Star Bulldog midfielder Bailey Smith is buzzing after one of his four goals on Saturday night. Photo: AFL MEDIA
MELBOURNE 19.11 (125) defeated GEELONG 6.6 (42)
Herculean ruckman Max Gawn produced a finals performance that will be remembered for decades to come, kicking a career-best five goals to steer his club into its first grand final in 21 years. Four of the Demons’ captain’s goals came in a magical six-minute period of the third quarter as Simon Goodwin’s men rode a tidal wave of momentum – plus the majority of local support on neutral turf in Perth – and slammed on eight unanswered goals to put the result beyond doubt. Kysaiah Pickett kicked three majors as one of 10 Melbourne goal-kickers, and gun on-ballers Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney combined with Gawn to give their side the ascendancy in the middle. There was a scare for Melbourne when Steven May hurt his right hamstring, but the All-Australian defender returned with the leg strapped and was looked after late in the match. He is expected to be at full fitness for the grand final after a week off. Jeremy Cameron kicked the first goal of the night at Optus Stadium, but it was all downhill for the Cats from there as they got outworked, outmuscled and outclassed all over the ground. There were emotional scenes after the siren as broadcast cameras panned to Dees stalwart Nathan Jones, and tears flowed for injured defender Adam Tomlinson. Former captain Jones boarded a plane back to Melbourne on Saturday to be at the birth of his twins and will not play in the grand final. It was reported over the weekend that the Cats had a virus sweep through the team in the days leading up to the match, affecting at least half a dozen players. You get the feeling they would not have stopped the “Dee-Train” anyway. Geelong fielded 11 players over the age of 30 against Melbourne, and now faces a familiar fight to keep its premiership window open after another finals failure.
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PORT ADELAIDE 6.9 (45) lost to WESTERN BULLDOGS 17.14 (116)
The Bulldogs were denied their pre-match training run on Adelaide Oval by local health authorities, much to forthright coach Luke Beveridge’s chagrin, but the first half on Saturday night resembled something akin to a practice session as the visitors ran rampant. The Dogs were plus-23 in contested possession in the first term alone and had 5.2 (32) on the board from just 12 forward entries before Port bothered the scorers. Josh Schache took star defender Aliir out of the contest early and Mitch Hannan bobbed up with three first-half goals, contributing to a 58-point lead at the main break. Cult hero Bailey Smith continued his brilliant finals series with another 23 disposals and four goals, and it can be easy to forget the midfielder with the vintage mullet is not yet 21 years old. Adam Treloar (23 disposals) responded to mid-week criticism after a quiet semi-final in fine fashion, while Jack Macrae’s 36 disposals took his season tally to 854 – breaking Tom Mitchell’s AFL/VFL record. More importantly for the Bulldogs, captain Marcus Bontempelli, who had been in doubt to play because of a knee injury suffered late in the semi-final win over Brisbane, moved well and kicked two goals from 20 disposals and had seven clearances. Stefan Martin had only played half a game in more than four months because of injuries, but was recalled and did his job in the ruck against Scott Lycett, who worked tirelessly for Port. Aaron Naughton jumped at everything as Jason Johannisen took advantage of his recall to the starting 22, having replaced Cody Weightman (concussion). Ollie Wines, Riley Bonner and Travis Boak all tried their hearts out on a disappointing night for Port Adelaide, which suffered a second successive preliminary final defeat on its home deck.
