-rivals in a cut-throat clash since 1963. That includes a pair of painful Grand Final defeats with the prize this time a place in the decider.

CATS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

Hawthorn has momentum behind it after a pair of stirring victories on the road. The Hawks might be returning to a preliminary for the first time in a decade but have quickly shown they have a line-up made for the pointy end of the season. They look solid in all areas with multiple avenues to goal, and a backline that can hold firm against aerial threats or add run and dare the other way. But it is their onball brigade that has risen to the occasion in back-to-back wins before taking on a tougher challenge against the Cats.

Both teams go into the match unchanged. Geelong decided not to recall Rhys Stanley after the injured ruck missed the qualifying final win over the Lions, while the Hawks have cleared Jack Gunston, Jack Ginnivan and Jarman Impey after the trio was managed late in the win against the Crows. Young key forward Calsher Dear is out due to a hamstring strain which will see Mitch Lewis hold his place.

Geelong v Hawthorn at the MCG, 7.40pm AEST

NO LATE CHANGES

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Jhye Clark
Hawthorn: Changkuoth Jiath

WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?

Round 6: Geelong 12.14 (86) d Hawthorn 11.13 (79) at the MCG

Geelong held off a fast-finishing Hawthorn to win an Easter Monday thriller that reignited one of the most heated rivalries in the game. The Cats had had the better of the Hawks in recent years and were on track for another comfortable win over their old foes when pulling away to as much as a 23-point lead while Bailey Smith lit up the big stage. The Hawks stayed in touch through the second half before surging in the final term with goals to James Sicily and Connor Macdonald to level the score. Nick Watson had a chance to put the Hawks in front before Shaun Mannagh was the match-winner when slotting a hurried snap.

THE STATS THAT MATTER

Geelong

The Cats will be lining up for just their second game in 27 days but have the finals experience and a settled side that should keep humming even without playing regular football. A forward group centred around Jeremy Cameron leads the competition for marks inside 50 with 16.2 a game, as well as for marks inside 50 differential at 5.5. But the Hawks have the defensive tall timber to test the Cats after conceding the fewest marks inside beyond that arc with nine a game.

Hawthorn

The Hawks smashed open both of their finals with a burst of centre clearance dominance most notably from the opening bounce last week with Jai Newcombe leading the way against the Crows. They went on to win that count in their finals against the Giants and Crows, and finished 13-9 in front of the Cats in round six, but will likely need to lift their game further in that area in the preliminary final. The Hawks are ranked 12th this season for average centre clearances at 11.6, while the Cats have been third – and the best of the remaining teams – with 12.8 a game.

IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR ...

Geelong

The game doesn't get any easier for key forwards as the season goes deeper into finals. Even Cats star Jeremy Cameron has found the pointy end tougher over the years. He has booted 733 goals in 278 matches for Geelong and GWS to have the highest average per game of all current players at 2.64. But as his average nudges up to 2.68 in the home and away season, it plummets to 1.94 during finals. Cameron helped spark the Cats in their qualifying final victory over the Lions even if wayward kicking meant he finished with only two majors. The Cats have proven they don't need Cameron to boot a bag for them to win. But if their spearhead can get off the leash early to put pressure back on the Hawks' defence, it could go a long way to leading the Cats back to a Grand Final. 

Hawthorn

Jai Newcombe has hardly missed a beat since joining the Hawks in the 2021 mid-season draft but few could have foreseen the impact he has had as the stakes rise. The onballer has been the highest-rated player on the ground in all four finals he has played during the Hawks' resurgence across the past two years as the more contested game plays to his strengths. While Newcombe gradually wore down GWS with his power at stoppages in the elimination final, he tore the game apart a week later against Adelaide. The 24-year-old gathered the first four centre clearances of the game as the Hawks slammed on three quick goals from the opening bounce to immediately have the Crows under siege. Newcombe finished with 28 disposals, eight clearances and booted the sealer to likely book a date with one of the Cats' taggers on Friday night. 

PREDICTION

Hawthorn has been mighty impressive with back-to-back finals wins on the road during this campaign and will now appreciate returning to the MCG. But even as it will have played one game in 27 days it is impossible to forget Geelong's demolition of reigning premier Brisbane at the same venue that booked its preliminary final spot. The Cats have had the better of their Hawks over a long period and will have almost a full list to choose from for a clash that will prove a step too far for their arch-rivals. Geelong by 22 points.

PATRICK Dangerfield has played 18 seasons of AFL football, and may have saved his very best for his 359th game.

Those 35-year-old legs, clad in his customary long socks, charged out of the middle and into attack time and time again, his superman cape in the blue and white hoops having been pulled out of the cupboard in Moggs Creek and brought up the highway.

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Geelong is into its seventh Grand Final this century, firmly putting the old foe Hawthorn back into its box with an imperious 30-point victory at a heaving MCG, winning 17.13 (115) to 13.7 (85).

The Cats kicked 11.6 to 7.1 in the second half after the Hawks had started full of youthful bravado, the older bodies taking a little while to shake off the rust accumulated after a week off.

Mabior Chol's major cut the margin to 18 points with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it was enough to summon nervous glances among Cats fans and journos with near-finished match reports alike, but Tyson Stengle's soccer home in the pouring rain – backed up by Bailey Smith's curler – sealed the win.

It's one of the defining rivalries of football, and was played in front of a near-completely full MCG, the MCC Members turning away desperate fans who had hoped to squeeze into the crowd of 99,567 – the largest non-Grand Final attendance since 1971. Even Dangerfield wasn't born back then.

However, Geelong will take on the last Saturday in September without champion defender Tom Stewart, who was concussed in the first quarter after a crude, in-the-back tackle from Chol, for which the big Hawk is likely to be suspended.

Hawthorn – riding high from a powerful semi-final win over Adelaide – was on the same page in the first quarter, while Geelong appeared to be attempting to communicate in different languages, well and truly off its game, stuttering and fluffing its disposal.

The Hawks ran in waves, and if forced into slow plays, utilised short, sharp kicks that found an inexplicable number of players loose in attack, summed up by Dylan Moore managing to deliver a pass between the outstretched arms of two Cats to Conor Nash for the Irishman's major.

The break in play as Stewart was helped from the field appeared to help Geelong settle, and the Cats instantly entered their inside 50 with much more composure, Dangerfield saluting with the side's first.

The Cats closed within a handful of points with three straight goals of their own, but Mitch Lewis had different ideas, kicking his second from the square and his third from outside 50, back-to-back, both set up by Jack Gunston as a hobbled Jack Henry (rolled ankle) trailed forlornly after him.

Nick Watson kicked a stunning, curling major from the tightest of angles, only matched by an outstanding set shot from Jeremy Cameron on the wrong side of the 50 paint from an equally acute spot.

The small Geelong forwards and the midfielders – led by Smith and Dangerfield – seemed to finally find Google Translate, once again speaking the same language as they flicked and surged and spun and linked.

And after all that footy, the Cats held just a one-point lead at the main break.

Breathe. Begin again.

The wind literally changed during the break, a cold front rolling in from Geelong way, with a band of rain looming.

Stengle went to the left, stopped, watched James Sicily dive the wrong side and kicked on the right.

Dangerfield was ripping it out of the middle, sending it into attack with that booming kick, miraculously keeping the ball in play, or spoiling it out of bounds, and snapping goals.

The only thing that briefly stopped him was the 100kg knee of Jeremy Cameron in his back, Danger bouncing up with a grin like that slightly manic five-year-old kid in the playground. A small rest on the bench, and he was ready to go again.

He finished with an astonishing stat line of 32 disposals, three goals, 21 contested possessions and eight clearances. 

Sam Mitchell flicked the magnets – Chol was moved into the ruck to try and keep up with Mark Blicavs at ground level, Jarman Impey moved forward, Changkouth Jiath was injected into the game, and the Hawks kicked two quickies.

Geelong steadied, driven by Dangerfield, and the match-winning lead was established by three-quarter time. 

The concussion/bye question
Chol fell into the back of Stewart when tackling him in the first quarter. The star Cat was rolling on the ground in pain, and it was initially anticipated to be a wrist or shoulder injury, but he was eventually ruled out with concussion. Adelaide AFLW skipper Chelsea Randall missed her 2022 Grand Final with concussion, and the placement of the finals bye is likely to be firmly in the spotlight.

The oldies setting the tone
Dangerfield wasn't the only star veteran on Friday night, with Gunston a constant thorn in Geelong's side throughout the game. He well and truly won his battle with Henry (and sometimes Zach Guthrie), leading and kicking truly, and setting up his teammates on a number of occasions. There's plenty of life in the old Hawk yet.

Midfield masterclass
Geelong's engine room reigned supreme. No tag was sent to last week's hero Jai Newcombe, the Cats instead backing Tom Atkins to go head-to-head with his fellow hard-nut. Blicavs was well and truly out-tapped in the ruck, but the Geelong midfielders sharked with ease, recording a centre-clearance dominance of 20-5.

GEELONG          1.3     6.7     13.11     17.13 (115)
HAWTHORN      3.4     6.6       9.7       13.7 (85)

GOALS
Geelong: Cameron 3, Dangerfield 3, Stengle 3, Mannagh 2, Neale, Blicavs, Holmes, Martin, Miers, Smith
Hawthorn: Lewis 3, Gunston 3, Ginnivan, Nash, Watson, Macdonald, Impey, Moore, Chol

BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Smith, Atkins, Holmes, Miers, Guthrie
Hawthorn: Amon, Gunston, Nash, Chol, Sicily

INJURIES
Geelong: Henry (ankle), Stewart (concussion)
Hawthorn: Ginnivan (finger/hand)

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Jhye Clark (replaced Stewart at quarter-time)
Hawthorn: Changkouth Jiath (replaced Butler in the third term)

Crowd: 99,567 at the MCG