Geelong have sent one last colossal statement to their fellow top eight rivals, destroying West Coast by 93 points at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats’ 26.12 (168) to West Coast’s 11.9 (75) leaves them exactly two per cent behind Port Adelaide in second place, with a Fremantle whipping of Port Adelaide keeping their tiny hopes of a home qualifying final alive.
At the conclusion of the match, the empathic victory has shot the Cats into third place on the ladder, and will now stay there should GWS lose to the Western Bulldogs tomorrow afternoon in Ballarat.
Jeremy Cameron was the absolute star of the show down in Geelong, kicking seven first half goals, and finishing with an equal career-high tally of nine majors to go with his 14 disposals and nine marks.
In what looks almost certainly Zach Tuohy’s last match down in front of his Geelong faithful, the send-off for one of Ireland’s best ever AFL experts was fitting.
The fans, who roared for the Irishman every time he went near the ball, got their wish for a highlight early in the third term when Tuohy snapped his eighth goal of 2024 and his 101st overall in his 287th AFL match.
The 34-year-old was clearly taken by the adoring crowd’s reaction and gave his own “heart emoji” signal back to them as he ran back to the wing with his Irish jig music blaring around the stadium
Saturday afternoon’s shellacking did nothing to strengthen interim coach Jarrad Schofield’s chances of securing the full-time job.
In the first quarter alone, the Eagles were -61 for disposals, -20 for marks, -49 for uncontested possessions, -6 for clearances, and -9 for scores; already trailing by 44 points.
Early in the first quarter, Schofield was forced to swing key forward Jake Waterman into defence just to stem the considerable bleeding.
“‘Easy’ doesn’t do it justice; it was ridiculously easy (for Geelong),” Dunstall told Fox Footy in the second quarter as the Cats ballooned their lead to a game-high 65 points.
“Any danger of some pressure?” Dunstall asked after Jeremy Cameron kicked his sixth goal from just his sixth kick of the Sherrin.
Inexplicably, the Eagles trailed by 100 points at half-time, having already conceded 114 points.
Almost humourously, the royal blue and yellow actually won the second half after their diabolical start to the match, outscoring the Cats by seven points.
But unfortunately, it still didn’t void them of rightful, intense scrutiny towards the back end of the final quarter from Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson.
“I think there’s some players that are showing a little bit, and there’s some that have got a lot of work to do. They’ve got 12 months to really show the West Coast Eagles and the coaching staff what they can do in this competition,” Johnson explained.
“It’s a really delicate situation think at the moment for West Coast, and what direction they take going forward with the players that they’ve got.”
Johnson’s analysis is certainly warranted, with well-documented concerns over the club list’s youth outside emerging star and first-year player Harley Reid.
And while how this result directly affects Schofield’s push for the top job remains to be seen, there’s no doubt that without the likes of Tom Barrass (who looks very likely to have played his final game at the club) and Jeremy McGovern down in defence, the Eagles look far, far away from the complete product.
By half-time, as part of a ludicrous stat-line, Cameron had seven goals from seven kicks.
“He’s had an excellent game of football, and they haven’t been able to restrict him,“ Johnson said.
“And they’d love (Jeremy) McGovern and (Tom) Barrass to be able to hold that down — the youngsters aren’t able to do it because of the ball movement that’s coming their way — it’s so free and open — and he’s just capitalising.
“It’s got to be 10-plus now (that he kicks). They’ll be looking for him even if he’s out of position I think they’ll start looking for him, just to get him to that magical number 10. His best is nine, so let’s (see) him beat that today.”
With the Eagles steadying the ship in the third term, delivery to Cameron in the second half was nowhere near as consistent as it was in the first, but he still managed to snag his eighth goal among West Coast’s 5.6 for the quarter.
And with well over half a quarter to play, the superstar kicked his ninth goal – which unfortunately turned out to be his last for the match with Geelong unable to find him alone for a shot at what would’ve been a career-best haul of 10 goals.
Cameron has kicked seven-goal hauls eight times in his career, while today was his second nine-goal haul – adding to his epic 9.5 against Gold Coast in Round 23 of 2019, which famously won him his maiden Coleman Medal.
“It was an important win to have, because we know what sort of season it’s been. It’s all about playing your best footy at the right time of year, so it’s good to build on what’s we’ve already done,” Cameron told Fox Footy’s post-game.
Ollie Henry was also strong in attack, kicking three goals in the first quarter before finishing the match with 4.4 from 13 disposals and eight marks.
Despite Cameron’s mammoth haul, the Cats still finished with 12 individual goal scorers – highlighting their usual selfless style of play in front of the big sticks.
GEELONG vs. WEST COAST — AS IT HAPPENED
There were no late changes for either side, with Jed Bews (Geelong) and Ryan Maric (West Coast) named the starting substitutes.
Not even halfway through the opening term and the Eagles are already on the canvas, having conceded the first six goals of the game — with two each already for Jeremy Cameron and Ollie Henry.
