GEELONG 8.2 Â 11.6 Â 14.10 Â 24.11 (155)
MELBOURNE 2.0 Â 3.2 Â 3.6 Â 6.8 (44)
GOALS: Geelong – Hawkins 6, Menzel 4, Bartel 3, Menegola 3, Caddy 2, Motlop 2, Taylor, J Selwood, McCarthy, Duncan. Melbourne – Garlett 2, Brayshaw, vandenBerg, Hogan, Weideman.
BEST: Geelong – Hawkins, Dangerfield, J Selwood, Menegola, Menzel, Caddy, Blicavs, Taylor. Melbourne: Jones, Brayshaw, Harmes.
INJURIES: Geelong – Kolodjashnij (calf).Â
UMPIRESÂ Mollison, Nicholls, Margetts.
CROWDÂ 24,413 at Simonds Stadium.
There are incentives, and then there are incentives. Melbourne had a compelling reason to win on Saturday in Geelong. Paul Roos had taken them from the AFL's laughing stock to the cusp of a first finals berth in a decade. There could be few better ways to see him off into the sunset than with a win at Simonds Stadium - a house of horrors for the Demons for nigh on three decades.
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Cats thump listless Demons
Geelong warmed up for the final series with a 111-point drilling of Melbourne.
But such inspiration is intangible. Geelong's motive to win was much more concrete. Victory would ensure a home qualifying final. Lose, and they would be vulnerable to missing the double chance all together. Roos' legacy wasn't going to be altered drastically regardless of the result. Geelong's premiership chances were very much on the line.
As such it should come as no surprise that the Cats not only beat Melbourne, they made near-certain of it by quarter-time, inflicted the heaviest loss of Roos' 268-game coaching career, and sparked the possibility Geelong could pinch top spot from Sydney.
There were sour notes for the hosts though in the 111-point thumping, with injury scares for defenders Jake Kolodjashnij (leg), Andrew Mackie (hamstring) and Jed Bews (adductor).
Geelong's start was ideal. There should not be any real risk of Patrick Dangerfield missing out on the Brownlow Medal, even less so after Rory Sloane's suspension during the week. But if there was any doubt, Dangerfield looked in a mood to grab his final three votes of the season. He stormed out of the middle to win the first clearance of the game.
Playing perhaps for the last time at Simonds Stadium, Jimmy Bartel marked from the ensuing forward thrust, and duly kicked the game's first goal from 20 metres out. The next centre bounce was a carbon copy, with Dangerfield again breaking away - sending the ball to Tom Hawkins who grabbed and converted his set shot. It was to be a theme of the first term.
Hawkins has been a champion for Geelong, but has rarely reached great heights over the past two seasons. But he may be timing his run to perfection. Moving freely, he burnt off Tom McDonald to kick four majors by the first change. It was as many as Hawkins had kicked in a game all season.
The contrast with opposing spearhead Jesse Hogan was dramatic. Starved of chances due to Geelong's dominance in the middle, the Melbourne full-forward went kickless to quarter-time. As the teams changed ends the margin was 38 points. The Cats led the inside 50s 18-8, and tellingly were well ahead in the tackle count, a measure that is often acknowledged as a proxy for effort.
Melbourne put the clamps on early in the second term. Angus Brayshaw toe-poked through a goal from close range, but they wouldn't kick another until the final term. Geelong again took control, as Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Josh Caddy dominated in the midfield.
After a fine season, Demon big man Max Gawn's impact in the ruck was negligible, while the Dees' forwards output was summed up by a dismal attempted dribble from Jeff Garlett which ended out of bounds. By half-time the gap was 52 points, extended to 70 after a lacklustre third stanza in which the Cats rarely reached great heights, but were still vastly superior to Melbourne.
Geelong again lifted their intensity in the final term as Hawkins and Sam Menegola sent the margin towards triple figures. Late majors to Caddy, Bartel and Daniel Menzel made it a 10-goal final term for Geelong, ensuring a humiliating exit for Roos - whose reputation has been so famously built on defence.Â
There were a few first-half concerns for Geelong: a shoulder knock for Dangerfield, a neck complaint for Selwood and the winding of Tom Ruggles. But this was a largely worry-free day for the inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow.
The depths plumbed by the Demons under Mark Neeld should not be forgotten. Roos arrived at a desperate club where things had somehow got even worse from the theoretical nadir of a 186-point defeat to the Cats at this venue five years ago, a loss that had spelled the coaching end of Neeld's predecessor Dean Bailey.
So Roos' tenure can still be deemed a qualified success. But having threatened to steam into the finals, Melbourne's season has again ended with a whimper - last week's shock loss to Carlton and then this insipid display. Not for the first time for the Dees it's been a tale of two steps forward, one step back.
VOTES
(Daniel Cherny)Â
Tom Hawkins (Geel) 8
Paddy Dangerfield (Geel) 8
Joel Selwood (Geel) 8
Sam Menegola (Geel) 7
Daniel Menzel (Geel) 7
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