In a Tweet
Cyril’s sizzles with six, Hodge stars in the midfield and up forward in our second win against the Cats this season.
The Rundown
It was a high quality encounter between Hawthorn and Geelong, the Hawks were made to play some of their best football to account for the Cats by a margin of 36 points – largely thanks to contributions from the Hawks' big names
Hawthorn played at their attacking best in the first quarter to extend the margin out to 31 points midway through the term, with a superb Luke Hodge goal from the boundary line putting an exclamation mark on what was a dominant opening.
The Hawks piled on three unanswered goals to blow the lead out to just under six goals before three-quarter time after Geelong got as close as 10 points mid-way through the quarter.
That’s where the margin stayed for most of the final term, ensuring the Hawks would claim the four premiership points and continue their push to sew up a top four finish
The Star
Cyril Rioli was simply unstoppable in the forward half for most of the night. He made every one of his 12 disposals count, kicking six goals in a best on ground display that earned him three Brownlow votes.
Luke Hodge produced a dominant display in the midfield and up forward, collecting 24 disposals and four goals in a true captain’s performance.
The Moment
After Jarryd Roughead made a spoil on Jimmy Bartel inside Hawthorn’s attacking 50, Hodge received a handball from Puopolo and, with two Geelong defenders closing in, calmly eyed the goals and split the middle with a classy left foot drop punt from the boundary line which brought Hawthorn fans to their feet.
The Coach
“It hasn’t been too often that we’ve been able to beat the Cats by that margin for a long period of time so we’ll take it.” – Alastair Clarkson
GEELONG 3.2 6.7 10.8 12.13 (85)
HAWTHORN 7.2 9.4 15.7 19.7 (121)
GOALS
Geelong: Guthrie 3, Hawkins 2, Johnson 2, Selwood, Lang, Cockatoo, Lang, Walker
Hawthorn: Rioli 6, Hodge 4, Breust 3, Roughead 2, Shiels, Gunston, Smith, Puopolo
BEST
Geelong: Guthrie, Selwood, Enright, Johnson, Hawkins, Lang
Hawthorn: Rioli, Hodge, Mitchell, Shiels, Breust, Birchall, McEvoy, Puopolo
INJURIES
Geelong: Tom Lonergan (illness) replaced in selected side by Jared Rivers, James Kelly (ankle)
Hawthorn: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: James Kelly (ankle) replaced by Nakia Cockatoo in the third quarter
Hawthorn: David Hale replaced by Daniel Howe in the fourth quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Hosking, Meredith
Official crowd: 55,802 at the MCG
