After a fluctuating contest had ensued in the first three quarters, the Cats kicked five goals to nil in the final term to win their third Premiership in the last five years.
Jimmy Bartel was adjudged the Norm Smith medallist with his 26 disposals and three goals, yet the performances of Steve Johnson and Tom Hawkins shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Johnson’s amazing return from what looked to be a serious knee injury last week culminated in the lively Cat kicking four goals in what was arguably a match-winning performance.
Speaking of match-winning performances, Hawkins completely outplayed Collingwood defender, Ben Reid, by chalking up 19 possessions, nine marks and three goals.
His efforts spoke volumes of how hard he worked particularly when James Podsiadly went down with a dislocated shoulder midway through the second quarter.
For the Magpies, Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas worked tirelessly all day in the midfield amassing 33 and 31 disposals respectively, while Travis Cloke and Andrew Krakouer kicked three goals each for the runners up.
Both the Pies and the Cats went into the game as selected, with Collingwood’s Darren Jolly and Reid, and Geelong’s Johnson all named despite their much-talked about injuries in the build-up to the match.
Meanwhile, the subs named for the Pies and the Cats were Alex Fasolo and Mitch Duncan respectively.
The big game was all set to go, but it seemed Collingwood wasn’t, as it took only 15 seconds for Geelong’s Travis Varcoe to stream into an open goal and kick it from the 50-metre arc.
Then, a clever pass by Johnson found Varcoe again, who kicked his second goal in a matter of minutes – a dream start for Geelong and Varcoe.
The Pies had looked unsettled from the outset, but the response from the reigning Premiers was herculean.
A 60-metre long-bomb from Cloke got the Magpie ball rolling before Cloke, again, and Krakouer added further goals for Collingwood to hit the lead for the first time in the match.
Collingwood’s Luke Ball and Geelong’s Joel Selwood subsequently traded goal as the lead switched back-and-forth, yet the surprise of the match was the free-flowing nature of play despite the intense defensive pressure put on show.
Geelong held the most slender of leads at quarter time, but it didn’t take long too long for the Pies to recapture the lead.
Krakouer continued his fairy-tale comeback with a trademark snap to secure his second goal before Cloke booted another monster goal from well outside 50; Cloke’s goal interestingly had the unusual right-to-left curve reminiscent of ‘Buddy’ Franklin’s style of kicking.
Moreover, a critical moment ensued midway through the second quarter when Podsiadly dislocated his shoulder and was immediately substituted for Duncan.
The Pies smelt blood, and Krakouer delivered with a fantastic contested mark and goal, as he, Cloke and Pendlebury really proved to be the difference in the match thus far.
The Pies, through a 20-possession first half by Pendlebury, had gradually constructed a 15-point lead and momentum, yet the Cats responded with two late goals to only trail by three points at the main break.
Firstly, a clever centring pass by Allen Christensen led to a Selwood goal from point-blank range before an indiscriminate hit-out deep inside the Cats’ forward line by Darren Jolly went out on the full for Bartel to receive a free kick.
In typical ‘Steve Johnson’ fashion, he screwed the ball around his body to complete a miraculous goal for the Cats, and, perhaps more importantly, arrest the momentum back in the Cats’ favour.
The second half began with the tackling as fierce as you would have seen all season, with goals becoming much more of a rarity than what they did in the first.
Tom Hawkins twice regained the lead for the Cats on either side of a controversial Sharrod Wellingham goal: controversial as it clearly skimmed the left-hand goal post as it travelled through.
The players vented their frustration, but the goal stood, with the Magpies ironically taking back the lead.
The absence of Podsiadly meant that Hawkins was having to do much of the aerial work up forward, but when Bartel snuck up forward to mark courageously and goal, the Cats looked to have found another avenue to goal.
This kick-started a run of three of the next four goals for the Cats, as it surged to a seven-point lead at three-quarter time.
However, a wonderful pick-up and goal by Steele Sidebottom demonstrated that the Pies meant business going into this last term as coach, Mick Malthouse, addressed his troops for the last time.
The start of the last quarter was apparently the Tom Hawkins show.
Hawkins took three wonderful contested marks – all inside the forward 50 – but it was on the third attempt that a Geelong goal was converted: the goal courtesy of a Johnson snap after receiving the handball from the big Cat.
Crucially, Geelong were beginning to win the contested ball, and when Johnson’s kick inside 50 found Varcoe, the latter did the rest with a left-foot snap to extend the margin to a then game-high 21 points.
Collingwood kept coming, but some spectacular defensive marks and spoils from Harry Taylor inside the Magpies’ 50 halted the reigning Premiers in their tracks.
A Corey Enright mark in Geelong’s defensive 50 was a catalyst for the Cats to go coast-to-coast, with Bartel magnificently converting from outside 50 to further stretch the margin to 26 points.
Time was Collingwood’s worst enemy, as the Cats did everything in their power to keep the Magpies at bay.
To Geelong’s credit, it kept attacking and two astonishing snaps by Johnson and captain, Cameron Ling, sealed the 2011 Premiership to the Cats, as the premature celebrations around the ground began.
In the end, Collingwood were kept goalless in the last quarter, as the Cats ended up kicking five unanswered goals to run out the game 38-point winners.
Andy Paolacci - Hi there! My name is Andy Paolacci and I am a 26-year-old Monash University Arts/Journalism graduate from Melbourne, Australia. I have ...
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