Hawthorn + Geelong = classic

It's a proven formula that has rarely failed since the birth of this rivalry.

We've taken a look at the best five games between these two clubs over the past four decades. 

5. Qualifying final, 2016

We know this isn’t one you’d like to relive but it wouldn’t be doing this countdown justice if it were to miss out.

(And, it's a little ironic that we're now preparing to face the man in question). 

Having finished top four after the home and away season, the Hawks faced the Cats for a place in the preliminary final.

Tasked with taking the ball ‘coast to coast’, from one end of the ground to the other, with half a minute remaining in the game, the odds were probably in Geelong’s favour.

But as this great Hawthorn side, hunting a fourth consecutive premiership, had so often done, it found a way through the Cats defence and a way to shot on goal for Isaac Smith.

The wingman marked the ball 35 metres out on a 45 degree angle five seconds before the siren. Trailing by three points, his side needed him to convert truly, the prelim beckoned.

But Issie’s shot was wayward.

The Cats instead had snatched that spot in the preliminary final, though neither side would go on to make the big dance.

Despite the result, the fact that one side could pinch the win with a shot after the siren indicates just how epic this instalment was.

4. Round 6, 1989

When football fans think of the Hawthorn-Geelong rivalry from 1989, there is only one game that immediately springs to mind.

And deservedly so; the 1989 Grand Final was arguably the greatest decider ever played.

But if you think back a little further, a little deeper, you may dig up a faint memory of a clash between these sides from Round 6 that same year.

To say that Geelong burst out of the blocks in the opening half of this Round 6 clash would be an enormous understatement.

By half-time, the Cats had booted 17.6 108 to lead the Hawks by 49 points. Hawks fans at Princes Park at that point may have been contemplating departing for home, as the Cats appeared to be at their indomitable best. But the Hawks bit back.

You shudder at the thought of what Allan Jeans might have served up his troops in the rooms of half-time, but whatever it was it worked!

The Hawks piled on seven third-quarter goals to their opponents’ two. It was game on, with the Cats leading by a much more palatable 19 points at three-quarter time.

But that third quarter burst was just an entrée to what the Hawks created in the final term. Hawthorn booted 10 goals to round out the game, an incredible feat that outscored their entire first half. They ran away victors thanks to a three-pronged effort from forwards Dermott Brereton (five goals), Gary Buckenara (five) and Jason Dunstall (four). Little-known Geelong forward Gavin Exell was the star for his side, booting nine goals.

3. Preliminary final, 2013

“What they don't have, I think, is the quality of some of our players; they don't have the psychological drive we have. We've beaten Geelong when it matters.”

It would have been impossible for Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett to foresee what ultimately ensued from his comments following the 2008 Grand Final.

Now a part of football folklore, the words sparked the Cats into a private pact that demanded of each other that they “never lose to Hawthorn again”.

And, the Geelong players made good on this internal promise for a very long time. 11 games spanning across five seasons went the Cats way.

It wasn’t as if Hawthorn couldn’t get close – eight of these losses were single-digit margins – but that just heightened the fame of the so-called Kennett Curse.

Thankfully for Hawthorn fans, the Curse was broken at the perfect time with the brown and gold triumphing in the 2013 preliminary final.

Despite the Cats holding a 20-point lead at three-quarter time, the Hawks supporters’ pleas of “not again” were answered by the football gods.

Geelong managed just one goal in the final term compared to the Hawks’ four, which included that famous Shaun Burgoyne goal and, gratefully, Alastair Clarkson’s side had booked itself a ticket to the big dance. We all know what happened next.....

2. Grand Final, 2008

It was difficult to make a case for Hawthorn ahead of the 2008 Grand Final.

Reigning premiers, Geelong had lost just one home and away game that season and had coasted through its finals campaign to that point.

Hawthorn were by no means chumps, but they were facing a side that was being touted as one of the most dominant of all-time.

The opening half was barely able to split the two sides: the Cats led by a solitary point at the first change, then the Hawks took a three-point buffer into the main break.

In reality, the lead should have been Geelong’s at that point, with Mark Thompson’s side missing a number of ‘gettable’ shots at goal.

The Cats’ goalkicking woes would continue to haunt them for the remainder of the day as they posted a final score of 11.23 89 compared to the straight-shooting Hawks’ 18.7 115.

It was an epic performance by a young Hawthorn side who had relatively little finals experience and the victory foreshadowed the dynasty that was ahead for the brown and gold.

1. Grand Final, 1989

Widely considered the greatest Grand Final of all-time, it was the Hawks that ultimately prevailed this high-scoring and high-drama affair.

For the Hawks, they were looking to record back-to-back premierships for the first time in club history while history was against the Cats who had not won a flag since 1963.

The opening stages of the game saw arguably the most infamous moment of this storied match, with Geelong’s Mark Yeates ran through Dermott Brereton, leaving him with broken ribs and a bruised kidney.

But Brereton would play on. His courage would help to inspire the Hawks to a level of dominance that saw them lead by at least six goals at every change.

If you thought this was over, you were wrong; the Cats weren’t done with just yet.

Inspired by Gary Ablett Snr who kicked a record-breaking nine goals on the day, Malcolm Blight’s side stormed home in the final term, kicking eight goals to the Hawks’ three, to give the Michael Tuck-captained team an enormous scare.

Ultimately, the Hawks were able to hold on by a kick to claim the club’s eighth premiership victory in an immortal performance.