GEELONG 4.4 5.9 12.11 15.15 (105)
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.0 8.1 11.2 12.2 (74)
Goals: Geelong: Menzel 4, Kersten 3, Bartel 2, Dangerfield 2, Lang, Caddy, Duncan, Motlop. North Melbourne: Harvey 4, Petrie 2, Ziebell 2, Wood 2, McDonald, Thomas.
Best: Geelong: Dangerfield, Selwood, Menzel, Taylor, Bartel, Duncan. North Melbourne: Wells, Gibson, Harvey, Ziebell, Macmillan, Tarrant.
Umpires: Donlon, Stevic, Stephens.
Official crowd: 44,045 at Etihad Stadium.
You can fall into the trap of hyperbole occasionally when it comes to watching star players in action. But there was no danger of overdoing the superlatives when it came to the subject of Patrick Dangerfield on Saturday night.
The midfield star might not have been the only reason Geelong recorded arguably their best win of the season, but he was so far and away the most influential factor in this game it wasn't funny.
His impact began immediately the game did, the former Crow winning 15 first-term possessions, winning clearances, contested ball, uncontested, you name it, he won it. The Dangerfield influence never waned thereafter.
And fittingly, it was he who effectively iced this game, putting the Cats 28 points in front midway through the last quarter after an entertaining contest which see-sawed early before Geelong took control in the third term.
In the end, Dangerfield finished with a personal-best 48 possessions and indisputably the best individual performance of the season. If it wasn't the perfect game, then there can never be one.
The dominance started when he had a major hand in one of the Cats' four goals for the first term and booted another himself, a classy effort in which he took the ball, shrugged Aaron Mullett's tackle with ease and unleashed off one step.
Jimmy Bartel, Daniel Menzel and Darcy Lang had the others,
Joel Selwood, despite the attentions of North skipper Andrew Swallow, was almost as damaging, particularly out of the middle, where he and Dangerfield had by half-time had won nine of Geelong's centre clearances.
North's job looked even harder, too, once Swallow was lost for the rest of the evening late in the first term after a heavy tackle from Cat Lincoln McCarthy.
The Cats kicked a goal when he was still being picked off the deck, and more looked set to follow, particularly after Menzel had the first of the second term on the board within 30 seconds of the restart.
North Melbourne had managed to keep hanging in there, as much by virtue of their accuracy as anything. But a sudden change came over proceedings at that point, and his name was Brent Harvey.
He was on the end of a good chain of play after a dropped mark by Shane Kersten at the other end saw Geelong turnover the ball and fluff and chance to go 16 points up.
Luke McDonald was next, with just the second goal of his near 50-game career, then it was "Boomer" time again – first converting from 40 metres out, then, spectacularly, on the run from a tight angle. He'd kicked three in 10 minutes, and as quickly as they'd looked in a bit of bother, the Roos were suddenly 14 points clear.
Now, it wasn't just about efficient conversion for North, it was as much about their cleaner handling and disposal.
And so for the next momentum swing. And the most decisive. Like the second term, Geelong had the first goal of the third quarter on the board within 30 seconds. And this time, it was far from a mirage.
In fact, the Cats rattled on the first five of the quarter, three of them to Kersten, who very effectively redeemed his ordinary first half with three goals in just eight minutes, three grabs, three very efficient conversions.
Like so many games under the roof, possession out of the middle seemed to be even more important than usual. And in no area was the advantage of one team over the other more pronounced than here, the centre clearance numbers by the last change up to 17-6 the Cats' way.
While the gap was only 15 points at the final change, you sensed, the way the Cats had turned on the afterburners, it was going to take something pretty special from the Roos.
That was something they didn't have. Certainly not at the level one P. Dangerfield reached this night. Forget about the three votes come the Brownlow night, they're his. And if this were a true representation of impact, he'd get the two and the one as well.
GEELONG v NORTH MELBOURNE
Votes
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) 10
Joel Selwood (Geel) 9
Daniel Menzel (Geel) 8
Harry Taylor (Geel) 8
Daniel Wells (NM) 7