Geelong attacking guns Tyson Stengle and Jeremy Cameron have fired the Cats to an 84-point torching of Port Adelaide in the first AFL qualifying final.
The Cats will host a preliminary final at the MCG in a fortnight after belting the Power 20.18 (138) to 7.12 (54) at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
Port are pitched into a home knockout semi-final against the winner of the Western Bulldogs’ elimination final against Hawthorn on Friday night.
The Power face the prospect of a so-called straight-sets exit from the finals for a second year in a row and have concern over midfield ace Zak Butters, who was substituted because of a rib injury.
The Cats, with Stengle and Cameron kicking four goals each, dished out the second-biggest finals defeat to Port, behind only the club’s 119-point grand final loss to Geelong in 2007.
“Obviously not many positives would come out of that,” Port coach Ken Hinkley said.
“How do we handle it and move forward quickly? Because we have to.
“We have to move the group forward really quickly. We have to own what happened but we also have to move forward quickly.”
The Cats triumphed despite the late withdrawal of five-time All Australian Tom Stewart.
Stewart, suffering a hamstring injury, was substituted out of his side’s round 24 thrashing of West Coast, though the Cats say he was scratched from the final because of illness.
Star Geelong forwards Stengle and Cameron combined with Shaun Mannagh (three), Gryan Miers (three), Shannon Neale (two) and Jack Bowes (two) to overwhelm a lacklustre Port.
“To play the way we did … is something we should be proud of,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
“But I have been in the game long enough to know that if you start getting ahead of yourself because you have one good night, it will bite you pretty quickly.”
Cameron’s first two goals defied football logic. Five minutes into the game, the key forward collected a handball running towards a boundary line and, a step inside the paint, curled a remarkable snap through from 30 metres.
In the second term, the four-time All-Australian kicked another stunner: using the outside of his left boot, he dribbled through from near the boundary line.
Cameron’s teammate Max Holmes was superb – his 28 disposals featured five inside-50s and also seven rebound-50s – while captain Patrick Dangerfield (24 touches), Zach Guthrie (27), Miers (21) and Mannagh (23) were other standouts.
Port briefly hit the front in the second term but then meekly conceded 10 of the next 11 majors and were held goal-less in the third quarter.
Midfielder Ollie Wines (23 touches), Ryan Burton (21) and Willem Drew (21) were the home side’s main ball-winners.
Star trio Butters, who had just eight disposals before being subbed, captain Connor Rozee (16 possessions, one goal) and Jason Horne-Francis (18, one goal) were all subdued.
Geelong set the tone with a dominant opening 20 minutes, but two late goals by Port reduced the visitors’ advantage to three points at quarter-time, 3.7 to 3.4.
Port took the lead nine minutes into the second stanza but held it for just a tick over a minute as the Cats embarked on their scoring spree.
Geelong scored the next five goals for a 20-point half-time advantage and then punished Port with 5.7 to 0.2 in the third term to lead 14.16 (100) to 6.9 (45) at three-quarter-time before cruising to victory.
