Geelong suffered a heartbreaking preliminary final loss to the Brisbane Lions in a four-point thriller.
Heavy favourites to advance, the Lions had everything thrown at them in Saturday night’s preliminary final by the plucky Cats at their Springfield headquarters.
But after losing the lead five minutes into the final term, the Lions reclaimed their advantage when star defender Shannon Campbell moved forward and kicked what would be the winning goal with six minutes left.
The Lions held on grimly in the dying stages to prevail 6.2 (38) to 5.4 (34), setting up a meeting with North Melbourne in the grand final at IKON Park on Sunday.
The win looks to have come at a cost for the Lions, however, with key forward Dakota Davidson appearing to suffer a suspected serious left knee injury late in the third term.
Davidson, who booted two of the Lions’ goals, was inconsolable on the bench and will undergo scans to determine the damage.
Courtney Hodder and Charlotte Mullins kicked early goals, while Orla O’Dwyer also slotted an important major for the Lions.
Lions hard nut Belle Dawes put in a super third quarter to finish as the leading possession winner on the ground with 22 touches.
Star Brisbane midfielder Ally Anderson praised the resilience of the Lions, who lost All-Australians Emily Bates, Jesse Wardlaw and Greta Bodey to expansion clubs during the off-season.
“It doesn’t even feel right now,” the reigning league best-and-fairest winner told the Seven Network.
“It was a hard-fought win and Geelong really gave it to us. It means so much. You really always want to get back there (into a grand final).”
The result ends a brave run for Geelong, who fell agonisingly short of reaching the club’s first AFLW decider after upsetting reigning premiers Melbourne in last week’s semi-final.
The Cats had never won an AFLW post-season match until beating Essendon in an elimination final a fortnight ago.
Young midfield star Georgie Prespakis was typically important, as was Nina Morrison, to give the Cats an enormous chance of causing a boilover.
Cats veteran Renee Garing was chaired from the ground after previously announcing her retirement at season’s end.
