AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
2025
Round 5 - Geelong Cats (119) @ (100) Adelaide Crows - Both teams opened the Gather Round with a high-scoring shootout at the Adelaide Oval, and it was the Cats that emerged victorious. Adelaide dominated the 1st half, spurred on by the raucous crowd, and ran out to a 30-point lead in the 2nd quarter. But the Cats fought back, and after pulling level in the 2nd half, they used a big 4th quarter to pull away and beat the Crows. Both teams combined for 33 goals. Geelong featured Patrick Dangerfield (4 goals, 16 disposals, 7 marks, 4 tackles), Jeremy Cameron (4 goals, 6 marks), Bailey Smith (35 disposals, 1 goal) and Max Holmes (32 disposals, 7 tackles). Adelaide featured Darcy Fogarty (4 goals, 15 disposals), Ben Keays (3 goals, 18 disposals), Matt Crouch (28 disposals) and Izak Rankine (25 disposals, 4 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, CH7 - Unknown, PAL)
Round 6 - Geelong Cats (86) @ (79) Hawthorn Hawks - In front of 88,746 fans at the MCG, the 2 old enemies played out an intense match on Easter Monday. The game featured plenty of hard tackles, with Gryan Miers leaving the game with a concussion, and Bailey Smith added to the needle when he slammed the Sherrin into Jarman Impey's head when the ball went out of bounds. Geelong led from start to finish but needed to hold off a 4th quarter charge from the Hawks to take the win. Geelong featured Patrick Dangerfield (3 goals, 11 disposals, 3 tackles), Bailey Smith (28 disposals) and Tom Atkins (24 disposals, 9 tackles). Hawthorn featured Jack Gunston (3 goals, 16 disposals, 8 marks), Karl Amon (29 disposals, 4 tackles) and Jai Newcombe (28 disposals, 9 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, CH7 - Taylor/Brayshaw/Hodge/Selwood/Holmes, PAL)
Round 8 - Geelong Cats (90) v (87) Collingwood Magpies - A battle between 2 of the top teams in the competition at the MCG didn't disappoint, as the Cats survived a goal attempt at the siren to win the game. Both teams went at it from the start, and as the game progressed the Pies ran out to a 20 point lead in the 3rd quarter. But the Cats weren't done and dominated the 4th quarter to take a 17 point lead with 3 minutes to play. The Pies mounted another comeback and, when they marked 45M from goal as the siren sounded, the win seemed to be there for the taking. But the kicked sailed wide and the Cats celebrated the win. Geelong featured big games from Bailey Smith (34 disposals, 1 goal) and Patrick Dangerfield (29 disposals, 4 tackles, 1 goal) and also featured Shaun Mannagh (2 goals). Collingwood featured Brody Mihocek (4 goals, 6 marks), Josh Daicos (32 disposals), Nick Daicos (28 disposals) and Scott Pendlebury (26 disposals, 9 marks, 4 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, FOX - Hudson/Howard/Dunstall/Lyon, PAL)
Round 10 - Geelong Cats (115) @ (39) Port Adelaide Power - Geelong extended their win streak at the Adelaide Oval to 5 games with a big win against the Power. In a game marred by injuries (3 for Port, 2 for Geelong) it was the Cats that adapted the best and rode the hot-kicking of star forward Jeremy Cameron to the win. After a low-scoring 1st half, which the Cats led by 9 at the long break, Geelong broke open the game in the 3rd quarter by out-scoring the Power 5 goals to 1 to take a commanding lead, then they coasted home to victory. Geelong featured Jeremy Cameron (7 goals, 9 marks), Ollie Dempsey (2 goals, 24 disposals), Bailey Smith (30 disposals, 8 marks, 5 tackles) and Mark O'Connor (28 disposals, 11 marks). Port Adelaide featured Sam Powell-Pepper (2 goals, 23 disposals), Connor Rozee (32 disposals, 7 marks) and Ollie Wines (28 disposals, 11 marks, 6 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, FOX - Russell/Ricciuto/Burgoyne/Dixon, PAL)
Round 11 - Western Bulldogs (113) @ (127) Geelong Cats - A hotly-anticipated match-up between 2 high-scoring teams didn't disappoint, as the Cats held off a spirited Bulldogs fightback in the 2nd half to win the game. The sub-plot was also former Bulldog Bailey Smith facing off against his old team for the first time. The Cats had the better of the 1st half and ran out to a 70-45 lead at the break. But the Bulldogs fought back, tieing the game with 8 minutes to play, before the Cats surged again and scored 3 goals to seal the win. Geelong featured Jeremy Cameron (6 goals, 8 marks), Shannon Neale (5 goals), Bailey Smith (33 disposals, 7 tackles) and Max Holmes (33 disposals). The Western Bulldogs featured Matthew Kennedy (3 goals, 25 disposals), Tom Liberatore (31 disposals, 8 tackles) and Ed Richards (28 disposals, 7 tackles) (9, 1st half hi-lites and 2nd half live, 1 Disc, CH7 - Taylor/McLachlan/Cornes/Hodge/Cleary, PAL)
Round 14 - Geelong Cats (151) @ (56) Essendon Bombers - Geelong's big stars shone at the MCG as the Cats recorded their biggest score of the season against an over-matched Essendon team. The Cats were at their free-flowing best in the 1st half and led by 35 points at the long break. Both teams traded goals in the 3rd quarter, but the Cats held the Bombers goal-less in the 4th quarter to wrap up the win. Geelong featured big games from Jeremy Cameron (6 goals, 14 disposals), Bailey Smith (41 disposals) and Max Holmes (36 disposals) while 11 individual goal kickers contributed to the win. Essendon featured Will Setterfield (31 disposals, 10 tackles), Zach Merrett (29 disposals) and Jye Caldwell (28 disposals, 10 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, FOX - Hudson/Howard/Dunstall/Lyon/Jones, PAL)
Round 17 - Richmond Tigers (52) @ (124) Geelong Cats - Geelong coach Chris Scott celebrated his 350th game in charge with a resounding win over a young Richmond team at GMHBA Stadium. The Tigers kept the game close in the 1st quarter, but the Cats scored 10 unanswered goals in the 2nd quarter to blow the game open and coasted home to the win. Geelong featured Jeremy Cameron (4 goals, 19 disposals, 11 marks), Max Holmes (36 disposals, 781 metres gained) and Gryan Miers (29 disposals) but were missing Bailey Smith to illness. The Cats also gave a debut to George Stevens, who celebrated with his 1st career goal. Richmond featured Rhyan Mansell (3 goals, 22 disposals, 8 marks), Jacob Hopper (27 disposals) and Sam Banks (26 disposals) (9, 2 Discs, FOX - Russell/Dumstall/Buckley/Schleicher, PAL)
Round 20 - Melbourne Demons (90) @ (96) St.Kilda Saints - In a sensational game at Marvel Stadium, St.Kilda stunned the Demons with the biggest comeback in VFL/AFL history. Melbourne dominated the opening 3 quarters and led by 46 points at 3-quarter time. But the Saints changed tactics and went into all-out attack, clawing their way back into the game and scored the game winning goal after the siren to win an unforgettable game. The goal came after Melbourne conceded a free kick at the ensuing centre bounce for a 6–6–6 infringement, and St Kilda quickly kicked forward to Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (4 goals, 34 disposals), who marked and kicked the winning goal (9, 1 hour 12 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, CH7 - Nicholson/Bennett/Riewoldt/J.Selwood/Phillips, PAL)
Qualifying Final - Geelong Cats (112) v (74) Brisbane Lions - Geelong overcame the reigning Premiers with a resounding win at the MCG and booked their place in the Preliminary Final. The Cats were in charge from start to finish, leading at every change, as 13 different players goaled in the game. The game wasn't without controversy, with the Lions Cam Rayner at the centre of the storm. Just before half-time, as the Cats lined up for a goal, Rayner fell to the ground in the opposite goal square after a slight nudge. The umpire was fooled and Rayner was awarded a free-kick in front of the goal. After he kicked the goal, Rayner was again nudged and fell to the ground and again the umpire fell for it, awarding another free-kick in front of the goal that he converted. A potential 27 point half-time lead for the Cats suddenly became a slim 15 point lead. The Cats re-grouped and dominated the 2nd half, though, out-scoring the Lions 8 goals to 4, and coasted home. Geelong featured Ollie Dempsey (3 goals, 25 disposals), who had a big game including a sensational volleyed goal, Max Holmes (23 disposals, 6 tackles) and Tom Stewart (22 disposals, 3 tackles). Brisbane also featured Dayne Zorko (35 disposals, 7 marks), Josh Dunkley (30 disposals, 11 tackles) and Will Ashcroft (30 disposals, 6 tackles) (9, 1 hour 12 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, CH7 - Unknown, PAL)
Preliminary Final - Geelong Cats (115) v (95) Hawthorn Hawks - The big rivals played out a classic at the MCG, and it was the Cats that prevailed to book a place in the Grand Final. A crowd of 99,567 at the MCG (a record for a non-Grand Final match since 1971) saw the Cats Captain Patrick Dangerfield (3 goals, 31 disposals) play arguably his best Finals game as the Cats fought adversity and a surging Hawks team to win the game. Hawthorn ran all over Geelong in the 1st Quarter and capitalised on the Cats losing key Defender Tom Stewart to concussion. The Cats re-grouped and fought back to a 1-point lead at the long break then surged ahead in the 3rd quarter, led by an unplayable Dangerfield. Hawthorn mounted a mini-comeback in the 4th quarter, but the Cats held firm and celebrated the huge win. Geelong also featured Tyson Stengle (3 goals, 6 tackles), Jeremy Cameron (3 goals, 6 marks) and Bailey Smith (678 metres gained, 36 disposals, 6 tackles). Hawthorn featured Jack Gunston (3 goals, 15 disposals, 7 marks), Karl Amon (704 metres gained, 28 disposals, 7 marks) and Dylan Moore (26 disposals, 6 tackles) (9, 2 Discs, CH7 - Brayshaw/Nicholson/Richardson/Thomas/Holmes, PAL)