Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Chris Scott has taken the unusual step of opening up his post-match press conference without taking a question.
“I’ll start, thanks,” the Cats coach said before revealing how pleased he was of the Geelong team, considering the challenges they faced throughout the year.
“That game was symptomatic of our season. A lot of things went wrong, and we found ourselves behind the eight-ball at various times and found a way to hang in and give ourselves a chance,” he said.
Many thought he would be fuming about a disallowed goal to Ollie Dempsey. A decision that cost the Cats momentum.
Dockers coach Justin Longmuir says he has breathed a sigh of relief. His side was facing a straight-sets exit after finishing the season on top of the ladder.
They jumped out of the blocks at Optus Stadium with a six-goal opening term, but had to withstand a Geelong fightback during the third term. At one stage, Geelong held an eight-point lead.
But a four-goal burst to close out the third term set up their 14-point victory. It was a huge improvement from last week’s shock loss to Hawthorn.
“I thought we played a clearly much better brand of footy [than last week],” Longmuir told Channel 7.
“We played to win tonight, and you know, it got a bit hairy in the third quarter, and we clearly didn’t start the third quarter well. But I’m so proud of the way the players fought back at the back end of that third quarter.
“Clearly, it was an important part of the game. We lacked a bit of composure at times in the last quarter, but yeah, really proud of the week we had, and really proud of the effort.”
Longmuir will now begin preparing for next week’s preliminary final clash against the Swans in Sydney.
Man of the match Luke Jackson could not hide is love of “Wharfie Time” after Fremantle downed Geelong by 14 points in their semi-final at Optus Stadium.
The home side’s special rally call was saved until the last minute. Almost literally. They hit the gong and flashed up the sign with one minute and 15 seconds on the clock.
Geelong’s Tom Stewart had just booted a goal to cut the lead back to eight points and the ball returned to the centre square when the Dockers crowd were brought to their feet.
“Wharfie Time there at the end – you could not have scripted it any better,” Jackson told Channel 7. “We have got the best fans in the comp.”
Fremantle were inspired. They surged the ball forward and Patrick Voss kicked a goal with 10 seconds remaining. They now head to Sydney next week for a preliminary final.
Jackson had a night out – he had 25 disposals and booted two goals.
Four-goal hero Patrick Voss revealed he was given a back-handed complement at the end of the match.
“You are not as stupid as you look,” he was told by a teammate Neil Erasmus for his composure under pressure.
Voss was awarded a front-on free kick in the final minute of the game just on the edge of the goal square. The Dockers were clinging on to an eight-point lead at the time.
The antagonistic forward milked the clock down to the final 10 seconds before slotting through the goal. It gave the Dockers a 14-point win.
“Neil Erasmus said to me after the siren, ‘You’re not as stupid as you look’,” Voss told Channel 7. “I knew there was like 60 seconds to go or something, so, I went back and took my full 30 seconds, and then just waltzed in as slow as I could, and then I realized, ‘I’ve actually got to kick this’. I’m glad it went through.”
Dockers skipper Alex Pearce says his team had to dig deep after a Geelong revival in the third term.
The Dockers led by 25 points at quarter-time and 21 points at half-time, but Geelong booted five goals to one to take an eight-point lead and were closing on three-quarter-time with all the momentum.
Incredibly, the Dockers kicked four majors in the final seven minutes of the term – two to Luke Jackson and one apiece to Patrick Voss and Josh Treacy – to head into the last quarter with a 16-point buffer.
“It was a really tough game,” Pearce told Channel 7 after the clash. “Obviously, it was a good start. But we got challenged in that third quarter – we got tested.
“I guess we asked the question, ‘What are we made of?’
“I’m just so proud of the way we stuck together and stuck to our brand of footy, which is what we’ve done throughout the year.”
Fremantle’s unicorn Luke Jackson delivered a finals performance for the ages as Geelong’s premiership dream unravelled in a purple haze on Friday night.
The Cats gave the Dockers a stern September examination but the minor premiers found all the answers to win a classic semi-final by 14 points – 18.12 (120) to 16.10 (106) – in front of a partisan crowd of 59,725.
The Dockers now find themselves in a preliminary final showdown against Sydney at the SCG for what would be just their second grand final berth in their 32-year history, while it’s season over for the Cats.
The never-say-die Cats were gallant in defeat, forcing the Dockers to scrap all the way to the siren.
Trailing by 31 points in the second term, and by four goals midway through the final quarter, the Cats trimmed the margin back to just eight points with 75 seconds left through Tom Stewart.
Patrick Voss stood strong, earned a free kick and converted to give the Dockers a 14-point lead with just 10 seconds remaining.
The Dockers unleased Wharfie Time with one minute and 15 seconds left in this match. Talk about leaving it late.
Still, the purple army are marching on.
FINAL: Fremantle 18.12 (120) def Geelong 16.10 (106)
Tom Stewart has kicked a rare goal for Geelong and they trail by eight points with just a minute and 15 seconds remaining.
Yes, it’s finally “Wharfie Time”.
The Cats trail by 14 points, and we are down to the final two minutes.
Surely, it is time for the home side to unleash the secret weapon, Wharfie Time?
The Dockers have had two rushed behinds, giving them a valuable 14-point lead, but there is still of time for Geelong. They need three goals in four minutes.
Surely, that is tight enough for Wharfie Time? Surely?
Dockers 17.12 (114) lead Cats 15.10 (100)
