The Cats' inaccuracy left them adrift at every turn bar the first.
The second term produced 1.9, and the desperation of the Hawks to hang in and lead by three points at half time despite being outplayed, gave them the belief to run over the Cats in the second half.
The Cats were 5.3 at the first break, but after that their forward line struggled to function as they kicked 6.18 for the remainder of the game, going down 18.7 (115) to 11.23 (89) as the Hawks won their 10th flag.
Gary Ablett was superb as he battled to keep his team in it and could easily have won the Norm Smith, especially through the third term with 10 terrific disposals, while Brad Ottens was tremendous in the ruck and around the ground.
Steve Johnson battled hard on a wing, and overall, the Geelong backline and midfield didn't have any players who got beaten. But their forward structure fell apart after quarter time despite many more inside 50s than the Hawks.
Harry Taylor was terrific on Jarryd Roughead, Matthew Scarlett did a sterling job on Buddy Franklin, Josh Hunt was good on Mark Williams and Corey Enright super on young star Cyril Rioli, who still managed to get free on occasion and display his brilliance.
Hodge – who came into the game with suspected broken ribs – did as he has done for most of the season and quarterbacked the Hawthorn defense, winning the Norm Smith Medal for his troubles.
Hawthorn’s midfield of Brad Sewell, Crawford, Chance Bateman, Xavier Ellis, Clinton Young and Michael Osborne was superb in providing a constant stream of forward ball.
The Cats shot out of the blocks, with Tom Lonergan – two years ago barely able to consider playing again, and now playing with one kidney – marking at 40 and kicking truly. But it was an arm-wrestle for the next five minutes.
The Hawks broke the deadlock and took the momentum with the next three, the second resulting from a superb run down the wing from Rioli.
Max Rooke then halved the margin when he earned a free just 15 metres out, then Mooney screwed one around his body. It was past the 30-minute mark when Mooney kicked the goal of the day – with the ball on the boundary at 40, he looked inside for an option, and with nothing presenting he slotted it himself from an almost-impossible angle.
But just when the Cats appeared set to go into the first break with a lead of a goal, Max Rooke gave away a 50 across half-back and the Cats were made to pay when Mark Williams kicked his first.
As they did in the first, the Cats scored the first goal of the second, when Chapman goaled after being clocked in the head by Mitchell, who appeared to be a man on a head-hunting mission.
But the Cats then lost their radar, spending the rest of the quarter goalless, missing several sitters while the Hawks – despite being outplayed around the ground – slotted three, the last when Clinton Young booted it home from 60.
The quarter was summed up when Mooney missed – after the siren – from a handful of metres, and the Hawks held a three-point lead at the long break after totalling 1.9 for the term.
It was more of the same at the start of the third, when Mooney and then Lonergan missed before Ablett finally kicked a major at the six-minute mark, and when the ball scraped inside the post it was the first major for the Cats since the second minute of the second.
However, the Hawks kicked the next six, including a ripper from Rioli, picking it up off his bootlaces to run in and score.
But the last couple of minutes saw two Cats goals to get them back into the contest – Milburn with a mark behind the pack just in front. But then Mitchell connected – this one a coathanger on Ablett after he disposed of it – and Johnson converted the resulting downfield free to have the Cats down by 17 points at the last change.
The Cats kicked a couple in the last, but that was after the Hawks had kicked the first three to wrap the game up, and it's not so hard to kick them once the pressure is off.
Geelong 5.3 6.12 9.18 11.23 (89)
Hawthorn 5.2 8.3 14.5 18.7 (115)
GOALS
Geelong: Mooney 2, Ablett 2, Rooke 2, Lonergan 2, Chapman, Milburn, Johnson
Hawthorn: Williams 3, Dew 2, Rioli 2, Franklin 2, Roughead 2, Bateman, Ellis, Brown, Young, Hodge, Mitchell, Ladson
BEST
Geelong: Ablett, Scarlett, Selwood, Chapman, Corey
Hawthorn: Hodge, Sewell, Crawford, Dew, Ellis, Osborne, Williams
INJURIES
Geelong: Harley (concussion),
Hawthorn: Croad (foot), Young (ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, McLaren, Ryan
Official crowd: 100,012 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
