On Wednesday night on Footy Classified Cats coach Chris Scott bristled when Gary Rohan’s finals record was questioned.
He sat forward and with the certainty he saves for such occasions said: “I don’t think anyone who knows footy is thinking, ‘For Geelong to win, Gary Rohan has got to dominate’.”
Gary Rohan stepped up when needed by the Cats.Credit:AFL Photos
On Saturday with Geelong five points down in an epic qualifying final and four minutes left Rohan was desperately needed for the Cats to win. He took a spectacular mark at half-forward on the 50-metre line and kicked straight.
It would be enough for Collingwood to lose a tight encounter for the first time since round three when the Cats just got over them.
This was redemption on a grand scale as Geelong entered the match with all external indicators tilted in their favour.
It would be what was in their minds that would matter in this match as they attempted to win just their third qualifying final in nine attempts under Scott, and Rohan embodied those doubts among the fans.
Against them was an opponent with clear heads and belief that wins were to be charged at rather than hoped for. That that opponent was Collingwood, a team that would fill the MCG with fanatical, relentless noise, only increased the degree of difficulty for Geelong, who needed a quick start to ease any nerves.
Jeremy Cameron reacts to the crowd after kicking a goal.Credit:Getty Images
As if to prove this was a new-look Geelong, their two midfield warriors, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, began the game on the bench, bringing back memories of then Cats coach Malcolm Blight’s decision in 1989 to start that era’s champions on the bench in cut-throat finals.
It did not lead to the start Geelong needed, however, with Collingwood winning the early midfield battle and having a goal on the board before Dangerfield finally entered the fray eight minutes into the first quarter. By then Collingwood had some wind in their sails and had planted the ball in their front half.
Their pressure was relentless around the ball, with no Cats player having time to breathe let alone dispose of the ball effectively when they won it in congestion.
They were swarming the Cats like hyenas flocking to a carcass and then scattering from the contest as if unwelcome company had arrived.
Jordan De Goey, who starred for the Magpies, is tackled by Patrick Dangerfield.Credit:AFL Photos
Selwood and Dangerfield’s arrival stabilised the situation but by the time Jeremy Cameron kicked the Cats’ first goal late in the first quarter, Collingwood were three goals ahead and had the eight highest disposal winners on the ground.
Jordan De Goey, a man who looks set to remain a Magpie unless a godfather offer arrives from St Kilda, was the best player on the ground with 12 touches, having ripped off Mark Blicavs’ tag like it was attached to old luggage.
Darcy Moore flies high for the Magpies.Credit:AFL Photos
It wasn’t as though Geelong had not been expecting the onslaught but with an easier run into finals they were unable to prepare for being swarmed upon whenever they dared to climb out of congestion.
The overall effect was spectacular, with tackling accompanied by roaring that created a symphony that reverberated around the stadium and through the soul of all those 92,000 spectators in black and blue and white sitting in the stands.
After half-time the game just settled into a battle with neither team wilting. It was just two excellent, well-drilled and tough units desperate for victory throwing their bodies at everything.
Few players on the ground looked in control but few made unforced errors either. Zach Guthrie was remarkably composed for Geelong and Cameron was brilliant, kicking two magical goals and setting a goal each up for Rohan and Mitch Duncan.
At the other end Jamie Elliott did what was needed to lift the crowd with a goal in the third quarter, while Ash Johnson continued to defy what is possible for such an inexperienced player with a banana goal from the boundary that was an exact replay of a goal he had kicked a fortnight earlier against Carlton.
At the final break the only question remaining was obvious: Could Collingwood break Geelong’s hearts with victory in another tight game?
It was not as though the crowd were expecting one player to stand up and win the game off his own boot.
This appeared as though it would be more about whether one system could prevail over another as Collingwood changed the angles and kept attacking the game as they have in the second half of the season, while the Cats would sag off their opponents to create turnovers.
De Goey kicked the first of the final quarter, then Cameron responded immediately to keep the margin within a goal as it always appears to hover when Collingwood are playing in 2022.
Suddenly, the game was not about who could handle the pressure coming at their body but who had the skills and dare to find a way to goal, with Geelong prepared to hit the corridor to reclaim the lead.
Eventually, with just eight minutes remaining, Tom Hawkins found Selwood, who found Ty Stengle, who handballed to Brad Close, who thumped the ball into the back of the grandstand.
The names did not matter as much as the fact that this was once again a cliffhanger as De Goey kicked another goal to put Collingwood in front.
But then the system disappeared as the unlikeliest of heroes stepped forward. His name, Rohan, Gary Rohan, a man who hits headlines in finals playing the game of his life, Geelong needing him to do something, dominant or not, to win.
An epic in an epic season.
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