By Justin Flynn
After a heart-stopping last-gasp win against Melbourne in round one, Geelong faces a mouth-watering Easter Monday match-up against Hawthorn.
The Cats have won their past four games against the Hawks – a three-point thriller in round 17 last year, an 86-point thumping in round three, and wins by two points and 30 points in 2016.
The annual Easter Monday clash between the two teams has become a genuine blockbuster. The MCG is predicting a crowd of 60,000 for the game.
Thanks to Max Gawn’s miss from 30 metres out in the dying seconds last week, Geelong started the season off nicely.
Perhaps that’s being a bit harsh. The Cats hung on despite having an injury riddled bench for much of the second half.
Mature aged recruit Tim Kelly was the big talking point in the aftermath.
Kelly gathered 27 touches and kicked a goal on debut at the age of 23 and looks every bit the readymade player pundits were predicting he would be during the preseason.
Gary Ablett enjoyed a successful homecoming with a signature performance. His 39 possessions was equal to that of 200 gamer Joel Selwood.
The Cats’ opponent on Monday, Hawthorn, looked sharp in a big win over Collingwood.
Chris Scott is not known for employing the role of a tagger, but he may need to reconsider as Tom Mitchell ran amok, gathering the footy an astonishing 54 times, beating the previous record of 53, held by Gary Ablett and Greg Williams.
Luke Breust was lively up forward for the Hawks with four goals, but then so was Daniel Menzel for the Cats with an identical haul, although some misses in the last quarter could have proved costly.
And while everyone at GMHBA Stadium was buzzing about Kelly’s debut, two other young Cats came under the spotlight in their first games.
Esava Ratugolea, a 197cm and 102kg mountain, burst onto the scene when he beat high-profile Demon recruit Jake Lever and kicked a goal with his first kick in the big league.
Lachlan Fogarty’s turn came soon after, when he slammed one on the boot to also snag a goal with his first kick in AFL footy.
Star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield declared himself a certain starter for the game during the week after missing round one with a slight hamstring strain.
If Dangerfield plays, as expected, the Cats’ midfield bats deeper than any other team in the competition.
Let these names roll off your tongue – Dangerfield, Selwood, Ablett and Duncan.
Throw in Kelly, Fogarty and Brandon Parfitt and the future looks bright.
The game, a designated Geelong home game, is at the MCG from 3.20pm Monday.
Cats by eight points in another close one.
