Geelong are into the AFL preliminary finals after fighting off Port Adelaide 13.18 (96) to 12.8 (80) in front of 52,744 at the MCG on Friday night.
The Cats struggled through a concerning first half before fighting back from a 23-point deficit to book a spot in next weekend’s blockbuster final against Hawthorn.
Veteran Paul Chapman faces a nervous wait after being booked in the third quarter for a high bump that collected Port’s Robbie Gray. A similar knock that saw Hawks’ star Buddy Franklin suspended for a game in round 23.
The Power’s dream season, in which they qualified for a semi-final just a year after finishing 14th, came to a disappointing end after possessing a near four-goal lead at halftime.
The Cats stormed back in the second half, kicking five goals to just one in the third term to take a 23-point lead at the 21 minute mark. Justin Westhoff kicked a ridiculous goal from the corner to help the Power come with 10 points with a three minutes remaining.
Power coach Ken Hinkley said the pressure of the evening may have played a part in the second half collapse.
“We possibly felt the heat. I suppose we were probably waiting for it and when it came we didn’t quite handle it the way we would’ve liked. And that’s the step up from last week to this week. When the finals narrow, it steps up,” he said
“We talked and we knew that Geelong’s surge was going to come and it was going to be there at some stage.”
“We just couldn’t hold up as much as we wanted to, their numbers and their run and willingness to share the ball around and change the angles was pretty hard for us to control.”
Despite the momentary lapse of discipline, Chapman produced an outstanding four-goal, 20-possession game while James Kelly (28 touches), Matthew Stokes (28), Joel Selwood (27) and Stevie Johnson (25) were all instrumental.
“I genuinely haven’t (seen it),” said Champman of the hit. “I thought it was out on the full so I didn’t bother to work out why it was their free-kick but I’m told it is something that will be looked at. I don’t make a habit of going into detail about those sort of incidents even if I had of seen it. ”
“It will be a big loss (if he is suspended) but we’ll bring someone else in. One thing we don’t do is cry over spilt milk.”
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