AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
2017
2017
Round 1 - Geelong Cats (115) @ (73) Fremantle Dockers - Geelong started their season with a bang, dominating Fremantle at the Domain Stadium. The Cats were in control from the start and a 6-goal 2nd quarter gave them a 39 point lead at the half, 69-30. Geelong kept the pressure on in the 2nd half and 7 more goals completed the win. The stars for Geelong were Tom Hawkins (3 goals, 5 marks), Patrick Dangerfield (24 disposals, 9 tackles, 3 goals), Mitch Duncan (30 disposals, 9 marks, 1 goal) and Joel Selwood (28 disposals). Fremantle featured Nat Fyfe (28 disposals, 4 tackles, 1 goal) and Aaron Sandilands (15 disposals, 48 hit-outs) but struggled with turnovers and poor shooting (10, Next day re-broadcast missing approx. 5 mins in each quarter, 1 Disc, FOX - Hudson/Healy/Pavlich/King, PAL)
Round 3 - Hawthorn Hawks (53) @ (139) Gold Coast Suns - In a match-up of 2 teams looking for their first win of the season, it was the home-town Suns who broke their duck in record-making fashion. The Suns claimed their 1st ever win over the Hawks and did it by setting a team record for their biggest ever win. The Suns dominated from the off and led 50-24 at the half before throttling the Hawks with a 10 goal 3rd quarter. The stars for the Gold Coast were Gary Ablett Jr (36 disposals, 4 tackles, 2 goals), David Swallow (34 disposals, 6 tackles), Tom Lynch (7 marks, 2 goals) and Brandon Matera (19 disposals, 6 goals). The Hawks featured Ricky Henderson (29 disposals, 9 marks), Jarryd Roughead (3 goals) and Jack Gunston (15 disposals, 9 marks, 3 behinds) (9, 2 Discs, FOX - Russell/Brown/Lynch/Dixon, PAL)
Round 4 - Geelong Cats (134) @ (48) Hawthorn Hawks - In a battle between 3-0 Geelong and 0-3 Hawthorn, the result went true to form as the Cats dominated the Hawks at the MCG. After a tight 1st quarter where the Hawks only trailed by 7 points, the Cats took control and went in at the half with a 42-18 lead. The Hawks tried to mount a comeback in the 3rd quarter but the Cats re-grouped and finished the game with an 11-goal final quarter to seal the win. Geelong featured man-of-the-match Steven Motlop (33 disposals, 3 goals), Mitch Duncan (32 disposals, 2 goals), Tom Hawkins (6 marks, 4 goals, 2 behinds) and Daniel Menzel (3 goals). Hawthorn featured Luke Hodge (35 disposals, 5 tackles), James Sicily (10 marks, 2 goals, 2 behinds) and Tom Mitchell (32 disposals, 10 tackles) (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/McLachlan/Matthews/Ling/Sewell, PAL)
Round 9 - Western Bulldogs (81) @ (104) Geelong Cats - Geelong ended their 3 game losing streak with a big home win at a re-vamped Simonds Stadium. The Bulldogs had the slight edge after the 1st quarter but the Cats scored 5.5 in the 2nd quarter to take a 53-27 lead in at the half. The Bulldogs surged back in front in the 3rd quarter but the Cats kicked 7 goals in the final quarter to run away with the victory. Geelong set a club single game record by making 134 tackles, led by Mitch Duncan (18 tackles) and Scott Selwood (17 tackles). Geelong also featured Patrick Dangerfield (36 disposals, 4 goals) and Harry Taylor (13 disposals, 5 marks, 5 goals). The Bulldogs featured Caleb Daniel (28 disposals, 5 marks), Mitch Wallis (26 disposals, 2 goals) and Jack Redpath (2 goals) (9, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/Taylor/Carey/Ling/Richardson, PAL)
Round 10 - Port Adelaide Power (79) @ (81) Geelong Cats - On a night when Geelong celebrated the 10 year anniversary of their 2007 Premiership, the 2017 Cats rewarded them with a tight home win. In a very physical game, both teams were evenly matched, with Port making the most of their few chances by kicking goals while the Cats dominated the inside-50 stats but could only kick behinds. The game was settled in the final 1.5 minutes as Patrick Dangerfield (24 disposals, 3 goals) kicked the game-winning goal and the Defense held on for the victory. Geelong also featured a big game from captain Joel Selwood (33 disposals, 7 marks, 4 tackles), Sam Menegola (20 disposals, 10 marks, 1 goal) and Scott Selwood (15 disposals, 17 tackles, 1 goal). Port Adelaide featured Olie Wines (31 disposals, 8 tackles), Robbie Gray (15 disposals, 4 marks, 3 goals) and Brad Ebert (19 disposals, 10 tackles) (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/McLachlan/Richardson/Pearce, PAL)
Round 11 - Adelaide Crows (74) @ (96) Geelong Cats - #3 Geelong continued #1 Adelaide's long losing streak at Simonds Stadium with a 22 point win on a Friday Night. The Cats used great Defense to hold the high-scoring Crows well under their season average and their goal-kicking made sure that they led at every change. Geelong featured Joel Selwood (35 disposals, 4 tackles, 1 goal), Patrick Dangerfield (31 disposals, 3 goals), Daniel Menzel (3 goals) and Tom Hawkins (2 goals), in his 200th game. Adelaide featured Brad Crouch (28 disposals, 7 tackles) and Taylor Walker (12 disposals, 8 marks, 3 goals) (10, 2 Discs, CH7 - McAvaney/Taylor/Carey/Ling/Richardson, PAL)