GEELONG 2.1 7.6 12.7 17.10 (112)
NORTH MELBOURNE 6.2 8.6 16.8 17.9 (111)
Goals: Geelong: D Menzel 4, T Hawkins 4, G Horlin-Smith 2, B Parfitt, D Lang, J Thurlow, L Henderson, M Blicavs, M Duncan, P Dangerfield. North Melbourne: B Brown 3, K Turner 2, L Thomas 2, S Higgins 2, J MacMillan, J Simpkin, L McDonald, M Daw, M Williams, S Gibson, T Dumont, T Garner.
Best: Geelong: P Dangerfield, J Selwood, D Menzel, M Duncan, Z Tuohy, H Taylor, T Hawkins. North Melbourne: S Higgins, R Tarrant, T Dumont, B Cunnington, J Ziebell, B Preuss, M Daw.
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Troy Pannell, Sam Hay.
Venue: Etihad Stadium.
This was not supposed to happen. All logic says it would not happen. Geelong led this game for one minute. The only minute that mattered.
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Cats win thriller by a point
North Melbourne lead the charge against the Cats until the final quarter where George Horlin-Smith of Geelong kicks the winning goal.
North Melbourne had led by as much as 32 points. Twice they led by more than five goals. The statistics affirm that any team that leads by five goals or more in the third term – as North did – win 95 per cent of games. This was the five per cent.
North's bravery to run abandoned them in the last quarter. North coach Brad Scott put it down to young bodies that had the will but not the endurance to sustain four quarters of daring and adventure.
It could also be put down to George Horlin-Smith's resolve to hang his nose over the ball and be tackled and draw a high free but even more so his calmness to convert his kick that gave his side the one-point lead.
It could be down to Harry Taylor moving back into a free roving role behind the ball once the five-goal lead had been surrendered in the third quarter. Or it could be the goal on the three-quarter-time siren from Tom Hawkins – who had been as bad as he was good for most of the day – which gave the Cats their sniff of a chance.
It could also be put down to the twin impacts of Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood, solid without being outstanding on the day, lifting to carry their team to the line. Dangerfield had five clearances, nine contested possessions and thee inside fifties in the last quarter.
You can be flippant with numbers and question Dangerfield's kicking over the game but his impact in the last cannot be questioned.
"When we got back to the middle at the last change we thought there were seven seconds left not 70 seconds left so little things like that [didn't go right]," Selwood said.
"A lot didn't go right on the day for us but you have got to grind some out sometimes and we were able to do that today."
Selwood said Scott did not try to reinvent their game at three-quarter-time as they trailed by 25 points, it was a more measured insistence that they stick to the game they know works.
"We just attacked with a bit more credit than what we were doing in the first half," Selwood said.
"We hit the last line a little bit harder and the boys were pretty good down there. We didn't give away free kicks down there which did help." His last line a reference to the fact Hawkins gave away as many free kicks (five) as he took marks. He did finish with four goals so he was narrowly on the positive side of the ledger.
North's day can be summed up by Trent Dumont. Young and vibrant he was aggressive and industrious on Dangerfield and for most of the day had the better of the Brownlow medallist but when it mattered in the last quarter the experience and maturity gained the narrow edge.
Geelong also had just 14 tackles to half-time so lifting their energy around the ball was clearly something to address.
"That's definitely not good enough [14 tackles to half-time], when we play our best footy it has got to be higher. It's something we will look to improve," Selwood said.
North were more purposeful and direct with their ball use for most of the game. They were eager to move it on quickly and taking risks with their kicking out of defence.
From the first bounce it was their preparedness to search out a teammate with aggressive choices from half-back that enabled them to lead by four goals within 20 minutes, a lead they essentially held for three quarters.
Shaun Higgins was dominant through the middle for those three quarters, Braydon Preuss, brought in to cover the late withdrawal of Todd Goldstein who had rolled his ankle on Friday, dominated the hit outs throughout but as the game wore on Mitch Duncan, Dangerfield and Selwood were clever at sharking his tap and earning first use even despite losing the ruck.
VOTES
Shaun Higgins (NM) 8
Patty Dangerfield (Geel) 8
Joel Selwood (Geel) 7
Robbie Tarrant (NM) 7
Daniel Menzel (Geel) 7