‘People might be sick of us, and they can be’: The Cats might just be getting started

As predictable as history demands it, Geelong won a final a night after Hawthorn. Of course. Is it not always such?

The Cats halted the ride of Josh Fraser’s Blues and ended what had been, according to Andrew Dillon in his pre-game speech at the AFL function, the greatest resurrection story since the Bible. Had they won, Carlton fans might argue their story is better.

And so, with the loss, the story of the season (the football story, not the news story for the Swans presently seem to have that covered) comes to an end. The ride stopped. The wave broken.

Coming from 10th, they had to find their level at some point, and leading Geelong by 21 points midway through the second term to then be overwhelmed and outplayed in the second half to lose by 33 points is their level.

Fraser cautioned at the idea that next year just picks up where this one left off, that the ride will inevitably continue and roll on into pre-season like it is “Carlton 2026: The sequel”.

With the coaches’ eye for next week, Fraser preferred not to focus on how far the Blues had come in a short time this season, but how much further they still have to go. If they have brought back Carlton swagger to fill the MCG to 96,680 and the second-biggest elimination final crowd ever, there was also a crackling Carlton restlessness about where they can get to.

“Tonight was disappointing, and we certainly don’t want to be a club that lives in mediocrity … we don’t want to be a club that’s satisfied with finishing eighth,” Fraser said.

“We’ve made some big improvements, there’s no doubt about that, but there are still parts of our game that we need to get to work on, and there’s some individuals that need to continue to grow. In fact, all of our players need to continue to grow.

“You know, I think there’s an expectation on the way the break looks and the way they return … I just don’t think we can turn up [in the] pre-season and think that this keeps rolling on.

“I feel like I’ve got a really good handle on where we’re at, and understand that a lot of work is in front of us.”

Geelong played the role of spoiler when the sizeable Carlton portion of the crowd hoped they would carry on from the first quarter and a half in their role of straight man, as an enabler for the Blues rollicking ride.

But what is momentum, Chris Scott asked rhetorically afterwards. He wished to remind us that Carlton did not have the mortgage on momentum for his side had just won six games in a row before this game. Was that not momentum? Are you not entertained?

In football, you reap what you sow and Fremantle have sown doubt, which is something of a foreign concept to the Cats. Fraser has not sown self-confidence at Carlton, for it is a club that has never lacked that trait, but he has teased it back to the surface.

For all of Carlton’s brilliance over the past 15 weeks, there is something brilliant about Geelong’s past 25 years that made the gradual grind over Carlton after giving up a near four-goal lead inevitable. They overpowered the Blues with the assuredness of a side that does not understand that some clubs don’t play football in September. The Cats play finals like the best Carlton teams used to.

Geelong now face the chastened Fremantle in Perth next week in a semi-final with Max Holmes nursing the soreness of a bloke who has rushed to be fit from an ankle injury in round 19 and had to get himself through the game. Tanner Bruhn looked proppy for much of the night, and Jeremy Cameron was still short of touch after missing five games late in the season.

Scott started Cameron, who won his second Coleman Medal just last year, at half-back. We can’t say we weren’t told – Chris Scott had flagged at the end of the season that he might do it. Cameron then migrated to the wing and eventually returned forward.

Scott liked what he saw of him as a defender, but liked more what he saw of him growing into the game the longer it went on.

Patrick Dangerfield kicked five goals, three of which came in the last quarter as the Cats jollied away. Last September he had a great preliminary final and then struggled to back it up the next week. This year, even with a flight to Perth for a semi-final and every week being a knockout final, Scott said Dangerfield felt “like he is coming good at the right time”.

The difference in Friday night’s game shifted not off the boot of the usual Geelong suspects, but the underrated Shaun Mannagh, who was excellent all night but especially so in the third quarter when his run and craft opened the game up as the Cats kicked six goals to two.

The forward spent a lot more time playing midfield and continues to look like a better player the more that is asked of him. With each new step in his career, he appears get better.

“I am still a forward at heart – still a forward,” he said.

“[Assistant coach] James Kelly says some funny things. He goes, ‘Everyone wants to be in a CB [centre bounce] until they’re in there, and then all hell breaks loose and everything’s on you’. So sometimes it feels like that, but a lot of us boys love that pressure and we step into it as best we can. But, nah, I’m a forward at heart.”

Mannagh embraced the crowd and the moment, and understood the Carlton surge. He also understood the difference in attitude to the excitement of the Blues, and his side winning a final again.

“It’s another elimination game. We have an elimination [game] all the way through. We respect Fremantle like we respect Carlton, and it’s going to take our best footy again [next week], so hopefully we can do it again. Another four points (um, no).

“People might be sick of us, and they can be – we love winning, and we’ll keep doing that. We’re not going to hide from it. If you’re not trying to win, then what are you trying to do? It’s no point being in this competition. So, we’ve got a huge game next week and, hopefully, we’ve got three more games [this season].”

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