Geelong star Bailey Smith took a swipe at his former club on a night the Cats escaped with a dramatic three-point win after Collingwood milestone man Jack Crisp missed a potential game winner after the final siren.
In what will be remembered as one of the games of the season, Crisp, in his 245th consecutive game, breaking Jim Stynes’ VFL/AFL record, had the result on his boot after marking about 50 metres out directly in front of goal, just as the final siren sounded. But his left-foot shot slipped right, the Cats hanging on for a stirring win at the MCG.
“The ball fell in my lap. That was my moment – it wasn’t to be,” Crisp said late on Saturday night.
Getting into it: Bailey Smith and Brayden Maynard were into each other all night.Credit: Getty Images
Geelong skipper Dangerfield was brilliant, the Cats reaffirming why they are a legitimate premiership threat after the Magpies closed to within a goal with 20 seconds remaining in the game when Brody Mihocek marked a Jamie Elliott miskick and converted from about 20 metres out. The Magpies won the ensuing centre clearance, giving Crisp his ultimate moment in the spotlight before more than 82,000 fans.
“It was like a footy gods moment … fortunately for us, unfortunately for Collingwood, it was a pretty special match,” Dangerfield said.
Smith, a dominant figure all night in the midfield, told Fox Footy he had been “scared” of the impending result when Crisp lined up for goal.
“Crisp… I thought he was going to have the fairytale ending. My heart was in my mouth. I was so scared,” Smith said.
When asked how good it had been playing before such a huge crowd, Smith replied: “Beautiful mate – not getting that in Ballarat,” he said.
This comment could be construed as a veiled swipe at his former club, the Western Bulldogs. The Bulldogs had hosted Port Adelaide in Ballarat before a miserly 4814 fans on Saturday afternoon.
Dangerfield was superb with 29 touches, including 13 and a long goal in the final term, to will his team across the line, while the hard-running Smith finished with 34 disposals, as the Cats produced arguably their best win of the season.
In the change rooms post match, Bailey and Dangerfield were praised for their performances by club great Gary Ablett jnr – a man who also set the MCG alight on many occasions.
Almost: This long-range shot from Jack Crisp would have won the game for the Pies, but it sailed wide.Credit: AFL Photos
The defeat was only the second of the season for the top-of-the-table Magpies.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae was proud of how his men had comforted Crisp.
“I have said this before – sometimes when you lose, you want to be winners. And I reckon, sometimes when you win, you can be a loser. When he misses that kick, just have a look at the response of our team,” McRae said.
“It’s a testament to the character and culture that we have that we get around Jack. Straight away there was a group of players around him. I think we look like winners regardless of what the scoreboard said.
“I thought: ‘If he kicked it, did we steal it?’ But we owned a lot of the numbers throughout the night.”
Cats coach Chris Scott was relived to have escaped with the win.
“It can’t be repeated, what was on my mind,” Scott quipped when asked about his thoughts when Crisp lined up for goal.
“I think it was a game where you expected something like that to happen.”
The Cats booted the opening three goals of the night, before the Magpies began to roll, and appeared to have the contest in hand when they led by 20 points early in the third term. The Magpies dominated centre clearances and overall clearances at that point, but the Cats refused to fold.
Oliver Wiltshire of the Cats is congratulated by team mates after kicking a goal.Credit: Getty Images
The Magpies have been the best defensive team this season, and they strangled their opponents from late in the first term to midway through the third term. Their set-up behind the football, sometimes with two spare men, and ability to control the ball between the two arcs set the tone.
Nick Daicos was tagged by Irishman Oisin Mullin, who had the better of the Magpies star early, but Daicos worked his way into the contest, although there were moments of frustration. Daicos finished with 28 touches, including six clearances, and was still influential.
Josh Daicos was also busy, while Scott Pendlebury (26 disposals, one goal) was also magnificent, capping his evening with a snapped goal and joyous, uncharacteristic celebration – that being a salute more akin to a teammate 20 years younger than the 37-year-old.
Scott started Max Holmes at half-back, but it was when he was sent into the midfield in the third term that the Cats started to move.
Dangerfield began forward, but was also sent into the midfield at a time when the Cats were hammered at stoppages. He helped ease the troubles there, the Cats winning contested ball in the third term. The veteran premiership great had some key moments, a tackle on Darcy Moore late in the third term leading to a crucial Shaun Mannagh goal.
In one of the great individual final terms, Dangerfield was everywhere – at one point his seven ground-ball gets being more than the Magpies had in total. His rousing 50-metre goal helped to drag the Cats to victory.
The final quarter had it all. There was a controversial score review with 3.30 minutes remaining that found a Lachie Schultz shot for goal had been touched, as the goal umpire had said on the initial soft call.
“I touched it, but then I’m looking at the replay and it looked like I didn’t touch it,” Geelong’s Mark Blicavs told Fox Footy.
“We were lucky that the umpire called touched going to the review so it went our way, but that could have been called inconclusive.
“I touched it, but it’s amazing how it can not look like it on those replays.”
A Bobby Hill chase-down tackle on Shaun Mannagh in the centre square with two minutes remaining, which appeared to be holding the ball but was called for tripping, was another contentious moment.
“I thought Bobby was probably a bit stiff. I saw the replay, I saw it live,” McRae said.
The Cats, ultimately, reinforced why they are the best fourth-quarter team in the competition.
“We were fortunate to get away with the win in the end, the way the last two or three minutes played out – not fortunate before that to get ourselves in that position,” Scott said.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter
