Stewart takes Cats to victory despite pitch invasion; Hamstring fears for Dangerfield

GEELONG 14.12 (96) d ADELAIDE 11.11 (77)

KEY POINTS

TERRIFIC TOMS: Tom Hawkins took the match by the scruff of the neck in a dynamic third quarter which stymied Adelaide’s resurgence. The evergreen Geelong spearhead, set to play his 350th game against Hawthorn on Easter Monday as he closes in on long-time former teammate Joel Selwood’s club record 355, He twice outduelled Jordon Butts, marking and goaling expertly - after Izak Rankine had briefly given the Crows the lead - before booting his fourth for the night and third for the quarter with a crafty left-foot snap. At the other end, Tom Stewart was at his intercepting, defensive best - but his 150th game will be best remembered for a mark that wasn’t. Hinge’s long rebound was almost pulled down spectacularly by Stewart, who soared majestically above Luke Pedlar’s head on the outer side for an early mark-of-the-year contender, only for the ball to slip through his hands. The gun backman was best-afield in the Cats’ 19-point win, which takes them to 2-0.

FOG’S UPS AND DOWNS: Darcy Fogarty enhanced his standing as the future leader of Adelaide’s “post-Tex” forward line with his power-packed third-quarter cameo. Held goalless in the Gold Coast drizzle a week ago, Fogarty set Adelaide Oval alight when he followed a don’t-argue fend-off of Oisin Mullin with a wonderful goal, 22 seconds into the second half. Moments later he conjured a sublime half-volley pick-up, shrugged off Tom Stewart then handballed to Matt Crouch, whose square-up pass found Taylor Walker for another major. Then, deep into the fourth quarter and with Adelaide endeavoring to make inroads into Geelong’s 16-point buffer, the normally dead-eyed Fogarty, implausibly, missed an absolute sitter from point-blank range, which would have been his team-high third.

UNWANTED 19TH MAN: With just over seven minutes remaining in an action-packed third quarter, a mobile phone-wielding fan jumped the fence and ran into a congested Geelong forward line, filming the action.
Matt Crouch grabbed the intruder by the sleeve but he wriggled free and had too much pace for slow-moving security. Ben Keays took it upon himself to showcase his best Andrew Symonds imitation by dumping the attention-seeking fan, who was finally set upon by the army of yellow coats, who marched him off the field.

KEY STATS

That’s all we have for tonight everyone.

Thanks so much for joining us and please join us again tomorrow afternoon for our Saturday AFL blog.

Enjoy the night to come.

Tom Stewart has been praised by his teammates after starring in his 150th AFL game.

The mature-age recruit turned superstar defender had 15 intercept possessions among his 28 disposals.

Gryan Miers told Channel Seven: “It means so much to the player and the team to get those ones. Tom Stewart is the epitome of Geelong. We wanted to stand up for him as he does for us every week.”

Jeremy Cameron told Channel Seven: “He just said in amongst the group he dropped the car as well. He was on someone’s shoulders there. It felt like there was three or four of him out there tonight. It’s a wonderful thing to see, him going up and marking the footy then rebounding from there. He means so much to the group and he just inspires everyone.

Tom Hawkins to Channel Seven, he plays his 350th game next week: Tonight’s not about me. It’s about Tom Stewart. We make a big deal about milestones because they’re a big deal. They’re special to people. They’re special for the Stewart family, Tom and his wife and two kids. It’s one of the great parts of a team sport that you can individually get to celebrate and celebrate with teammates, celebrate with fans, and celebrate with the people that have helped you on the journey. So it will be fun. Looking forward to it. But really happy about tonight.

The Cats have started the season 2-0 and done so with a strong win against the Crows tonight.

Hawkins and Cameron were stellar up forward while Blicavs and Stewart are still match-winners as they showed tonight.

The Crows are 0-2 but have been right in both matches. I still think they have the quality to push for the finals but they will need to string together some wins if they want a chance at the finals.

Miers has bobbed up and snapped his third goal, a major that will make sure of the win.

Dangerfield is on the bench for the Cats and feeling a little bit for his hamstring while chatting with the physio.

Time will tell if he has an injury or is just a bit sore.